Administrative Law 5.

Develop the ability to identify key issues and address practical

problems relating to the exercise of administrative power.
SUBJECT DESCRIPTION

Course title : Administrative Law This module is self-instructional. Concepts, ideas, and problems are

Course code : PA 112 presented by chapter and each chapter will end with activities and/or self-
check questions to help you assess your progress and encourage further
Schedule : TF 7:00-8:30 PM
research and independent study.
Credit Units :3
COURSE OUTLINE
Professor/instructor : Atty. Jan Elson G. Orquillas

OBJECTIVES WEEK TOPIC

1-2 General Principles and Concepts; Creation and Abolition
This subject examines Administrative Law in the Philippines and
of Agencies
the scope within which it operates. It focuses on the general principles 3-5 Powers and Functions of Administrative Agencies
imbued in the law and on which it is based and the application of law by 5-7 Quasi-Legislative Powers
7-8 Quasi-Judicial Powers
examining legal proceedings which determine the propriety or impropriety
9-11 Power of Control, Supervision, and Investigation
of a public body or individual’s exercise of administrative power and the 11-13 Judicial Recourse and Review
reliefs available to aggrieved parties as a result of one’s action or inaction. 14-16 Local Governments and the Law on Public Officers

At the end of this module, you are expected to:

COURSE REQUIREMENTS
1. Know and understand key concepts and principles underlying
As evidence that the above course learning objectives are achieved, the
Administrative Law in the Philippines
student has to comply with the following:
2. Identify, analyze, and explain the nature and scope of
Administrative Law 1. Submit answers to post-tests at the end of the week that they are
3. Know the laws governing the exercise of administrative power and given.
understand how they are applied to administrative agencies 2. Prior to the end of the semester, write and submit a report on a
4. Know how administrative agencies are created and abolished and given topic to be announced at a later date so as to give the student
how they operate ample time to research and write.

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 3. The student is expected to take and pass ______________
exams.

GRADING SYSTEM

SUGGESTED READING MATERIALS

De Leon, Hector S. Administrative Law: Text and Case. Rex Printing

Company Inc., 2016.

Nachura, Antonio B. Outline Reviewer in Political Law. VJ Graphic Arts.

2015.

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Lesson 1 – General principles and concepts powers (adjudicatory power) to enable them to carry out the mandate
entrusted to it for enforcement or execution.
1.1 General concept.
1.2. Administration defined.
Administrative Law embraces all laws that controls the
administration operations of the government, the primary basis of which is Administration is understood in two senses. First, administration
the 1987 Administrative Code of the Philippines. The said Code prescribes, as an organization. This pertains administration as an office or collection
by broad definition, the administrative operations of the Philippine of individuals through which the functions of government are exercised,
Government. such as an agency or instrumentality.

The realm of Administrative Law, however, is not limited to the An agency of the Government refers to the various units of
Code. Administrative law is derived from four sources: (1) The 1987 Government, including departments, bureaus, offices, instrumentalities,
Philippine Constitute and statutes that set up administrative authorities; government-owned or controlled corporations and local government units.
(2) jurisprudence or doctrines and court decisions that deal with the An instrumentality, on the other hand, refers to any agency of the National
creation, operation, and effect of regulations or determinations issued by Government not integrated within the department framework vested with
administrative authorities; (3) rules, regulations, or orders issued by special functions or jurisdictions by law; endowed with some, if not all
administrative authorities in pursuance of their respective functions and corporate powers, and administering special funds, and enjoying
purposes for which they were created; and (4) determinations, decisions, operational autonomy, usually through a charter. 1
and others of such administrative authorities in settling controversies
In the second sense, administration is regarded as function or the
arising in their particular field.
actual running of the government by authorities through implementation
Administrative law is a consequence of the increasing complexities of policies or and creation and enforcement of laws. It is the execution of
in society and the proliferation of problems that may highly technical or the law or the will of the state as expressed by competent authority.
specialized expertise which cannot be readily or effectively addressed by
1.3. External and internal administration.
public agencies or other disciplines of public law. As the legislative and
judicial departments no longer have the time or the much needed expertise The scope of the 1987 Administrative Code covers both internal
to address such problems, the administrative agencies are thus delegated and external administration. Internal administration considers legal
with quasi-legislative powers (rule-making power) and quasi-judicial
1
Section 2(10), 1987 Administrative Code

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aspects of public administration as a going concern. It concerned with the
relations between officers or with between officers and the administration
itself. External administration on the other hand deals with relations
between administrative agencies or its officers and private individuals or
interests. The latter is the chief concern of administrative law, which deals
with protection of private rights by looking at the mode of exercising
administrative power and the system of reliefs available against
administrative action.

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Lesson 2 – Creation and abolition of agencies the National Economic and Development Authority, the Commission on
Human Rights; and the National Police Commission.
2.1 Administrative agency defined.
All other administrative agencies or bodies other than those
An administrative agency is an organ of the government, other
established by the Constitution are created by statutes or by officers or
than the court and the legislature, which functions affect the rights of
tribunals authorized by Congress to create administrative agencies.
private individuals through the exercise of its quasi-legislative and quasi-
judicial. It is created to address complex, diverse, and specialized concerns. Except offices created by the Constitution, the creation of public
offices is primarily a legislative function. The legislature is endowed with
Administrative agencies, boards, and commissions are called
the power to decide what offices are suitable, necessary, or convenient.
public offices. The term “public office” refers to two concepts: (a) as a
When exigencies of government so require, the legislative department has
functional unit of government, such as a department or a bureau, or a
the discretion to determine whether offices shall be created, what their
position held by an individual, whose functions are defined by law or
powers and limitations thereto may be, and whether they shall be attached
regulation, and (b) public office as a duty or responsibility. Public office is
to existing offices.
a public trust.2 This concept embraces the powers, duties, duration, term,
and emoluments constituting a public office.
RELATED READING:
2.2. Creation of agencies. House Bill No. 5989 creating the Department of Disaster Resilience.

The House of Representatives on September 21, 2020 approved on third and final reading House Bill
There are three ways through which public offices are created: 1) No. 5989 or the Disaster Resilience Act, which would create the Department of Disaster Resilience.
The proposed government agency would be the office primarily responsible for “leading, organizing,
by the Constitution; 2) by law; or 3) by an officer or tribunal to which the and managing national effort to reduce disaster risk, prepare for and respond to disasters, recover and
rehabilitate, and build forward better after the occurrence of disasters.”
power to create the office has been delegated by the legislature.

The 1987 Philippine Constitution established offices that perform

administrative functions. These are the Office of the President, the
President being the chief administrative officer; the three Constitutional 2.3. Abolition of agencies.

Commissions, namely: Commission on Elections, the Civil Service If an administrative body is created by the Constitution itself, the
Commission, and the Commission on Audit; the Office of the Ombudsman; same administrative body can only be altered or abolished by the

2
Section 1, Article XI, 1987 Philippine Constitution

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Constitution. If the body was created by law, then the legislature can and 2) it must fix a standard; the limits such delegation must be
abolish it by amending or repealing the law that created it. sufficiently determinate and determinable, and to which the delegate must
conform. This standard must define the policy, mark its limits, and maps
While the legislature usually creates the power to create, abolish or
out its boundaries.
reorganize public offices, it has, at several instances, delegated such power
to the President or to another executive body or officer. The means by An example of such delegation of power by the legislature to the
which the legislature makes this delegation is by authorizing the President is Republic Act No. 51—approved on October 4, 1946—which
reorganization of an office. authorized the President of the Philippines to reorganize administrative
agencies.
Reorganization is the process of restricting the bureaucracy’s
organization and functional set-up, to make it more viable in terms of the In order to meet the exigencies attendant upon the establishment of the free
and independent Government of the Republic of the Philippines, and for the
economy, efficiency, effectiveness and make it more responsive to the
purpose of promoting simplicity, economy and efficiency in its operation, the
needs of its public clientele as authorized by law. 3 It is the means used by
President of the Philippines is authorized to effect by executive order from
the legislature to reorganize or abolish offices, which it may do so by law time to time, for a period not exceeding one year from the date of the
directly or indirectly by authorizing an executive department or agency to approval of this Act, and within the limits of the total authorized
appropriation for the fiscal year nineteen hundred and forty-seven, such
reorganize its office. 4 Such legislative power to reorganize applies to all
reforms and changes in the different executive departments, bureaus, offices,
offices except Constitutionally created administrative agencies.
agencies, and other instrumentalities of the Government, including the
corporations owned or controlled by the Government, as he may deem
However, the authority granted to the President to reorganize a
necessary, with the power to diminish, add to or abolish those existing and
public office is subject to the limitation that in case of doubt as to the due create new ones; consolidate related undertakings; transfer functions,
exercise thereof, Congress may question the same. Congress determines appropriations, equipment, property, records, and personnel from one

the validity of such reorganization by approving and ratifying the same and department, bureau, office, agency or instrumentality to another; eliminate
duplicated services or authorize new ones not provided for; classify, combine,
subsequently making appropriations specifically for the purpose of
split or abolish positions; standardize salaries; and do whatever is necessary
carrying out such reorganization. and desirable to effect economy and promote efficiency in the government
service.5
Such delegation, to be valid, must be 1) complete in itself; it must
set forth the policy to be executed by the delegate, such as the president, 2.4. Reasons for the creation of administrative agencies.
3
Simon v. Civil Service Commission, 215 SCRA 410.
4 5
National Land Titles and Deeds Registration Administration v. Civil Service Commission, 221 SCRA 145. Section 1, Republic Act No. 51.

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 There are several reasons for the need to create administrative with the duty and power to perform administrative, regulatory, investigate,
agencies. As previously stated, an administrative agency is created to quasi-legislative, and quasi-judicial functions—one or any combination of
perform specific tasks and enforce a specific law. They are charged with the these—and therefore may be classified as follows:
responsibility to address complex and specialized matters that are more in
1. Agencies created in situations wherein the government is
line with their particular field of expertise. The following are some of the
offering some gratuity, grant or special privilege.
reasons behind the creation of the organs (Agpalo, 2005):
 Example: Government Service Insurance System
1. To unclog court dockets as they exercise quasi-judicial and Social Security System
functions. To relieve courts of the burden of resolving all 2. Agencies set up to function in situations wherein the
controversies, specialized agencies have been created to hear government is seeking to carry on certain government
and decide particular disputes. functions.
2. To meet the growing complexities of modern society. As  Example: Bureau of Immigration, Civil Service
problems of modern society multiply, which can hardly be Commission, Bureau of Internal Revenue
met by the legislature, administrative agencies are 3. Agencies set up to function in situations wherein the
established to promptly cope with such problems. government is performing some business service for the
3. To help in the regulation of ramified activities of a public.
developing country.  Example: Bureau of Posts, Philippine National
4. To entrust to specialized agencies in specified fields with Railways
their special knowledge, experience, and capability, the 4. Agencies set up to function in situations wherein the
tasks of dealing with problems thereof as they have the government is seeking to regulate business affected with
experience, expertise and power of dispatch to provide public interests.
solutions thereto.  Example: Office of the Insurance Commissioner,

Administrative agencies serve a variety of purposes such as to Fiber Inspection Board.

carry out government business or function, regulate business vested with 5. Agencies set up to function in situations wherein the

public interest, promote general welfare, and determine and protect the government is seeking under the police power to regulate

rights of private individuals. Given this, administrative bodies are endowed private business and individuals.

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  Example: Securities and Exchange Commission,
Board of Review of Motion Pictures, and
Professional Regulation Commission
6. Agencies set up to function in situations wherein the
government is seeking to adjust individual controversies
because of some strong social policy involved.
 Example: National Labor Relations Commission,
Court of Agrarian Relations
7. Agencies set up to function in situations where the
government is seeking to conduct investigations and gather
evidence or information, recommendation or prosecution of
crimes.
 Example: Commission on Human Rights, the
National Bureau of Investigation, Prosecutor’s
Office

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