SOURCES OF LAW
The main sources of Philippine law are the Constitution, statutes, treaties and conventions, and judicial decisions.
The Constitution is the fundamental law of the land and as such, it is authority of the highest order against which no other authority can prevail. Every official action, to be valid, must conform to it.
On the other hand, statutes are intended to supply the details which the Constitution, because of its nature, must leave unprovided for. The statutes of the Philippines are numerous and varied in their contents. They provide rules and regulations which will govern the conduct of people in the face of ever-changing condition.
Having the same force of authority as legislative enactments are the treaties which the Philippines executes with other states. A treaty has been defined as a compact made between two or more independent nations with a view to the public welfare. As a member of the family of nations, the Philippines is a signatory to and has ratified numerous treaties and conventions.
Philippine law is also derived from cases because the Civil Code provides that “judicial decisions applying to or interpreting the laws or the Constitution shall form a part of the legal system of the Philippines.” Following the three-tier system of courts, only decisions of its Supreme Court establish jurisprudence and are binding on all other courts. Thus, these decisions assume the same authority as the statutes to which they apply or interpret and until authoritatively abandoned, necessarily become, to the extent that they are applicable, the criteria which must control the actuations not only of those called upon to abide thereby but also of those duty-bound to enforce obedience thereto.
To a certain extent, customary law forms part of the Filipino legal heritage because the 1987 Constitution provides that “the State shall recognise, respect, and protect the rights of indigenous cultural communities to preserve and develop their cultures, traditions and institutions.” This was true even as early as 1889 because the old Civil Code provided that “where no statute is exactly applicable to the point in controversy, the custom of the place shall be applied, and in the absence thereof, the general principles of law.” Although this provision was discarded in the new Civil Code, which took effect in 1950, it is believed that the judge may still apply the custom of the place or, in its default, the general principles of law in the absence of any statute governing the point in controversy; otherwise the provision of the same Code which requires him to decide every case even where there is no applicable statute would prove to be a veritable enigma. The Civil Code also provides that “customs which are contrary to law, public order or public policy shall not be countenanced,” and “a custom must be proved as a fact according to the rules of evidence.” Thus, Philippine law takes cognizance of customs which may be considered as supplementary sources of the law.