Chapter 3
The Concept of the State
State (legal concept) – is a community of persons, more or less numerous,
permanently occupying a fixed territory, and possessed of an independent
government organized for political ends to which the great body of
inhabitants render habitual obedience
Nation (racial or ethnic concept) – indicates a relation of birth or origin
and implies a common race, usually characterized by community language
and customs.
Elements
PEOPLE – refers to the inhabitants of the State
Nation (from Malcolm) “A people bound together by common attractions
and repulsions into a living organism possessed of a common pulse, a
common intelligence and inspiration, and destined apparently to have a
common history and a common life”
TERRITORY – is the fixed portion of the surface of the earth inhabited by
the people of the State
Terrestrial Domain – land mass
Maritime and Flivial Domain – inland and external waters
Airial Domain – air space above the land and waters
Art. I, 1987 Constitution
The national territory comprises the Philippine archipelago, with all
the islands and waters embraced therein, and all other territories over
which the Philippines has sovereignty or jurisdiction, consisting of its
terrestrial, fluvial, and aerial domains, including its territorial sea, the
seabed, the subsoil, the insular shelves, and other submarine areas.
The waters around, between, and connecting the islands of the
archipelago, regardless of their breadth and dimensions, form part of
the internal waters of the Philippines.
Archipelago Doctrine – the outermost points of our archipelago with
straight baselines and consider all the water enclosed thereby as
internal waters
The entire archipelago is regarded as one integrated unit instead of being
fragmented into so many thousand islands.
UNCLOS (United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea)
– prescribes the water-land ratio, length, and contour of baselines of
archipelagic states.
– a multilateral treat regulating, among others, sea-use rights over maritime
zones, contiguous zone, and exclusive economic zone, and continental
shelves
GOVERNMENT
– is the agency or instrumentality through which the will of the State is
formulated, expressed and realized.
– promotes the welfare of the people
Requirement of the Constitution: Democratic and Republican
2 Functions of the Government
1) Constituent – compulsory
The keeping of order and providing for the protection of persons
and property from violence and robbery
The fixing of legal relations between husband and wife and
between parents and children
The regulation of the holding, transmission and interchange of
property, and the determination of its liabilities for debt or for
crime
The determination of contractual rights between individuals
The definition and punishment of crimes
The administration of justice in civil caes
The administration of political duties, privileges and relations of
citizens
The dealings of the State with foreign powers
2) Ministrant (optional) – are those taken to advance the general
interest of the society
Doctrine of Parens Patriae – act a guardian of the rights of the people.
Forms of Government
1. De Jure – has rightful title but no power or control, eiher because
this has been withdrawn from it or because it has not yet entered into
the exercise thereof.
2. De Facto – is a government of fact; exercises power and control but
without legal title
3 Kinds of De Facto
i. Gets possession and control,or usurps, by force or by
the voice of the majority
ii. Established as an independent government by the
inhabitants of a country who rise in insurrection
against the parent state
iii. Established and maintained by the military forces
Government Agency – refers to any of the various units of the Republic of
the Philippines, including a department, bureau, office, instrumentality or
GOCC, or a local government or a district unit therein.
Administration – group of person in whose hands the reins of government
are for the time being
SOVEREIGNTY - is the supreme and uncontrollable power inherent in a
State by which that State is governed
Kinds of Sovereignty
a. Legal – has power to issue final commands Eg. Congress
b. Political – has power behind the legal sovereign, or the sum of
influences that operate upon it. Eg. different sectors that mold public
opinion
c. Internal – power of the State to control its domestic affairs
d. External - power of the State to direct its relations with other States;
is also known as independence
Characteristics of Sovereignty
1. Permanent
2. Exclusive
3. Comprehensive
4. Absolute
5. Indivisible
6. Inalienable
7. imprescriptible
