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STATCON 8/13

1 A Study Guide in Statutory Construction: Cases and Materialsby Atty. Jose Jesus G. Laurel (1990 ed.)Read Ch 8

2 Statutory Construction by Ruben E. Agpalo(2009 ed. )

Secs.5.01 - the meaning of a word or phrase should be based primarily on the whole statute, secondarily fromextraneous and relevant circumstances; in order to give effect to the legislative intent5.02 - when the statute defines a word or phrase, then the meaning of thr statutory word or phrase is tobe used regardless of thr ordinary meaning of the word.5.03 - Qualification rule - "as used in this Act" means the statutory definition of the word or phrase is onlycontrolling insofar that said Statute.

5.04 - a word or phrase is to be construed with its ordinanary meaning in the absence of legislative intentto the contrary "for words are presumed to have been employed by the lawmaker in their ordinary andcommon use and acceptation"5.05 - generalia verba sunt generaliter intelligenda (what is generally spoken shall be generallyunderstood). General over restricted sense, UNLESS nature of subject clearly indicates the restrictedsense is intended.5.16 - disjunctive and conjunctive words

A. functions of "or":(1) the use between two phrases or words connotes that either phrase serves as qualifying word orphrase. "it is illegal to bring into or conceal or harbor any alien" means that bring into, coneal and harborare distinct acts.(2) or used as and when the spirit of the law warrants. For example: "preliminary examination orinvestigation" means the lower court has jurisdicton to do both(3) or used as "that is to say" - "based on thr 'gross value in money' or 'actual market value'" the latter wasto explain the former.(4) or used as succession "offended party or parents, grandparents or guardian..." means when one hasfiled a complaint, the other can no longer.B. functions of "and"(1) pertinently used as meaning "together with"(2) "and"a conjunctive word does not mean "or" a disjunctive word(3) restrict the meaning of the broad word when the restricted word is separated by "and"C. function of "and/or"- give effect to both the conjunctive and disjunctive purpose

8.06 - use of "shall" or "must"- directory in nature to confer that what is to be done is mandatory- EXCEPT when the legislative intent was to use it as merely directory. In order to ascertain if it ismandatory and not merely directory is when non-compliance means the act is null.8.07 - use of "may"- connotes opportunity or possibility- directory in nature to confer discretion- only permissive, not mandatory8.08 - when "shall" is construed as "may" and vice versa

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- depending upon a consideration of the entire provision, its nature, its object and consequences fromconstruing it in one form or another4.19 - surplusage and superfluity disregarded- when a word, phrase, or clause in a statute is devoid of meaning in relation to the context or intent of thestatute it can be rejected as surplusage and entirely ignored- surplusage does not vitiate or impair a statute (surplusagium non noceat) or the useful is not vitiated orimpaired by the non-useful (utile per inutile non vitiatur)6.11 - construction to avoid surplusage- the rule that should be given effect as a whole requires that the statute be so construed as to make nopart or provision thereof a surplusage.- all efforts should be should be exerted to give some meaning to every word or phrase used in a statutesince it is supposed that the legislature did not insert a provision that is unnecessary3.07 - punctuation marks- can never control against the intelligible meaning of written words. An argument based on punctuationalone is not persuasive- however, when there is ambiguity, which may be partially or wholly solved by a punctuation mark, it mayconsidered.

- usually used to connote separation3.08 illustration of 3.07"if the charge against an employee involves dishonesty, oppression, or grave misconduct or neglect in theperformance of a duty" - "in the performance of a duty" only applies to grave misconduct or neglect.

Republic v. Toledano, 233 SCRA 9 (1994)Facts:- Respondent Evelyn Clouse, and her husband, wanted to adopt her younger brother- the Clouse couple are considered aliens since Alvin Clouse is a natural born citizen of the US whileEvelyn, natural born Filipino, naturalized as a citizen of the US.- her brother, Joseph Alcala, gave his consent for the adoption along with his mother. In addition, thesocial welfare officer gave recommendation for the adoption as well.- respondent judge allowed the adoption. A petition was filed through the office of the Solicitor Generalcontesting the decision due to questions of lawIssue:Whether or not the respondent couple is allowed to adopt under Philippine LawHeld:- NO. The respondent couple is not allowed to adopt since they are aliens who do not meet the any of theexceptions provided by the Family Code- an alien is not allowed to adopt, the exceptions to the rule are:(1) a former filipino citizen who wants to adopt a relative by consanguinity(2) one who seeks to adopt the legitimate child of his or her Filipino spouse(3) one who is married to a Filipino citizen who wants to adopt a relative of consanguinity of the latter.

- Alvin Clouse does not meet any of those exceptions. On the other hand, Evelyn meets the firstexception provided. However, it is also provided in the Family Code that a couple MUST adopt jointly, sothe STATCON Principle is applied. Since Alvin cannot adopt, the couple cannot adopt.- the case also provided exceptions for joint adoption, which are: (1) those that want adopt theirillegitimate child and (2) those that want to adopt legitimate child of his or her spouse. Since the onebeing adopted is the brother of Evelyn, they must adopt jointly.STATCON Principle:8.06 - use of "shall" or "must"- directory in nature to confer that what is to be done is mandatory

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