The Fundamental Law

The new Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines was ratified on February 2, 1987. It has been translated in the regional languages of the various region in the country.This affords the people opportunity to know their constitution upon which ideals of freedom and democracy under the rule of law and a regime of justice are enshrined.

It is important that each and every Filipino will have a working knowledge of their own fundamental law of the land.

BASIC CONCEPTS AND PRINCIPLES

Definition of the basic concepts and principles are required so as to gain a working knowledge of the country's fundamental charter.

Among the terms requiring such is the state.

It is a well-accepted and universally recognized definition that a state is a community of persons more or less numerous, permanently occupying a portion of territory, independent of external control and possessing a government to which the great body of inhabitants render obedience.

Broadly, the term state designates "society" as such. Narrowly, it denotes a particular organ of society like government or a "nation" or the territory that they inhabit.

State is distinguished from a nation as follows:

a. A state is a legal concept while nation is a racial or ethnical concept.
b. A state is composed of several nations or a nation may consist of several nations.
Example: The Arab nation is composed of several independent and sovereign states which are Jordan, Arabia, Iran, Lebanon and Syria.

THEORIES ON THE ORIGIN OF STATES

Several theories indicate how the state came into being. These are:

1. Force Theory
Under this theory, the state came into existence as a result of the superior strength of a single individual or a group of men who imposed on others, thus holding them together by sheer physical power. According to this theory the state is viewed as a necessary result of man's desire for self-preservation.

2. Kinship Theory
Under this theory, the state is simply the result of the growth of the family and rested upon a community of blood relationship. This is a theory which is strengthened by recent ethnological and anthropological research.

3. Divine Theory
Under this theory, the state is regarded as a direct creation of God.

4. Social Contract Theory
This theory contemplates three distinct concepts:
First, man is naturally brutal, selfish and mean, and the state of nature as one of unmitigated rapacity, aggression and war. In such environment, man lived under "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short" circumstances.
Second, for man to better protect the liberties and rights which he enjoyed in his pre-political status, entered into civil society by means of a contract with his fellow human beings in which he and the others voluntarily surrendered certain of their rights and powers into the hands of a common authority.
Third, depicts man as naturally pure and good, and his condition in primitive society is one of ideal happiness. Nevertheless, because of increasing population and the growth of private property, man found it necessary to abandon his pre-political state and to substitute civil society for natural freedom.

KINDS OF STATES DEFINE

1. Tribal State is one where the people and the ruler are bound by blood kinship.

2. City-State envisions the population of a city closely associated with all the people for the common welfare.

3. Dynastic State is considered a political state comprising of land and people under the control of a dynasty through the fortunes of war and marriage.

4. Feudal State depicts a one-man rule essentially over a definite area maintaining title over all lands and collecting rents from the people.

5. Mono-National State is composed of a group of people bound together by common language, tradition,. culture, and aspirations with full cognizance of their existence as a nation, independent of external control, permanently occupying a definite territory with an organized government.

6. Multi-National State is a political aggrupation which comprises of many nationalities, each with its own government.

7. Welfare State is one in which the state is responsible for the general economic and social welfare of the greatest mass of people. In this concept, the governmental activities is held to be an essential means of making possible the attainment of the greatest good for the greatest number.

Sources:
Bruce. The American National Government, 1951
Garner. Introduction to Political Science
Kelsen. General Theory of Law and State
Schmandt and Steinbicher. Fundamentals of Government
Salmond. Jurisprudence