In Reforming Laws

(The Law Process: Amendments)

Bills enacted into laws are binding to the state. It is clear and absolute; but as new issues arise and new ideas come to life, the need for reforms emerges. Thus, the Congress passes new laws and modifies old ones.

Laws come in two general classifications: the 1987 Constitution, which is the supreme law of our land; and all other laws subsequent to it. The latter is the subject of this article, particularly, its process for amendments. Amended laws are curative in nature. It cures defects, if any, of a prior law by adding, revising, or deleting some sections. It is in this process that the new law conforms with the time of its application. Given the meticulous process of enacting them, how can laws be amended?

During a bill’s second reading in the Congress, lawmakers can propose their suggested amendments. These amendments, if any, are engrossed on the bill and are included for the reproduced copies for third reading. When the third and last reading commences, no more amendments on the bill will be allowed.

However,  there are also instances that amendments come after some time, even after decades when the law has long been practiced by the public. The amendments or revisions are introduced to the Congress and a total vote of ¾ must be reached from all its Members. Any amendment to laws can only be treated as valid when it is voted by the majority.

Take note that these proposed amendments to laws, which are long effective,  still start as a bill and go through the same process as if introducing a new law. As what we mentioned in the previous article, how a bill becomes a law undergoes three readings, wherein amendments are introduced on the second. Now, this process of amending law clothes the proposed bill with the necessary adjustments and modifications.  It will also have its own title once enacted.

Many laws have been amended in the Philippines for the purpose of making them more suitable for application. Some of these are RA 10372 which amended certain provisions of Republic Act No. 8293, otherwise known as the “Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines, RA No. 6085 which amended Commonwealth Act No. 142 on regulating the use of aliases or the amendments introduced to the Retail Trade Liberalization Act of 2000 by RA No. 11595, signed into law by President Rodrigo Duterte last 2021.

One landmark case in constitutional law is the case of Datu Kida v. Senate, G.R. No. 196271, February 28, 2012, where one of the main issues was whether RA No. 10153 amended RA No. 9054. The Court held that since the latter only provided a schedule for the first ARMM elections, not providing dates for the next ones, RA 10153 clearly did not amend it. It simply filled the gap that was left in the first law.

Another case which questioned the effectiveness of the amended law was in the case of Cabalit v. Commission on Audit-Region VII, G.R No. 180236, January 17, 2012 as A.O. No 17 replaced A.O. No. 07 and the amendatory law took effect after the hearings had started. In this situation, the Court upheld that the amendatory law is applicable to pending cases and is prospective in nature.

Amendments are necessary for the furtherance of laws. It is by these that the laws adapt to the changing times and challenging milieu. It is only an evidential truth on how the state values its people. After all, we are a government of law, not of people. However, there is a question we have to ponder, if the Constitution is the supreme law of the land and is on the top of the hierarchy of laws, can it be amended like any other laws?

We’ll answer that in the next article.