Critics on Article 1 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution
ARTICLE I
NATIONAL TERRITORY
The national territory comprises the Philippine archipelago, with all the islands and waters embraced therein, and all other territories over which the Philippines has sovereignty or jurisdiction, consisting of its terrestrial, fluvial and aerial domains, including its territorial sea, the seabed, the subsoil, the insular shelves, and other submarine areas. The waters around, between, and connecting the islands of the archipelago, regardless of their breadth and dimensions, form part of the internal waters of the Philippines.
MY FIRST CRITICS:
A law was passed dividing the Philippines into three regions (Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao), each constituting an independent state except on matters of foreign relations, national defense and national taxation, which are vested in the Central government. Is the law valid? Explain.
The law dividing the Philippines into three regions, each constituting an independent state and vesting in a central government matter of foreign relations, national defense, and national taxation, is unconstitutional.
First, it violates Article I, which guarantees the integrity of the national territory of the Philippines because it divided the Philippines into three states.
Second, it violates Section 1, Article II of the Constitution, which provides for the establishment of democratic and republic States by replacing it with three States organized as a confederation.
Third, it violates Section 22, Article II of the Constitution, which, while recognizing and promoting the rights of indigenous cultural communities, provides for national unity and development.
Fourth, it violates Section 15, Article X of the Constitution, which, provides for autonomous regions in Muslim Mindanao and in the Cordilleras within the framework of national sovereignty as well as territorial integrity of the Republic of the Philippines.
Fifth, it violates the sovereignty of the Republic of the Philippines.
Can the
NATIONAL TERRITORY
The national territory comprises the Philippine archipelago, with all the islands and waters embraced therein, and all other territories over which the Philippines has sovereignty or jurisdiction, consisting of its terrestrial, fluvial and aerial domains, including its territorial sea, the seabed, the subsoil, the insular shelves, and other submarine areas. The waters around, between, and connecting the islands of the archipelago, regardless of their breadth and dimensions, form part of the internal waters of the Philippines.
MY FIRST CRITICS:
A law was passed dividing the Philippines into three regions (Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao), each constituting an independent state except on matters of foreign relations, national defense and national taxation, which are vested in the Central government. Is the law valid? Explain.
The law dividing the Philippines into three regions, each constituting an independent state and vesting in a central government matter of foreign relations, national defense, and national taxation, is unconstitutional.
First, it violates Article I, which guarantees the integrity of the national territory of the Philippines because it divided the Philippines into three states.
Second, it violates Section 1, Article II of the Constitution, which provides for the establishment of democratic and republic States by replacing it with three States organized as a confederation.
Third, it violates Section 22, Article II of the Constitution, which, while recognizing and promoting the rights of indigenous cultural communities, provides for national unity and development.
Fourth, it violates Section 15, Article X of the Constitution, which, provides for autonomous regions in Muslim Mindanao and in the Cordilleras within the framework of national sovereignty as well as territorial integrity of the Republic of the Philippines.
Fifth, it violates the sovereignty of the Republic of the Philippines.
Can the