(scanned) Administrative Law_ Text and Cases by de Leon.pdf

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW: Text and Cases

Chapter I INTRODUCTION

Concept of administrative law. Administrative law belongs to the field of public law1 which includes

constitutional law, criminal law, and international law. There is no agreement as to the scope or bounds of the term.

(1) It has been defined in its widest sense as "the entire system of laws under which the machinery of the State works and by which the State performs all government acts x x x."2 Thus, the term would embrace all the laws that regulate or control the administrative organization and operations of the government including the legislative and judicial branches.3 (2) Other very broad definitions refer to it as "the law which provides the structure of government and prescribes its procedure,

'As distinguished from private law, public law is that branch of law which regulates the relations of the state with its subjects. Public law concerns itself with rights of the State as an entity representing the organized community and the relations of the individual members of such societarian organization to it. On the other hand, rules which regulate the relations of individuals with one another, without regard to their relation to their government, constitute private law. See M. GAMBOA, AN INTRODUCTION TO PHILIPPINE LAW 97-98 (6th Ed., 1955). 2Growth of American Administrative Law, by C.W. POUND, cited in V. SINCO, CASES AND OTHER MATERIALS ON ADMINISTRATIVE LAW AND THE LAW ON PUBLIC OFFICERS I (1933). 3But the law governing the exercise of purely legislative and judicial functions (except judicial review of administrative acts) is not part of administrative law.

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ADMINISTRATIVE LAW: Text and Cases

2

x x x,"4 "the law which controls or is intended to control the administrative operations of the government5 or "the law of governmental administration."6 (3) In a less comprehensive sense, it has been referred to "as that part of public law which fixes the organization and determines the competence of the administrative authorities, and indicates to the individual, remedies for the violation of his rights."7 (4) In a narrower or more limited signification, administrative law has been defined by noted authorities as follows: (a) It is "that branch of modern law under which the executive department of government acting in a quasi-legislative or quasijudicial capacity, interferes with the conduct of the individual for the purpose of promoting the well-being of the community, as under laws regulating public corporations, business affected with a public interest, professions, trades and callings, rates and prices, laws for the protection of the public health and safety and the promotion of the public convenience and advantage."8 (b) It is "that system of legal principles to settle the conflicting claims of executive and administrative authority on the one hand and of individual or private rights on the other."9 (c) It is "the law concerning the powers and procedures of administrative agencies including specially the law governing judicial review of administrative action."’0 (5) As generally understood today and for the purpose of this work, it means that part of the law which governs the organization, functions, and procedures of administrative agencies of the government to which (quasi) legislative powers are delegated and

41 Am. Jur. 2d

806.

573 C.J. 295, citing 47

Yale L.J. 538.

6ld., citing 18 Iowa L. Rev. 233. 7F. GOODNOW,

COMPARATIVE ADMINISTRATIVE LAW 8-9 (1983).

8V. SINCO, note 2. 9E. FREUND,

CASES ON ADMINISTRATIVE LAW 1 (2nd Ed., 1928). ,0K. DAVIS, ADMINISTRATIVE LAW

I. INTRODUCTION

3

(quasi) judicial powers are granted, and the extent and manner to which such agencies are subject to control by the courts."

Scope of administrative law. Broadly conceived, administrative law covers the following: (1) the law which fixes the administrative organization and structure of the government; (2) the law, the execution or enforcement of which is entrusted to administrative authorities; (3) the law which governs public officers including their competence (to act), rights, duties, liabilities, election, etc.; (4) the law which creates administrative agencies, defines their powers and functions, prescribes their procedures, including the adjudication or settlement by them of contested matters involving private interests; (5) the law which provides the remedies, administrative or judicial, available to those aggrieved by administrative actions or decisions; (6) the law which governs judicial review of, or relief against, administrative actions or decisions; (7) the rules, regulations, orders and decisions (including presidential proclamations) made by administrative authorities dealing with the interpretation and enforcement of the laws entrusted to their administration; and (8) the body of judicial decisions and doctrines dealing with any of the above. Thus, administrative law embraces not only the law that governs administrative authorities, i.e., the Constitution (pertinent

"See 1 Am. Jur. 2d 806. That the rules of judicial review are parts of administrative law is confirmed by the statement that it is a "simple but fundamental rule of administrative law" that a reviewing court, in dealing with a determination or judgment which an administrative agency alone is authorized to make, must judge the propriety of such action solely by the grounds invoked by the agency. (Securities and Exchange Commission v. Chenery Corp., 332 U.S. 194, L. Ed. 1955, 67 S. Ct. 1575, 1760 [1947].)

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ADMINISTRATIVE LAW: Text and Cases

provisions thereof), statutes, and judicial decisions that construe and apply them as well as appropriate principles of justice and equity in particular cases, but also the law made by administrative authorities, i.e., rules, regulations, orders and decisions, whether of general or particular applicability. By the term administrative authorities, as used here, is meant all those public officers and organs (i.e., administrative agencies) of the government that are charged with the amplification, application and execution of the law, but do not include, by virtue of the doctrine of separation of powers, Congress and the regular courts.'2

Concerns of administrative law. (1) Private rights. —The chief concern of administrative law is the protection of private rights, and its subject matter is, therefore, the nature and the mode of exercise of administrative power and the system of relief against administrative action.'3 (2) Delegated powers and combined powers. — Generally speaking, administrative law is concerned with officers and agencies exercising delegated powers and not with the exercise of the constitutional powers of the President. It is concerned with and results from a fusion of different types of governmental powers in certain public officers which are part of the executive branch of the government including a coercive power over individuals, since the exercise of this type of power by this type of officer runs afoul of the fundamental and traditional principle of separation of powers.'4

,2But the law that has reference to their purely administrative organization and operations may be considered as part of administrative law. It is not treated in this work.

'3While administrative law is concerned with the impact of the administrative process on private rights, in certain areas there is applicable a specific principle that particular administrative agencies are created to protect the public interest and not to vindicate private rights. Public rights and private rights are often intermingled. Rights at some times are characterized by the body of law (public or private) from which they are derived. Perhaps the most usual differentiation is between the legal rights or duties enforced through the administrative process and those left to enforcement on private initiative in the courts. 1 Am. Jur. 2d 807. '41 bid.

I. INTRODUCTION

5

Distinguished from international law. Administrative law lays down the rules which shall guide the officers of the administration in their actions as agents of the government. International law, on the other hand, cannot be regarded as binding upon the officers of any government considered in their relation to their own government except insofar as it has been adopted into the administrative law of the state.15

Distinguished from constitutional law. (1) Constitutional law prescribes the general plan or framework of governmental organization, while administrative law gives and carries out this plan in its minutest details; (2) Constitutional law treats of the rights of the individual, while administrative law treats them from the standpoint of the powers of the government; the first lays stress upon rights, the second emphasizes the powers of government and duties of the citizens; and (3) Constitutional law prescribes limitations on the powers of the government to protect the rights of individuals against abuse in their exercise, while administrative law indicates to individuals, remedies for the violation of their rights. Insofar as it fixes or regulates the administrative organization of the government, administrative law is the necessary supplement of constitutional law. But administrative law not only supplements constitutional law; it also complements constitutional law insofar as it determines the rules relative to the activity of the administrative authorities.'6

Distinguished from criminal law. Criminal law or penal laws consist really of a body of penal sanctions which are applied to all branches of the law, including administrative law.

, 5

F

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ADMINISTRATIVE LAW: Text and Cases

A rule of law protected or enforced by a penal sanction may be really administrative in character, for indeed, one of the most common and efficient means of enforcing a rule of administrative law is to give it a penal sanction, and the mere affixing of a penalty to the violation of a rule of administrative law does not deprive such rule of its administrative character.17

Distinguished from law of public administration. Public administration has to do with the practical management and direction of the various organs of the State and the execution of state policies by the executive and administrative officers entrusted with such functions. The subject matter of administrative law is public administration. Since administrative law covers all laws that concern public administration, the two are apparently synonymous with each other. However, a highly technical distinction is observed between them. The true field of administrative law, it is pointed out, refers only to the external aspect of public administration. Thus, administrative law is the narrower branch but it constitutes the bulk of the law of public administration.

Principal subdivisions of administrative law. Public administration may be examined in its internal or in its external aspect. This distinction furnishes the basis of the principal subdivisions of administrative law: the law of internal administration and the law on external administration. These two aspects of administrative law tend to give rise to the different types of problems. The distinction, nevertheless, is relative rather than absolute, for the two aspects are so closely interrelated and at many points quite inseparable. This is particularly true when it comes to the law on public officers.18 (1) The law of internal administration. — It treats of the legal relations between the government and its administrative officers,

'7ld., at 17-18. ’8J. HART, AN INTRODUCTION TO ADMINISTRATIVE LAW 10.

I. INTRODUCTION

7

and of the legal relations that one administrative officer or organ bears to another. Among others, it comprehends such topics as the nature of public office, de jure and de facto officers, and incompatible and forbidden offices. It considers the legal aspects of public administration on its institutional side, i.e., as a going concern. (a) This includes the legal structure or organization of public administration; the legal aspects of its institutional activities, e.g., personnel, material, fiscal and planning activities; and the legal questions involved in overall management of these activities. (b) Among the topics involved are: legal qualifications for office; the legal disqualifications of officers; the appointment, tenure, removal, compensation, and pensioning of officers; the legal aspects of a hierarchical form of departmental organization; the legal relation of administrative superior to administrative subordinate; and the legal relation between the power of removal and the power of direction or administrative management.19 (2) The law of external administration. — It is concerned with the legal relations between administrative authorities and private interests. It may conveniently be divided into four parts:

first, a survey of those powers and duties of administrative authorities that relate directly to private interests; second, an analysis of the scope and limits of such powers; third, some account of the sanctions attached to, or the means of

enforcing, official determinations; and

fourth, an examination of the remedies against official action.20

'Vd., at 20

lbid.

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ADMINISTRATIVE LAW: Text and Cases

Administrative law is principally concerned with the problems of admi n istrative regu lation, rather than with those of adm i n istrative management.

Classification of administrative law. Withinthe category of administrative law, various classifications or distinctions have been drawn.2' (1) As to its source. — One classification not infrequently presented draws a line between the law that governs or controls them, and that which is made by the administrative agencies. (a) The law that controls administrative authorities. — In this group belongs the Constitution, statutes, judicial decisions, executive orders of the President, and administrative orders of administrative superiors giving directions to administrative subordinates. (b) The law made by administrative authorities. — Administrative law made by administrative authorities includes both general regulations and particular determinations. It constitutes, under delegations of power embodied in statutory admi-nistrative law, an imposing and constantly expanding body of law. Familiar examples include presidential proclamations issued under the flexible-tariff clause, the rules of practice and decisions of administrative tribunals, and the cease-and-desist orders of the Securities and Exchange Commission.22

2,R. PARKER, ADMINISTRATIVE LAW: A TEXT 3 (1952).

22J. HART, op. cit., note 18 at 9. It must be stressed that "made" law is law only because some statute or constitutional provisions so prescribe. It is true particularly of administrative regulation. No agency can "make" law without thereby "applying" the enabling act which authorizes agency action. In other words, both "applied" and "made" laws are really part and parcel of the same legal subdivision though it is true that in the hierarchy of norms, the regulation stands one step below the enabling statute, which, in turn, ranks below the Constitution. Nor is this only true of regulations; administrative decisions too, are at once law “making" and law "applying." Decisions must be in accordance with the law which they "apply," but they "make" law between the parties, as well as for the future at least to the extent to which administrative decisions are recognized as precedents. See R. PARKER, op. cit., note 21 at 4.

I. INTRODUCTION

9

(2) As to its purpose. — Of practical value, however, is another classification. (a) Adjective or procedural administrative law. — It establishes the procedure which an agency must or may follow in the pursuit of its legal purpose. It is derived from the Constitution or a statute, or from agency regulations. (b) Substantive administrative law. — It is derived from the same sources, mentioned above, but its contents are different in that, here, the law establishes primary rights and duties, such as the conditions under which a broadcaster may operate or the labor practices in which employers and unions must not indulge.23 (3) As to its applicability. — The realization that administrative law is essentially the law that governs and is applied by all the administrative agencies, leads to another division that is necessary for practical reasons.24 (a) General administrative law.2S — It is that part of administrative law which is of a general nature and common to all, or most, administrative agencies. It is chiefly but not exclusively procedural law (e.g., remedies). It includes such provisions which interpret the mandate of the Constitution that there must be "due process of law"; which establish the doctrine of exhaustion of administrative remedies; which make necessary — or render superfluous — a court trial de novo; which provide for hearing examiners; or which provide for judicial review.26 (b) Special or particular administrative law. — It is that part of administrative law that pertains to particular agencies. It proceeds from the particular statute creating the individual agency and thus, has little or no application, except in connection with such agency.27 It is at once obvious that most substantive administrative laws fall within this group.

23R. PARKER, op. 2,

cit., note 21 at 4.

lbid. 25This work is intended as an introduction to general administrative law. 26R. PARKER, op. cit., note 21 at 5. 271 Am. Jur. 2d 809. The law applicable to specific agencies is important insofar as it illustrates principles of general application.

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ADMINISTRATIVE LAW: Text and Cases

And so do those procedural provisions that are to be applied only by a given agency in cases falling under its jurisdiction. An example are the laws regulating immigration. They prescribe the conditions and restrictions under which aliens may be admitted to and excluded or deported from this country. These laws also contain a great deal of procedural provisions setting forth, for instance, how the government must proceed if it wishes to deport an alien, what administrative remedies the latter may exercise and within what time, and the like details.28

Origin and development of administrative law. (1) Recognition as a distinct category of law. — Administrative law is of comparatively recent origin.29 Under the Anglo-American system, administrative law is not one of the traditionally recognized parts of the law, such, for example, as the criminal law, the common law, and equity.30 However, it is only in the last few decades with the rapid expansion of administrative agencies and their increased functions that a substantial body of jurisprudence has developed in the field and general recognition has been given to "administrative law" as a distinct category of law.31 (2) Multiplication of government functions. — Originally, the government had but few functions as there were but few activities to regulate and control. But as modern life became more complex, the subjects of government regulations correspondingly increased, which, in turn caused a multiplication of government functions, necessitating an enormous expansion of public administration. And so the legislature had to create more and more administrative bodies, boards or tribunals specialized in the particular fields assigned to them and to which the legislature and the courts were found not to be equipped to administer properly and efficiently.

28R. PARKER, op.

cit., note 21 at 4-5.

29Our

Supreme Court first used the term in the head note of its decisions only in 1946 in the case of Mendoza v. Dizon, 77 Phil. 533 (1946). ("Overview: Administrative Procedure" by I.R. Cortes, in "Administrative Adjudication," p. 2, published by the U.P. Law Center [1979].) 30J. HART, op.

cit., note 18 at 9. 814.

311 Am. Jur. 2d

I. INTRODUCTION

11

(3) Growth and utilization of administrative agencies. — Administrative law developed as the natural accompaniment of the growth of administrative agencies and their utilization in response to the needs of a changing society. (a) It has developed from a combination of forces, some pressing on the legal system from without, and some others from within, and it is, in effect, a major response of the law to the complexities of a modern age. To a large extent, administrative law has developed in response to the need for broad social or governmental control over complex conditions and activities which in their detail cannot be dealt with directly in an effective manner by the legislature or the judiciary. It has as its dominant purpose the promotion and conservation of the interests and convenience of the public. (b) The theory which underlies a good part of administrative law is that the issues with which it deals ought to be decided by experts, and not by a judge, at least not in the first instance, or until the facts have been sifted and arranged.32 One thrust of the multiplication of administrative agencies is that the interpretation of certain contracts and agreements and the determination of private rights under them is no longer a uniquely judicial function exercisable only by our regular courts.33 (4) Fusion of different powers of government in administrative agencies. — Administrative law, then, resulted from the increased functions of government, the recent tremendous growth in administrative agencies, and the fact that the agencies created in this period of growth were much more than conventional administrative officials such as had existed under earlier legislation. (a) With their extensive investigation, rule-making, and adjudicating powers, these administrative agencies represent a provocative fusion of different powers of government.34

3273 C.J.S. 295-296.

33Realty Exchange Venture Corporation v. Sendino, 233 SCRA 665 (1994); Antipolo Realty Corporation v. National Housing Authority, 153 SCRA 399 (1987); Philippine International Trading Corporation v. Angeles, 263 SCRA 421 (1996); Christian General Assembly, Inc. v. Ignacio, 597 SCRA 266 (2009). 341 Am. Jur. 2d

816.

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ADMINISTRATIVE LAW: Text and Cases

(b) They are vested with the power to promulgate rules and regulations to better carry out some legislative policies, and to decide on controversies within the scope of their activities. The laws which created administrative agencies, the rules and regulations promulgated by them, and the body of decisions that they have from time to time rendered in the adjudication of cases brought before them, now constitute the bulk of administrative law.35 (5) A law in the making. — Administrative law is still in its formative stages and is being developed as part of our traditional system of law. The administrative process and its agencies are newcomers in the field of law but administrative agencies are now established as very important tribunals in the administration of justice, making decisions sometimes of vast importance and equal to matters determined by the courts.36 A substantial part of the principles of administrative law in the Philippines is derived from American and English jurisprudence on this branch of law. It has persuasive, though not controlling, force in our jurisdiction.

Advantages of the administrative process.

The term administrative process includes the whole of the series of acts of an administrative agency whereby the legislative delegation of a function is made effectual in particular situations. It embraces matters concerning the procedure in the disposition of both routine and contested matters, and the matter in which determinations are made, enforced, and reviewed.37 The "reasons for resort to the administrative process" or to put it in another way, the advantages of administrative action over both legislative and judicial action, are varied and numerous. They have been grouped, however, under seven broad headings. (1) Advantages of administrative adjudication as compared with executive action. — In some fields, Congress may often have

35See 42 Am. Jur. 286. 361 Am. Jur. 2d

3773 C.J.S. 297.

817-

I. INTRODUCTION

13

"weighty reasons" for authorizing executive discretion rather than administrative adjudication. (a) The latter alternative, however, "where practicable, insures greater uniformity and impersonality of action. In this area of government, the administrative process — far from being an encroachment upon the rule of law, is an extension of it." (b) Congress has resorted to the administrative process as an alternative to executive action not only in the matter of benefits — patents, public lands, and social security, but also in the fields of tax administration, labor relations, public utilities and securities market regulations, and others. On the other hand, functions like the issuance of passports are better handled by the Executive Department of Foreign Affairs. Discretion is sometimes preferable to rule. (2) Limitations upon the powers of courts. — Congress has entrusted the administration of some laws to administrative agencies when it might have entrusted it to the courts, for their administration is of such a nature that it could have taken the form of "cases and controversies" cognizable by the regular courts in the exercise of "the judicial power." This is not the case, however, with the issuance of rules and regulations of general applicability, the fixing of rates or prices, or the grantor's refusal of radio broadcasting licenses, all of which functions involve discretion with respect to future conduct and hence, will not be undertaken by the courts. Here, the judicial process is not an alternative to the administrative process. (3) Trend toward preventive legislation. — The mere existence of the criminal law may have a deterrent effect; but when it does not, all the law can do is to impose punishment after the crime has been committed. The mere existence of the law of torts and of contracts may also have a deterrent effect; but when it does not, all the law can do is to give the injured party monetarial grant to indemnify the damages incurred. Equity has weapons of preventive justice, but only after proof of the threatened injury and for use in technically "extraordinary" circumstances.

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ADMINISTRATIVE LAW: Text and Cases

(a) The desire for more effective and more flexible preventive remedies has been a factor in the creation of many administrative agencies. Thus, the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) makes it possible for reasonable freight and passenger rates to be fixed in advance, instead of leaving shippers and passengers to undergo the expense of suing the ship owner to recover the difference between the rate charged and a reasonable rate. Similarly, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) administers the requirement that issuers of securities tell the whole truth in advance, in preference to leaving purchasers to their limited action at law against the sellers who made false statements about the securities. For such preventive methods, an administrative agency is necessary. (b) Prevention is also a major purpose of licensing statutes. It is clearly preferable to assure in advance, by licensing, the competence of airplane pilots than to let anybody fly a plane and punish a negligent pilot after a terrible accident. Licensing is both one of the most burdensome and one of the most effective forms of regulation. (4) Limitations upon effective legislative action. — Many administrative functions could not be directly performed by Congress, but others (e.g., fixing rates, deciding money claims against the government) could be performed by Congress. (a) Instead of delegating rule-making power, Congress could, in principle, incorporate regulatory details into the statutes. But even in such cases, and aside from the comparative advantages of congressional and administrative action, there are limitations inherent in the legislative process which make it a practical impossibility for Congress to do all the things it theoretically could do.

(b) These limitations include lack of time and specialized knowledge, lack of staff for securing expert information, the complexity of the problems which arise even within the framework of a general policy, and the harmful rigidity which would result from attempting to anticipate in a statute the variety and changing character of the situations which emerge in every aspect of a modern industrial economy. Under these

I. INTRODUCTION

15

circumstances, moreover, if Congress failed to delegate wide powers to administrative agencies, it might lose itself in details to the detriment of its indispensable functions of determining basic policy and holding administrative agencies accountable for net results. (5) Limitations upon exclusively judicial enforcement. — Even where Congress could rely upon the courts for enforcement of its policies, the many courts would vary in their application of the law. Since the courts could not take the initiative in enforcement, that initiative would fall to the many prosecutors or law enforcement agencies, or, to private individuals. In the former case, there would be no uniformity in the policy of initiation whereas in the latter case, individuals would bear a burden and expense which, rightly or not, the policy of modern government imposes upon them. On the other hand, a single administrative agency can assume the responsibility for enforcement and can develop, subject to judicial review, uniform policies in the carrying out of that responsibility. (6) Advantages of continuity of attention and clearly allocated responsibility. — Administrative agencies have the time and facilities to become and to remain continuously informed, and they can be given unified responsibility for effectuating the broad policies laid down by Congress.

Some such agencies specialize in the regulation of a single industry (e.g., Insurance Commission) or group of related industries (e.g., National Telecommunications Commission). Others specialize in the regulation of activities which cut across the whole of business enterprise (e.g., Social Security System, National Labor Relations Commission), but these agencies are informed by experience and have continuous responsibility for enforcing public policies where cost or timidity or inertia would make interested private individuals poor instruments of enforcement. (7) Need for organization to dispose of volume of business and to provide the necessary records. — The Social Security System (SSS), for example, must have the specialized staffs and machinery to keep and make available the records upon which judgment on

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ADMINISTRATIVE LAW: Text and Cases

thousands of claims and applications must be based. In varying degrees, this is true of other agencies. "In the registration of securities, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) must be organized to collect and collate huge masses of data available for immediate reference by clerks, accountants, analysts, oil and gas experts, engineers and the like." Time may be of the essence, as where, in the registration of securities, procedures and staffs must be available to investigate speedily in order to determine whether a stop order shall be issued.38

Criticisms against administrative action. The recognized weaknesses of administrative agencies considered typical have been summed up as follows: (1) Tendency towards arbitrariness; (2) Lack of legal knowledge and aptitude in sound judicial technique; (3) Susceptibility to political bias or pressure, often brought about by uncertainty of tenure; (4) A disregard for the safeguards that insure a full and fair hearing; (5) Absence of standard rules of procedure suitable to the activities of each agency; and (6) A dangerous combination of legislative, executive, and judicial functions.39

Relation between administrative agencies and courts. (1) Collaborative instrumentalities. — Despite the differences between the administrative and judicial processes, they are to be deemed collaborative instrumentalities of justice. Collaboration

38J. HART, op.

39McDermott,

cit., note 18 at 3-5.

To What Should Decisions of Administrative Bodies be Reviewable by the Courts, 7 Lawyers, J. 560; Macapagal, Judicial Supremacy Over Administrative Bodies, 12 Lawyer's, J. 312-314, cited in J. RIVERA.

I. INTRODUCTION

17

of judicial power and function with the administrative process is a necessary part of today's legal system, and the appropriate independence of each should be respected by the other. In effecting the collaboration of courts and agencies, courts may entertain action brought before them, but call to their aid the appropriate administrative agency on questions within its administrative competence.40 (2) Role of courts. — The relation between courts and administrative agencies is not that between upper and lower courts nor is it the function of the courts to act as a super commission. The role of the courts is: (a) to accommodate the administrative process to the traditional judicial system; (b) to accommodate private rights and the public interest in the powers reposed in administrative agencies; and (c) to reconcile in the field of administrative action, democratic safeguards and standards of fair play with the effective conduct of government. (3) Discharge of judicial role. — In the light of this judicial role in relation to administrative law, courts must aim: (a) to maintain the Constitution by seeing that powers are not unlawfully vested in administrative agencies and to maintain the constitutional and statutory rights of persons by seeing that powers lawfully vested in administrative agencies are lawfully exercised but without abdicating their judicial responsibility; (b) to give due deference to the role of the administrative agencies, and not to usurp or unwarrantedly limit the powers and functions lawfully vested in them, or interfere with the proper exercise of their valid powers; (c) to lend the powers of the court to the proper attainment of the valid objectives of the administrative agency; and

“I Am. Jur. 2d 822.

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ADMINISTRATIVE LAW: Text and Cases

(d) to leave to the legislature or the people the remedy for administrative action which may be unwise or undesirable but is within the lawful powers of the agency. The courts are not the advisers of administrative agencies.4'

Administration of government distinguished from administration of justice. Those charged with the administration of government are known as administrative officers while those charged with the administration of justice are known as judicial officers. The difference between the two functions lies in the nature of the work done by the two groups of officers. The work done by the latter consists in the decision of controversies between individuals and government officers, as to the applicability in the cases in question of a particular rule of law. On the other hand, the work done by the former is not necessarily, or even often, the result of any controversy and is not merely dependent on the solution of the question "what is the law" but made also as a result of consideration of expediency. Thus, in the first kind of work, all that judicial officers have to do is to determine what law is applicable to the facts brought before them; in the second kind of work, administrative officers must determine, of course, what is the law in order to determine whether they are competent to act, but furthermore, they must decide whether in case they are competent to act, it is wise for them to act.42

Administration as a separate power. In the traditional classification of governmental power, no recognition is given to administration as a separate function of government. It was and is still confused with and treated as a part of the executive function. The term probably cannot be so plainly defined because it may slightly overlap the legislative field and the judicial field.

4l/d. at 825-826. 42F. GOODNOW, op. cit.,

note 7 at 10.

I. INTRODUCTION

19

It may, however, be viewed in two senses, to wit: (1) As a function. — "Administration" is the execution, in nonjudicial matters, of the law or will of the State as expressed by the competent authority. Taken in this narrow but proper sense, it is the activity of the executive officers of the government. Whenever we see the government in action as opposed to deliberation or the rendering of a judicial decision, there is administration. Thus, it is to be found in all manifestations of executive action. Legislation consists in laying down laws or rules for the future. Administration, therefore, had to do with the carrying of laws into effect — their application to the current affairs by way of management and oversight, including investigation, regulation and control in accordance with and in execution of the principles prescribed by the lawmaker. As a function, administration may be internal or external (supra.); and (2) As an organization. — "Administration" is spoken of accompanied by the definite article "the."Thus, "the administration" means popularly the most important administrative authorities. It is that group or aggregate of persons in whose hands the reins of the government are for the time being. It is the entire administrative organization extending from the Chief Executive down to the most humble of his subordinates. In short, administration is both the function of execution of the law (or management of government affairs) and the totality of the executive and administrative authorities.43

Administration as an organization distinguished from government. The term government refers to that "institution or aggregate of institutions by which an independent society makes and carries

43See J. RIVERA, op. cit., note 37 at 35-39, citing R.J. Stevenson, FEDERAL ADMINISTRATIVE LAW 36 (1952); W.F. Willoughby, PRINCIPLES OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATIVE LAW 10-11 (1927); F. GREEN, "Separation of Government Powers," 29 Yale L.J. 367-369, 337-338 (1920); F.J. GOODNOW, PRINCIPLES OF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW 5, 7, 14; Mitchell Coke and Coke Company v. Pennsylvania Railroad Co., 230 U.S. 247 (1913); United States v. Dorr, 2 Phil. 332 (1903).

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ADMINISTRATIVE LAW: Text and Cases

out those rules of action which are necessary to enable men to live in a civilized state, or which are imposed upon the people forming that society by those who possess the power or authority of prescribing them. Government is the aggregate of authorities which rule a society."44 On the other hand, the term administration refers to the aggregate of those persons in whose hands the reins of government are entrusted by the people for the time being.

— 0O0 —

44U.S. v. Dorr, note 43.

Chapter II

NATURE AND ORGANIZATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCIES A. Status and Characteristics Creation, reorganization, and abolition of administrative agencies. (1) Some administrative agencies are created by or receive their powers from constitutional provisions which may be selfexecuting, but most of them have their source in legislative enactments. The power of Congress to create and act through administrative agencies is undoubted. The Executive also may create administrative agencies, especially investigative agencies, and particularly under statutes so providing. (a) The creation of administrative agencies may present questions relating to the powers and functions which may be bestowed upon them. Moreover, in the creation and establishment of administrative agencies there are applicable, of course, constitutional restrictions which apply to any legislative act.' (b) Duly executed acts of an administrative agency can have valid effects even beyond the life span of said agency.2 (2) Administrative agencies of statutory origin are subject to expansion or contraction of their powers and functions, or to

'Am. Jur. 2d 827-828. 2Cebu United

Enterprises v. Gallofin, 106 Phil. 491 (1959). 21

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ADMINISTRATIVE LAW: Text and Cases

reorganization or abolition at the will of Congress, hamstrung only by constitutional limitations. At various times, Congress has vested power in the President to reorganize executive agencies and redistribute functions, and particular transfers under such statutes have been held to be within the authority of the President. (a) When the purpose of a statute is to abolish a department or an office or an organization and to replace it with another one, the lawmaking authority says so (e.g., is abolished; shall cease to exist). (b) Accordingly, the Supreme Court ruled in a case, that Presidential Decree No. 1341 which "converted" the former Philippine College of Commerce into a University to be known as Polytechnic University of the Philippines, did not abolish the PCC. If the law intended the PCC to lose its existence, it would have specified that the PCC was being "abolished," and the PUP to be a new institution, it would have said that PUP was being "created." What took place was a change in academic status of [PCC]. Hence, the change in its name, the expansion of its curricular offerings, and the changes in its structure and organization.3 (c) Congress can delegate the power to create positions. This has been settled by decisions upholding the validity of reorganization statutes authorizing the President to create, abolish or merge offices in the executive department.4 While the President's power cannot be denied, this does not mean that the reorganization itself is properly made in accordance with law. Well-settled is the rule that reorganization is regarded as valid provided it is pursued in good faith.5

Meaning of administrative agency. Administrative agency is the term used generally to describe an agency

exercising some significant combination of executive,

3Crisostomo v. Court of Appeals, 258 SCRA 134 (1996). 4Viola v. Alunan III, 277 SCRA 409 (1997); see Larin v. 5Dario v. Mison, 176

Executive Secretary, 280 SCRA 713 (1997).

SCRA 84 (1989); Larin v. Executive Secretary, note 4.

II. NATURE AND ORGANIZATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCIES A. Status and Characteristics

23

legislative, and judicial powers. It is a government body charged with administering and implementing particular legislation. (1) It covers boards, commissions, divisions, bureaus and, departments, and the somewhat less familiar designations of "office" and "authority." Some commentators assert that the "administrative" is a fourth power of government, since viewed from the standpoint of any particular act of the agency, it is either executive or in the narrowest sense, administrative, or legislative, or judicial, or, to distinguish it from agencies which are purely or essentially legislative or judicial, it is quasi-legislative or quasijudicial.6 (2) The term is usually employed to denote the functionaries with which administrative law is concerned, although sometimes the term used is "administrator" or "administrators" or "administrative body," and quite often, in regard to an adjudicative function, the term "administrative tribunal." A single officer (e.g., President) is also embraced in the term.7 (3) Under the Administrative Code of 1987, the term agency of the Government is used to refer to any of the various units of the Government, including a department, bureau, office, instrumentality, or governmentowned or -controlled corporation, or a local government or a distinct unit therein. It is a "national agency" if it refers to a unit of the national Government and a "local agency," if it refers to a local government or a distinct unit therein.8

Administrative agency or body and court distinguished. They are distinguished as follows: (1) An administrative body is generally a large organization staffed by men who are deemed to become something of experts in

6A quasi-judicial body has been defined as "an organ of government other than a court and other than a legislature, which affects the rights of private parties through either adjudication or rule-making." The Presidential Anti-Dollar Salting Task Force v. Court of Appeals, 171 SCRA 348 (1989); Balanguan v. Court of Appeals, 562 SCRA 184 (2008). 7See 1 Am. Jur. 2d

849-850; Black's Law Dictionary, 5th Ed., p. 42. “Exec. Order No. 292, Introductory Provisions, sec. 2(4, 5, 6).

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their particular fields, while a court is a tribunal which is presided by one or more jurists learned in the law; (2) The first performs a variety of functions, while the second, has only one function — judicial; and (3) The first uses a varying degree of discretion9 in arriving at decisions and often proceeds without being bound by technical rules of evidence or procedure, while the second is more or less governed by fixed rules in arriving at its decisions and bound by the rules that no final adjudication is to be made until after due notice to the parties with opportunity for a full and fair hearing.'0 For other distinctions, see next topic.

Status or character of particular administrative agencies. To a large extent, the status and character of administrative agencies depend on the terms of the constitutional or statutory provisions creating them and the powers, rights, duties, liabilities, or functions conferred on them." (1) As public or governmental agencies. — While their exact status and character are thus variable, generally they may be said to be agencies of the state or government, representing no private interests of their own, but functioning or acting within the scope of their authority, for and on behalf of the government, and as representatives of the public, or guardians or protectors of their interest, and not those of private persons, although they may, as an incident to the performance of their public functions, determine issues between private parties or private rights.'2 (a) The term "administrative agency," in its usage, has customarily been restricted to persons vested under a statute with

9lt has been said that the powers and functions of administrative agencies may be classified, according to the degree of subjective choice involved in their exercise, as discretionary, judgmentpassing, fact-finding, or ministerial, the four classes representing degrees of progression from a theoretically absolute subjective choice, in a matter of discretion, to a theoretical absence of choice, in a ministerial matter. 1 Am. Jur. 2d 878. '°McDERMOTT, REVIEW OF ADMINISTRATIVE DECISIONS, Lawyer's J. 546 (1959). "73 C.J.S. 301. 2 ' ld., at 301-302.

II. NATURE AND ORGANIZATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCIES A. Status and Characteristics

25

the real power to act for the government — those who actually have the power to act as (rather than merely for) the highest administrative authority of the government establishment. The authority to act with the sanction of the government determines whether or not a governmental agency exists. (b) The form the agency takes, or the function it performs is not determinative of the question whether it is an agency, although it may be significant with respect to other related questions.13 (2) As judicial bodies or courts. — Administrative agencies are just that, and are not courts or part of the judicial system. (a) Not courts in the strict sense. — They are not courts, or judicial bodies, or tribunals in the strict sense, even though they have the name of "court." The mere fact that a statute setting up a commission and the rules of procedure adopted by such commission provide a mode of procedure conforming in many respects to the regular practice of courts, or the fact that the commission possesses and exercises certain powers and functions resembling those conferred upon and exercised by courts, does not in itself render the commission a court. 1) Administrative agencies cannot exercise purely judicial functions, do not have the inherent powers of a court, are not bound in their proceedings by all the rules applicable to proceedings in court, and do not come within the statute prohibiting injunction to constitute courts or against proceedings "in any court" of a state. 2) Certain administrative agencies may be held not to constitute courts or judicial bodies because their function is not to adjudicate impartially but to represent a public interest, because of their investigatory and inquisitorial powers, or because they exercise commingled legislative, executive, and judicial functions. (b) Courts in the broad sense. — While not directly so, administrative agencies exercising adjudicatory powers are

,31 Am. Jur. 2d

851.

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judicial bodies or courts in the broad sense. They exercise powers judicial in nature and perform the same functions as a court would perform in their absence, and their proceedings partake of the nature of judicial proceedings.’4 (c) Functions primarily regulatory — The functions of an administrative agency are primarily regulatory even if it conducts hearings and decides controversies to carry out this duty. On the other hand, the primary duty of a judicial body is to adjudicate upon and protect the rights and interests of private parties and to that end, construes and applies the law. (3) As legislative or executive agencies. — While administrative agencies are separable from the judicial branch of the government, at least by a "quasi," they are not in all instances clearly attributable to either of the other two branches. Certain administrative agencies are deemed to be agents of the legislative branch of the government and not of the executive branch, while in other instances, certain administrative agencies (e.g., the different executive departments and bureaus) or administrative agencies generally, are deemed to be agents of the executive, or described as "executive or administrative" agencies.'5 (a) Administrative agencies may be said to be arms and instrumentalities of the legislative branch of the government, and may perform functions of a legislative or quasi-legislative character, although they are without legislative power in the strict sense. (b) They may be also viewed as part of the executive branch of the government, especially competent to deal with matters within the scope of their authority by reason of experience, information, and careful study.'6 (4) As independent or subordinate bodies. — The term "administrative agency" or "commission" is often used either to designate an agency independent of the executive branch or one

ld., at 851-852, 856-

u

15/d., at 853.

1673 C.J.S. 302-303.

II. NATURE AND ORGANIZATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCIES A. Status and Characteristics

27

not subject to a superior head of department (e.g., Civil Service Commission, Commission on Elections, Commission on Audit) in contradistinction to "subordinate," the latter term being applied to a body whose actions are subject to administrative review or revision. (5) As corporate bodies or legal entities. — Some administrative agencies are bodies corporate with legal capacity to sue and be sued in the courts17 (e.g., Central Bank). Other agencies have also been held to constitute legal entities with perpetual existence apart from their members, and such as may be expressly authorized and empowered to bring suit.18

Main characteristics of administrative agencies. (1) Size. — Many administrative agencies are necessarily large. The size of administrative agencies reflects both their nationwide jurisdiction and the character of their work. Their staffs include many people performing a variety of tasks which must be coordinated, supervised, and directed toward the fulfillment of agency functions. "Out of this solid fact of size, in terms of personnel, flow many of the problems of internal organization and delegation of authority... Out of the fact of size, in terms of the number of cases handled, flow the problems... of providing informal means of settlement for the great bulk of relatively uncontested matters." (2) Specialization. — Administrative agencies specialize. Their staffs become specialized from experience or include persons with technical or professional training. (a) A central problem of organization is how to utilize these skills of training and experience best. This does not

17"ln the exercise of its functions, the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) is a co-equal body with the regional trial courts and co-equal bodies have no power to control the other. The regional trial courts and the Court of Appeals have no jurisdiction over the PCGG in the exercise of its powers under the applicable Executive Orders and the Constitution (Art. XVIII, Sec. 26 thereof.), and, therefore, may not interfere with and restrain or set aside the orders and actions of the PCGG. By the same token, they have no jurisdiction over the acts of fiscal agents of the PCGG acting for and in its behalf." Olaguer v. Regional Trial Court, 170 SCRA 478 (1989). 181

Am. )ur. 2d 854.

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mean that the members of a regulatory board or commission need to be specialists. The problem is rather how to bring the available technical resources to bear so as to reduce the points of controversy to an understandable record for agency decision and judicial review. (b) Specialization has bearing also upon procedure. An agency's background of knowledge and experience and its equipment for investigation enable it to do much of its work by informal methods without the necessity of formal hearings, and have an impact upon its procedures for formal adjudication and for rule-making. (3) Responsibility for results. — A particular administrative agency is charged by Congress with accomplishing a particular statutory end. (a) The various agencies taken together are charged with responsibility for making good to people a major part of the ends of democratic government. This means that agencies, "cannot take a wholly passive attitude toward the issues which come before them." They cannot, like the courts, sit passively until some plaintiff takes the initiative. Nor can they take a purely neutral attitude toward accomplishment of the task with which they are charged. (b) Administrative agencies supply much of the motive power of government, but at the same time motive power calls for brakes; and "the necessity of both must be faced frankly when either is in question." This gives rise to "perhaps the most difficult of the problems relating to the administrative process:" the problem of combining prosecution and adjudication in the same agency; the problem (from the point of view of the agency) of combining its responsibility for effective enforcement of public policy with fair play to the private interests which are regulated. (4) Variety of administrative duties. — This variety may be seen within a single agency as well as between different agencies. This fact makes generalization in description difficult. It makes even more difficult, generalization in prescription. For variety in

II. NATURE AND ORGANIZATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCIES A. Status and Characteristics

29

functions means variety in the circumstances and conditions under which the activities of the various agencies impinge upon private individuals. A procedure which would be for the protection of the individual in one situation may be clearly to his injury in another.19

Consequence of characteristics. Each of the four characteristics of administrative agencies to a greater or lesser degree, in turn, contributes to, and necessitates, a highly important characteristic of administrative procedure: delegation of function

and authority.

(1) The large staff of an agency, the many duties which the agency is called upon to perform, the necessity of harmonizing its affirmative responsibility for results with its equally important duty of deciding correctly as between the parties in each particular case, and the practical need for the fullest possible utilization of its special skills and expertness — each of these calls for internal organization which involves an allocation of

functions among the members and staff of the agency.

(2) For it becomes obvious at once that the major work of the heads of an agency is normally supervision and direction. They cannot themselves be specialists in all phases of work, but specialists must be immediately available to them. They cannot themselves receive material which must be filed and analyze it. They cannot, and they should not, conduct investigations, determine in every instance whether or not action is required, hear controversies, and at the same time make all the decisions. Administrative procedures must be founded upon the reality that many persons in the agency other than the heads must do the bulk of this work. When agency heads permit themselves to be overwhelmed by detail, they rob themselves of time essential for their most important tasks. So it will be seen that the very characteristics of administrative agencies necessitate that delegation of function and authority be a predominant feature of their organization and procedure.20 For

,9W. GELLHORN and

(4th Ed., 1960).

C. BYSE, ADMINISTRATIVE LAW: CASES AND COMMENTS 19

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this reason, the term "administrative body or agency" includes the subordinate officials (e.g., hearing officers, examiners, investigators) upon whose hand the body or agency delegates a portion of its authority.21

Delegation of function and authority. (1) Types. — Four types of delegation have been listed as necessary: (a) delegation of internal management; (b) delegation of authority to dispose of routine matters; (c) delegation of authority to dispose of matters informally, or to initiate formal proceedings; and (d) delegation of authority and function in formal proceedings. The fourth type includes delegation of authority to conduct formal hearings. (2) Degree. — Delegation may be a matter of degree. It is not true that authority must be delegated completely or not at all. Delegation may be combined with supervision and control. Such supervision and control may call for: (a) the statement by agency heads of policies which have crystallized for routine application by subordinates; (b) consideration by agency heads of cases in which the application of established policy is difficult, or in which policy has not crystallized; and (c) the requirement of weekly or even daily reports to agency heads. Under like safeguards, delegation may even involve decentralization through delegation to field offices.22

21P3dua

v. Ranada, 390 SCRA 663 (2002).

22J. HART,

AN INTRODUCTIONTO ADMINISTRATIVE LAW 8.

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31

Types of administrative agencies. The common types of administrative agencies have been classified according to their purposes. (1) Those created to function in situations wherein the government is offering some gratuity, grant, or special privilege. Examples are: Philippine Veterans Administration (PVA), GSIS, SSS, Public Attorney's Office,23 Philippine Medical Care Commission (PMCC), etc.; (2) Those set up to function in situations wherein the government is seeking to carry on certain functions of government. Examples are: Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), Bureau of Customs, Bureau of Immigration,24 Land Registration Authority25 and most administrative agencies; (3) Those set up to function in situations wherein the government is performing some business service for the public. Examples are: Philippine Postal Corporation, Philippine National Railways, Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage Authority, Government Telephone System, National Electrification Administration, National Food Authority, National Housing Authority, etc.; (4) Those set up to function in situations wherein the government is seeking to regulate businesses affected with public interest. Examples are: Insurance Commission, Bureau of Air Transportation; Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), Energy Regulatory Board, Bureau of Mines and Geo- Sciences, National Telecommunications Commission, Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB), etc.;

23Under the Administrative Code of 1987 (Exec. Order No. 292). Formerly, Citizens' Legal Assistance Office (CLAO).

(CID).

24Under the Administrative

Code of 1987. Formerly, Commission on Immigration and Deportation

“Under the Administrative Code of 1987. Formerly, Land Registration Commission, later, National Land Titles and Deeds Registration Administration (NLTDRA).

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(5) Those set up to function in situations wherein the government is seeking under the police power to regulate private businesses and individuals. Examples are: Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB), Games and Amusement Board (GAB), Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB), Bureau of Trade Regulation and Consumer Protection (BTRCP), etc.; (6) Those agencies set up to function in situations wherein the government is seeking to adjust individual controversies because of some strong social policy involved.26 Examples are: National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC), Employees Compensation Commission (ECC), Social Security Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), Commission on Audit, etc. It is obvious that an administrative agency may fall under more than one type.

B. Administrative Organization* Distribution of powers of government.

Administrative organization refers to the administrative structure of the

government including its political subdivisions and the allocation of powers, functions, and duties to its various units or agencies. (1) Traditional branches. — Under the Constitution and as provided in the Administrative Code of 1987, the powers of the

26McDERMOTT, op.

cit., note 5 at 546.

*Under the Administrative Code of 1987. (Exec. Code No. 292.) Republic Act No. 6882 suspended for one year the effectivity of the Code which should have taken effect on November 24, 1988. It provides: "This Code shall take effect two years after its publication in the Official Gazette." Under the Code, it shall take effect one year after its publication in the Official Gazette, (sec. 29, book VII thereof.) The Code took effect on November 24, 1989. It did not supplant or repeal the Revised Administrative Code of 1917 except the provisions thereof which are inconsistent with the former and "are thereby repealed or modified accordingly." (Exec. Order No. 292, book VII [Final Provision), sec. 27.)

II. NATURE AND ORGANIZATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCIES B. Administrative Organization

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National Government’ are distributed among three branches as follows: (a) The legislative power. — It shall be vested in the Congress of the Philippines which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives, except to the extent reserved to the people by the constitutional provision on initiative and referendum.2 (b) The executive power. — It shall be vested in the President.3 (c) The judicial power. — It shall be vested in one (1) Supreme Court, and in such lower courts as may be established by law.4 The powers expressly vested in any branch of the Government shall not be exercised by, nor delegated to, any other branch of the Government, except to the extent authorized by the Constitution.5 (2) Special bodies or agencies. —There are three independent Constitutional Commissions created by the Constitution, namely: the Civil Service Commission, the Commission on Elections, and the Commission on Audit.6 They shall exercise the powers and

1 National Government refers to the entire machinery of the central government, as distinguished from the different forms of local government which refers to the political subdivisions established by or in accordance with the Constitution. ADM. CODE, Introductory Provisions, sec. 2(2), (3). 2ADM. CODE, book II, chap. 2, sec. 2; CONST., art. VI, sec. 1.

3ADM. CODE, book II, chap. 3, sec. 11; CONST., art. VII, sec. 1.

Under the doctrine of political agency, which recognizes the establishment of a single executive, all executive and administrative organizations are adjuncts of the Executive Department, the heads of the various executive departments are assistants and agents of the Chief Executive, and, except in cases where the Chief Executive isrequired by the Constitution or law to act in person or the exigencies of the situation demand that he act personally, the multifarious executive and administrative functions of the Chief Executive are performed by and through the executive departments, and the acts of the Secretaries of such departments, performed and promulgated in the regular course of business, are, un less disapproved or reprobated by the Chief Executive, presumptively the acts of the Chief Executive. Joson v. Executive Secretary, 290 SCRA 279 (1998). This doctrine is corollary to the control power of the President provided for under Article VII, Section 1 f 4h C CODE, book II, chap. 4, sec. 16; CONST., ADM. art. VIII, sec. 1. 5ADM. CODE, book II, chap. 1, sec. 1, (8).

6ADM. CODE, book II, chap. 5, sec. 24; CONST.,

art. IX-A, sec. 1.

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functions conferred upon them by the Constitution and the law. There are also, in accordance with the Constitution, an independent office of the Ombudsman and an independent Commission on Human Rights. The State is mandated to establish an independent central monetary authority and a national police commission. Likewise, as provided in the Constitution, Congress may establish an independent economic and planning agency.7 They shall exercise the powers and functions conferred upon them by the Constitution and the law.

Organization of the Office of the President. The Office of the President shall consist of the Office of the President Proper and the agencies under it. (1) The Office of the President Proper shall consist of the Private Office, the Executive Office, the Common Staff Support System, and the Presidential Special Assistants/Advisers System: (a) The Private Office shall provide direct services to the President and shall, for this purpose, attend to functions and matters that are personal or which pertain to the First Family; (b) The Executive Office headed by the Executive Secretary refers to the Office of the Executive Secretary, Deputy Executive Secretaries, and Assistant Executive Secretaries. It shall be fully responsive to the specific needs and requirements of the President to achieve the purposes and objectives of the Office. The Executive Secretary shall, subject to the control and supervision of the President, carry out the functions assigned by law to the Executive Office and shall perform such other duties as may be delegated to him by the President; (c) The common Staff Support System embraces the offices or units under the general categories of development and management, general government administration and internal administration; and

7ADM. CODE, book II, chap. 6, sec. 29; CONST., art. XI, secs. 5-14; art. XII, secs. 9, 20; art. XIII, secs. 17-19; art. XVI, sec. 6.

II. NATURE AND ORGANIZATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCIES B. Administrative Organization

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(d) The Presidential Special Assistants/Advisers System includes such special assistants or advisers as may be needed by the President. It shall provide advisory or consultative services to the President in such fields and under such conditions as the President may determine. (2) The agencies under the Office of the President refer to those offices under the chairmanship of the President, those under the supervision and control of the President, those under the administrative supervision of the Office of the President, those attached to it for policy and proper coordination, and those that are not placed by law or order creating them under any special department. (3) The President, subject to the policy in the Executive Office and in order to achieve simplicity, economy and efficiency, shall have continuing authority to reorganize the administrative structure of the Office of the President. For this purpose, he may take any of the following actions: (a) Restructure the internal organization of the Office of the President Proper, including the immediate Offices, the Presidential Special Assistants/Advisers System, and the Common Staff Support System, by abolishing, consolidating or merging units thereof or transferring functions from one unit to another; (b) Transfer any function under the Office of the President to any other Department or Agency as well as transfer functions to the Office of the President from other Departments and Agencies; and (c) Transfer agency under the Office of the President to any other department or agency as well as transfer agencies to the Office of the President from other departments or agencies.8

Organization of Departments.

Department refers to an executive department created by law.

“ADM. CODE, book III, title II, chaps. 8, 9, and 10, secs. 21-31.

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It includes any instrumentality9 having or assigned the rank of a department, regardless of its name or designation.'0 (1) Number, purpose, and decentralization: (a) The Executive Branch shall have such Departments as are necessary for the functional distribution of the work of the President and for the performance of their functions; (b) The Departments shall be organized and maintained to insure their capacity to plan and implement programs in accordance with established national policies; (c) Bureaus and offices under each Department shall be grouped primarily on the basis of major functions to achieve simplicity, economy and efficiency in government operations and minimize duplication and overlapping of activities; and (d) The functions of the different Departments shall be decentralized in order to reduce red tape, free central officials from administrative details concerning field operations, and relieve them from unnecessary involvement in routine and local matters. Adequate authority shall be delegated to subordinate officials. Administrative decisions and actions shall, as much as feasible, be at the level closest to the public. (2) Department proper: (a) Unless otherwise provided in the Code or by law, the Department proper shall include the Office of the Secretary and the staff units directly under it. The Office of the Secretary shall consist of the Secretary and the Undersecretary or Undersecretaries, together with the personnel in their immediate offices;

9 Instrumentality refers to an agency of the National Government, not integrated with the department framework vested with special functions or jurisdiction by law, endowed with some if not all corporate powers, administering special funds, and enjoying operational autonomy, usually through a charter. This term includes regulatory agencies, chartered institutions and government-owned or controlled corporacial charter, and vested by law with functions relating to specific constitutional policies or objectives. This term includes the state universities and colleges and the monetary authority of the State." ADM. CODE, Introductory Provisions, sec. 2(10), (12). ,0ADM. CODE, Introductory Provisions, sec. 2(7).

II. NATURE AND ORGANIZATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCIES B. Administrative Organization

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(b) Every Secretary shall be assisted by such number of Undersecretaries as may be provided for by the Code or by law; (c) Whenever necessary, Assistant Secretary position or positions may be created to form part of the Department proper; and (d) In the absence of special provisions, the major staff units of each department shall be the services which shall include: the Planning Service, the Financial and Management Service, the Administrative Service, and when necessary, the Technical and the Legal Services. (3) Jurisdiction over bureaus, etc. — Each Department shall have jurisdiction over bureaus, offices," regulatory agencies and government corporations assigned to it by law, in accordance with the applicable relationships as defined in Chapters 7, 8, and 9 of the Code, (infra.) (4) Assignment of offices and agencies, etc. — The President shall, by executive order, assign offices12 and agencies not otherwise assigned by law to any department, or indicate to which department a government corporation or board may be attached.'3

Secretaries, Undersecretaries, and Assistant Secretaries. (1) The authority and responsibility for the exercise of the mandate of the Department and for the discharge of its powers and functions shall be vested in the Secretary, who shall have supervision and control of the Department.

""Office refers, within the framework of governmental organization, to any major functional unit of a department or bureau including regional offices. It may also refer to any position held or occupied by individual persons, whose functions are defined by law or regulation." ADM. CODE, Introductory Provisions, sec. 2(9). '2Agency of the Government refers to any of the various units of the Government, including a department, bureau, office, instrumentality, or a government-owned or -controlled corporation or a local government or district unit therein. ADM. CODE, Introductory Provisions, sec. 2(4). ,3ADM. CODE, book IV, chap. 1, secs. 1 to 5.

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW: Text and Cases

38

(2) The Undersecretary shall, among others, advise and assist the Secretary in the formulation and implementation of department objectives and policies. He shall temporarily discharge the duties of the Secretary in the latter's absence or inability to discharge his duties for any cause or in case of vacancy of the said office, unless otherwise provided by law. (3) The Assistant Secretary shall perform such duties and functions as may be provided by law or assigned to him by the Secretary.'4

Department Services. Except as otherwise provided by law, each Department shall have the following Department Services: (1) Planning Service. — It shall provide the department with economical, efficient and effective services relating to planning, programming, and project development, and discharge such other functions as may be provided by law. (2) Financial and Management Service. — It shall advise and assist the Secretary on budgetary, financial and management matters and shall perform such other functions as may be provided by law.

(3) Administrative Service. — It shall provide the Department with economical, efficient and effective services relating to personnel legal assistance, information, records, delivery and receipt of correspondence, supplies, equipment, collections, disbursement, security and custodial work. (4) Technical Service. — It shall take charge of technical staff activities essential to a department and which cannot be allocated to the three other services or to the bureaus. (5) Legal Service. — It shall be provided where the operations of the department involve substantial legal work, in which case, the Administrative Service shall not have a Legal Division. It shall provide legal advice to the department. Where the workload of the l4ADM.

CODE, book IV, chap. 2, secs. 6, 10 and 11.

II. NATURE AND ORGANIZATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCIES B. Administrative Organization

39

department does not warrant a Legal Service or a Legal Division, there shall be one or more legal assistants in the Office of the Secretary.15

Organization of Bureaus. Bureau refers to any principal subdivision or unit of any department. It

shall include any principal subdivision or unit of any instrumentality given or assigned the rank of a bureau, regardless of actual name or designation, as in the case of department-wide regional offices.16 (1) A Bureau is any principal subdivision of the department performing a single major function or closely related functions. Each Bureau shall be headed by a Director who may have one or more Assistant Directors as provided by law. It may have as many divisions as are provided by law for the economical, efficient and effective performance of its functions. (2) Powers and duties of heads of bureaus or offices. — (a) The head of bureau or office shall be its chief executive officer. He shall exercise overall authority in matters within the jurisdiction of the bureau, office or agency, including those relating to its operations, and enforce all laws and regulations pertaining to it; (b) He shall appoint personnel to all positions in his bureau or office, in accordance with law. In the case of the line bureau or office, the head shall also appoint the second level personnel of the regional offices, unless such power has been delegated. He shall have the authority to discipline employees in accordance with the Civil Service Law; (c) He may, in the interest of economy, designate the assistant head to act as chief of any division or unit within the organization, in addition to his duties, without additional compensation;

15ADM. ,6ADM.

CODE, book IV, chap. 3, secs. 13-17. CODE, Introductory Provisions, sec. 2(8).

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW: Text and Cases

(d) He shall, consistent with law, rules and regulations, prescribe the form and fix the amount of all bonds executed by private parties to the government under the laws pertaining to his bureau or office. He shall pass on the sufficiency of the security and retain possession of the bond; (e) He shall prescribe forms and issue circulars or orders to secure the harmonious and efficient administration of his bureau or office and to carry into full effect the laws relating to matters within his jurisdiction. Penalties shall not be prescribed in any circular or order for its violation, except as expressly allowed by law; and (f) He is authorized to issue orders regarding the administration of its internal affairs for the guidance of or compliance by its officers and employees; (3) Bureaus are either staff or line. (a) A staff bureau shall primarily perform policy, program development and advisory functions. It shall avail itself of the planning, financial and administrative services in the department proper, if circumstances so warrant. The Director of a staff bureau shall: 1) Advise and assist the Office of the Secretary on matters pertaining to the Bureau's area of specialization; 2) Provide consultative and advisory services to the regional offices of the department; 3) Develop plans, programs, operating standards, and administrative techniques for the attainment of the objectives and functions of the bureau; and 4)

Perform such other duties as may be provided by law.

(b) A line bureau shall directly implement programs adopted pursuant to department policies and plans. It may have staff units, as may be necessary, corresponding to the services of the department proper. If the Bureau is small, only a single unit performing combined staff functions may be provided.

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The Director of a line bureau shall: 1) Exercise supervision and control over all divisions and other units, including regional offices, under the bureau; 2) Establish policies and standards for the operations of the bureau pursuant to the plans and programs of the department; 3) Promulgate rules and regulations necessary to carry out bureau objectives, policies and functions; and 4)

Perform such other duties as may be provided by law.’7

Organization of Field Offices. (1) Regional Offices. — They shall be established according to law defining field service areas. The administrative regions shall be composed of the National Capital Region and Regions I to XII. Provincial and district offices may be established only by law whenever necessary. Except as otherwise provided by law and when the needs of the service so require, the department or agency shall organize an integrated regional office on a department or agency-wide basis. (2) Administration. — The regional office shall be headed by a Regional Director who may be assisted by one (1) Assistant Regional Director, except as may otherwise be provided by law. The Regional Director shall be responsible for department or agency functions performed in the region under his jurisdiction. (3) Supervision: (a) Whenever the function or activity of a department or agency requires central or inter-regional action, the function may be performed by the regional offices under the supervision and control of the department proper or line bureau concerned.

,7ADM.

CODE, book IV, chap. 4, secs. 18-20; chap. 6, secs. 29, 31, 35-36.

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(b) The staff bureau or division shall perform primarily advisory or auxiliary functions and exercise in behalf of the department or agency functional supervision over the regional offices. (4) Organization. — Regional Offices organized on a department-wide basis shall have units or personnel in which the functional areas of the staff bureaus and services in the department shall be represented. Regional offices of a line bureau may have units or personnel in which the functional areas of the primary units of the bureau are represented. Related functions of regional units shall be consolidated. (5) Functions of a Regional Office. — A Regional office shall: (a) Implement laws, policies, plans, programs, rules and regulations of the department or agency in the regional area; (b) Provide economical, efficient and effective service to the people in the area; (c) Coordinate with regional offices of other departments, bureaus and agencies in the area; and law.

(d) Coordinate with local government units in the area; (e) Perform such other functions as may be provided by

District offices may be established only in cases of clear necessity.18

Definition of administrative relationship. Unless otherwise stated in the Administrative Code of 1987 or in other laws defining the special relationship of particular agencies, administrative relationship shall be categorized and defined as follows: (1) Supervision and control. — Supervision and control shall include authority to:

18ADM.

CODE, book IV, chap. 5, secs. 21-26.

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(a) act directly whenever a specific function is entrusted by law or regulation to a subordinate; (b) direct the performance of duty; restrain the commission of acts; (c) review, approve, reverse or modify acts and decisions of subordinate officials or units; and

(d) determine priorities in the execution of plans and programs; (e) prescribe standards, guidelines, plans and programs.

Unless a different meaning is explicitly provided in the specific law governing the relationship of particular agencies, the word "control" shall encompass supervision and control as defined above. (2) Administrative supervision: (a) It shall govern the administrative relationship between a department or its equivalent and regulatory agencies or other agencies as may be provided by law. It shall be limited to the authority of the department or its equivalent: 1) to generally oversee the operations of such agencies and to insure that they are managed effectively, efficiently and economically but without interference with day-to-day activities; 2) to require the submission of reports and cause the conduct of management audit, performance evaluation and inspection to determine compliance with policies, standards and guidelines of the department; 3) to take such action as may be necessary for the proper performance of official functions, including rectification of violations, abuses and other forms of maladministration; and 4) to review and pass upon budget proposals of such agencies but may not increase or add to them.

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(b) Such authority shall not, however, extend to: 1) appointments and other personnel actions in accordance with the decentralization of personnel functions under the Code, except when appeal is made from an action of the appointing authority, in which case the appeal shall be initially sent to the department or its equivalent, subject to appeal in accordance with law; 2) contracts entered into by the agency in the pursuit of its objectives, the review of which and other procedures related thereto shall be governed by appropriate laws, rules and regulations; and 3) the power to review, reverse, revise, or modify the decisions of regulatory agencies in the exercise of their regulatory or quasi-judicial functions. (c) Unless a different meaning is explicitly provided in the specific law governing the relationship of particular agencies, the word "supervision" shall encompass administrative supervision as defined above. (3) Attachment: (a) This refers to the lateral relationship between the department or its equivalent and the attached agency or corporation for purposes of policy and program coordination.19 The coordination may be accomplished by: 1) having the department represented in the governing board of the attached agency or corporation, either as chairman or as a member, with or without voting rights, if this is permitted by the charter; 2) having the attached corporation or agency comply with a system of periodic reporting which shall reflect the progress of programs and projects; and

'’The Career Executive Service Board (CESB) is an autonomous agency, albeit administratively attached to the Civil Service Commission (CSC). It is expected to view the problem of building up executive manpower in the government with a broad and positive outlook. Its essential autonomous character is not negated by its attachment to the CSC. By said attachment, it is not made to fall within the control of the CSC. Eugenio v. Civil Service Commission, 242 SCRA 196 (1995).

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3) having the department or its equivalent provide general policies through its representative in the board, which shall serve as the framework for the internal policies of the attached corporation or agency. (b) Matters of day-to-day administration or all those pertaining to internal operations shall be left to the discretion or judgment of the executive officer of the agency or corporation. In the event that the Secretary and the Head of the Board or the attached agency or corporation strongly disagree on the interpretation and application of policies, and the Secretary is unable to resolve the disagreement, he shall bring the matter to the President for resolution and direction. (c) Government-owned or -controlled corporations attached to a department shall submit to the Secretary concerned their audited financial statements within sixty (60) days after the close of the fiscal year. (d) Pending submission of the required financial statements, the corporation shall continue to operate on the basis of the preceding year's budget until the financial statements shall have been submitted. Should any government-owned or -controlled corporation incur an operating deficit at the close of its fiscal year, it shall be subject to administrative supervision of the department; and the corporation's operating and capital budget shall be subject to the department's examination, review, modification and approval.20

Powers and functions of Department Secretary. The Secretary shall: (1) Advise the President in issuing executive orders, regulations, proclamations and other issuances, the promulgation of which is expressly vested by law in the President relative to matters under the jurisdiction of the Department;

20ADM.

CODE, book IV, chap. 7, sec. 38.

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(2) Establish the policies and standards for the operation of the Department pursuant to the approved programs of governments; (3) Promulgate rules and regulations necessary to carry out department objectives, policies, functions, plans, programs and projects; (4) Promulgate administrative issuances necessary for the efficient administration of the offices under the Secretary and for proper execution of the laws relative thereto. These issuances shall not prescribe penalties for their violation, except when expressly authorized by law; (5) Exercise disciplinary powers over officers and employees under the Secretary in accordance with law, including their investigation and the designation of a committee or officer to conduct such investigation; (6) Appoint all officers and employees of the Department except those whose appointments are vested in the President or in some other appointing authority. Where the Department is regionalized on a department-wide basis, the Secretary shall appoint employees to positions in the second level in the regional offices as defined in the Administrative Code; (7) Exercise jurisdiction over all bureaus, offices, agencies and corporations under the Department as provided by law and in accordance with the applicable relationships as specified in Chapters 7, 8, and 9 of Book IV of the Code (infra.); (8) Delegate authority to officers and employees under the Secretary's direction in accordance with the Code; and (9) Perform such other functions as may be provided by law.2’

Authority of Department Secretary. The Secretary of a Department shall have supervision and control over the bureaus, offices, and agencies under him, subject to the following guidelines:

21

ADM. CODE, book IV, chap. 2, sec. 7.

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(1) Initiative and freedom of action on the part of subordinate units shall be encouraged and promoted rather than curtailed, and reasonable opportunity to act shall be afforded these units before control is exercised; (2) With respect to functions involving discretion, experienced judgment or expertise vested by the law upon a subordinate agency, control shall be exercised in accordance with said law; and (3) With respect to any regulatory function of an agency subject to department control, the authority of the department shall be governed by the provisions of the Code. The Secretary's authority as provided above shall not apply to chartered institutions or government-owned or controlled corporations attached to the department.22

Delegation of authority. The Secretary or the head of an agency shall have authority over and responsibility for its operation. He shall delegate such authority to the bureau and regional directors as may be necessary for them to implement plans and programs adequately. (1) Delegated authority shall be to the extent necessary for economical, efficient and effective implementation of national and local programs in accordance with policies and standards developed by each department or agency with the participation of the regional directors. (2) The delegation shall be in writing; shall indicate to which officer or class of officers and employees the delegation is made; and shal I vest sufficient authority to enable the delegate to discharge his assigned responsibility.23

Line bureau authority. (1) Line bureaus of a department shall exercise supervision and control over their regional and field offices. They shall be directly

22ADM. 23ADM.

CODE, book IV, chap. 8, sec. 39. CODE, book IV, chap. 8, sec. 40.

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responsible for the development and implementation of plans and programs within their respective functional specializations; and (2) The regional and other field offices shall constitute the operating arms of the bureau concerned for the direct implementation of the plans of the programs drawn up in accordance with approved policies and standards. As counterparts of the bureau in the region, they shall undertake bureau operations within their respective jurisdictions, and be directly responsible to their bureau director.24

Relationship of government-owned or -controlled corporations to the Department. Government-owned or -controlled corporations refer to any agency

organized as a stock or non-stock corporation, vested with functions relating to public needs whether governmental or proprietary in nature,25 and owned by the government directly or through its instrumentalities either wholly, or, where applicable as in the case of stock corporations, to the extent of at least 50% of its capital stock. (1) They may be further categorized by the Department of Budget and Management, the Civil Service Commission, and the Commission on Audit for purposes of the exercise and discharge of their respective powers, functions and responsibilities with respect to such corporations.26 (2) They shall be attached to the appropriate department with which they have allied functions, or as may be provided by executive order, for policy and program coordination and for general supervision provided in pertinent provisions of the Code.

“ADM. CODE, book IV, chap. 8, sec. 41. “Government-owned or -controlled corporations may perform governmental or pro prietary functions or both, depending on the purpose for which they have been created. If the purpose is to obtain special corporate benefits or earn pecuniary profit, the function is proprietary. If it is in the interest of health, safety and for the advancement of public good and welfare, affecting the public in general, the function is governmental. Powers classified as "proprietary" are those intended for private advantage and benefit. Blaquera v. Alcala, 295 SCRA 411 (1998). 26ADM.

CODE, Introductory Provisions, sec. 2(13).

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(3) In order to fully protect the interests of the government in government-owned or -controlled corporations, at least one-third (1/3) of the members of the Boards of such corporations should either be a Secretary, or Undersecretary, or Assistant Secretary.27

Note: During their tenure, the President, the Vice-President, members of the Cabinet, and their deputies and assistants (i.e., undersecretaries and assistant secretaries), are prohibited, unless otherwise provided in the Constitution itself, from holding any other office or employment.28

Relationship of regulatory agencies to the Department. A regulatory agency refers to any agency expressly vested with jurisdiction to regulate, administer or adjudicate matters affecting substantial rights and interest of private persons, the principal powers of which are exercised by a collective body, such as commission, board, or council.29 (1) It shall be subject to the administrative supervision of the department under which they are placed, except when they are government corporations in which case they shall be governed as provided above. (2) The heads of regulatory agencies shall submit annually, for the approval of the Secretary concerned, their budgets and work plans which shall be the basis of their day-to-day operations. (3) The regulatory agencies may avail themselves of the common auxiliary and management services of the department as may be convenient and economical for their operations.30

Mandates of the different Departments. (1) Department of Foreign Affairs. — It shall be the lead agency that shall advise and assist the President in planning, organizing,

27ADM. CODE, book IV, chap. 9, sec. 42. 2“CONST., art. VII, sec. 13.

29ADM. CODE, Introductory Provisions, sec. 2(11). 30ADM. CODE, book IV, chap. 9, sec. 43.

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directing and evaluating the total national effort in the field of foreign relations.3' (2) Department of Finance. — It shall be responsible for the formulation, institutionalization, and administration of fiscal policies in coordination with other concerned subdivisions, agencies and instrumentalities of government.32 (3) Department of Justice. — It shall carry out the declared policy to provide the government with a principal law agency which shall be both its legal counsel and prosecution arm.33 (4) Department of Agriculture. — It shall be the government agency responsible for the promotion of agricultural development by providing the policy framework, public investments, and support services needed for domestic and export-oriented business enterprises.34

(5) Department of Public Works and Highways. — It shall be the State's engineering and construction arm and is tasked to carry out the policy to continuously develop its technology, for the purposes of ensuring the safety of all infrastructure facilities and securing for all public works and highways the highest efficiency and the most appropriate quality in construction.35 (6) Department of Education, Culture and Sports. — It shall be primarily responsible for the formulation, planning, implementation and coordination of the policies, plans, programs and projects in the areas of formal and non-formal education at all levels, supervise all educational institutions, both public and private, and provide for the establishment and maintenance of a complete, adequate and integrated system of education relevant to the goals of national development.36 (7) Department of Labor and Employment. — It shall be the primary policy-making, programming, coordinating and

31 ADM.

CODE, book IV, title I, chap. 1, sec. 2.

32ADM. CODE, book IV, title II, chap. 1, sec. 2.

33ADM. CODE, book IV, title III, chap. 1, sec. 2. By itspower to "perform such other functions as may be provided by law," prosecutors may be called uponto conduct admin istrative investigations. Lumiqued v. Exevea, 282 SCRA 125 (1997). 34ADM. CODE, book IV, title IV, chap. 1, sec. 2. 35ADM. CODE, book IV, title V, chap. 1, sec. 2. 36ADM. CODE, book IV, title VI, chap. 1, sec. 2.

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administrative entity of the Executive Branch of the government in the field of labor and employment. It shall assume primary responsibilities, for: (a) The promotion of gainful employment opportunities and the optimization of the development and utilization of the country's manpower resources; (b) The advancement of worker's welfare by providing for just and humane working conditions and terms of employment; and (c) The maintenance of industrial peace by promoting harmonious, equitable, and stable employment relations that assure equal protection for the rights of all concerned parties.37 (8) Department of National Defense. — It shall carry out the declared policy to maximize its effectiveness for guarding against external and internal threats to national peace and security, and provide support for social and economic development.38 (9) Department of Health. — It shall be primarily responsible for the formulation, planning, implementation, and coordination of policies and programs in the field of health. Its primary function is the promotion, protection, preservation or restoration of the health of the people through the provision and delivery of health services and through the regulation and encouragement of providers of health goods and services.39 (10) Department of Trade and Industry. — It shall be the primary coordinative, promotive, facilitative and regulatory arm of the Executive Branch of government in the area of trade, industry and investments.40 (11) Department of Agrarian Reform. — It shall provide central direction and coordination to the national agrarian reform program extended to transform farm lessees and farm tenants into owner-

37ADM. CODE, book IV, title VII, chap. 1, sec. 2.

38ADM. CODE, book IV, title VIII, subtitle II, chap. 1, sec. 15. 39ADM. CODE, book IV, title IX, chap. 1, sec. 2.

■“ADM. CODE, book IV, title X, chap. 1, sec. 2.

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cultivators of economic family-size farms to improve their living conditions.41 (12) Department of Interior and Local Government* — It shall assist the President in the exercise of general supervision over local governments and in ensuring autonomy, decentralization and community empowerment.43 (13) Department of Tourism. — It shall be the primary planning, programming, coordinating, implementing, and regulatory government agency responsible for development and promotion of the tourism industry, both domestic and international, in coordination with attached agencies and other government instrumentalities. It shall instill in the Filipino the industry's fundamental importance in the generation of employment, investment and foreign exchange.44 (14) Department of Environment and Natural Resources. — It shall be primarily responsible for the implementation of the policy to ensure for the benefit of the Filipino people, the full exploration and development as well as the judicious disposition, utilization, management, renewal and conservation of the country's natural resources, consistent with the necessity of maintaining a sound ecological balance and protecting and enhancing the quality of the environment and the objective of making the exploration, development and utilization of such natural resources equitably accessible to the different segments of the present as well as future generations.45

4,ADM. CODE, book IV, title 42Reorganized

XI, chap. 1, sec. 2.

by R.A. No. 6975 (Dec. 13, 1990) into the Department of the Interior and Local Government to carry out the policies and purposes of the Act. The Philippine National Police (PNP) is under this Department. 43ADM. CODE, book IV, title XII, chap. 1, sec. 2; Section 2 of R.A. No. 6975 provides: "Declaration of Policy. — It is hereby declared to be the policy of the State to promote peace and order, ensure public safety and further strengthen local government capability aimed towards the effective delivery of the basic services to the citizenry through the establishment of a highly efficient and competent police force that is national in scope and civilian in character. Towards this end, the State shall bolster a system of coordination and cooperation among the citizenry, local executives and the integrated law enforcement and public safety agencies created under this Act." 44R.A. No. 9593 (The Tourism Act of 2009), chap. IV, sec. 5; see ADM. CODE, book IV, title XIII, chap. 1, sec. 2. 45ADM. CODE, book IV, title XIV, chap. 1, secs. 2(1), 2.

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(15) Department of Transportation and Communications. —It shall be the primary policy, planning, programming, coordinating, implementing and regulating and administrative entity of the Executive Branch of the government in the promotion, development, and regulation of dependable and coordinated networks of transportation and communications systems as well as in the fast, safe, efficient and reliable postal, transportation and communications services.46 (16) Department of Social Welfare and Development. — It shal I provide a balanced approach to welfare whereby the needs and interests of the population are addressed not only at the outbreak of crisis but more importantly at the stage which would inexorably lead to such crisis. Following such strategy, the Department's objectives shall be to: (a) Care for, protect and rehabilitate the physically and mentally handicapped and socially disabled constituents, for effective social functioning; (b) Provide an integrated welfare package to its constituents on the basis of their needs and coordinate the service facilities required from such departments or agencies, governmental and nongovernmental, which can best provide them; (c) Arrest the further deterioration of the socially disabling or dehumanizing conditions of the disadvantaged segment of the population at the community level; and (d) Advocate for policies and measures addressing social welfare concerns.47 (17) Department of Budget and Management. — It shall be responsible for the formulation and implementation of the National Budget with the goal of attaining our national socio-economic plans and objectives and for the efficient and sound utilization of government funds and revenues to effectively achieve our country's development objectives.48

46Adm. Code, book IV, title XV, chap. 1, sec. 2.

47ADM. CODE, book IV, title XVI, chap. 1, sec. 2.

48ADM. CODE, book IV, title XVII, chap. 1, sec. 2.

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(18) Department of Science and Technology. — It shall provide central direction, leadership and coordination of scientific and technological efforts and ensure that the results therefrom are geared and utilized in areas of maximum economic and social benefits for the people. It shall formulate and implement policies, plans, programs, and projects for the development of science and technology and for the promotion of scientific and technological activities for both the public and private sectors and ensure that the results of scientific and technological activities are properly applied and utilized to accelerate economic and social development.49 (19) Department of Energy. — It shall prepare, integrate, coordinate, supervise and control all plans, programs, projects, and activities of the Government relative to energy exploration, development, distribution, and conservation, with the end in view of ultimately achieving self-reliance in the country's energy and power requirements without sacrificing ecological concerns.50 — oOo —

4,ADM. CODE, book IV, title 50R.A. No. 7638, secs. 2, 4.

XVIII, chap. 1, sec. 2.

Chapter III

POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCIES A. In General Meaning of powers and functions. While the words "powers" and "functions" are used conjunctively above, they are interchangeable, and if there is any distinction, the latter term denotes a broader field of activities than the former. (1) "Function" is that which one is bound or which it is one's business to do. (2) So far as "power" differs from this meaning, it would appear to refer to the means by which a function is fulfilled.1

Source of powers. The powers of an administrative agency do not always come from a single source. Aside from the instances in which an administrative agency is created and empowered by a provision of the Constitution, the source of the powers of administrative agencies lies in statutes under which they claim to act.2 Failure to exercise powers granted to administrative agencies does not forfeit or extinguish them.3

'1 Am. Jur. 2d 865. ld., at 866; Hijo Plantation, Inc. v. Central Bank, 164 SCRA 192 (1988); Radio Communications of the Phils, v. Santiago, 58 SCRA 493 (1974); Tayug Rural Bank v. Central Bank, 146 SCRA 120 (1986). 2

373 C.J.S. 392; Globe Wireless Ltd. v. Public Service Commission, 147

SCRA 269 (1987). Commission on Audit Circular No. 86-255 restricts government agencies and instru55

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Scope of powers. Not all administrative agencies perform the same functions or exercise the same types of powers. While some act merely as investigative or advisory bodies, most administrative agencies have investigative, rulemaking, and determinative functions, or at least two of such functions.4 (1) Express and implied powers. — The jurisdiction and powers of administrative agencies are measured and limited by the Constitution or law creating them or granting their powers, to those conferred expressly or by necessary or fair implication.5 (a) Thus, since there is neither a statutory nor constitutional provision expressly or even by implication conferring upon the Secretary of Interior and Local Government the power to assume jurisdiction over an election protest involving officers of the "Katipunan ng mga Barangay" (composed of popularly elected "punong barangays" as prescribed by law whose officers are voted upon by their respective members), the Secretary has no authority to pass upon the validity or regularity of the election of the officers of said "katipunan. "