Análisis de los diferentes usos a la luz de los objetivos generales de la

broadcasting, whether by radio or television stations, is licensed by the Government. Radio and television companies do not own the airwaves and frequencies; they are merely given temporary privilege of using them. A franchise is a privilege subject to amendment, and the provision of BP 881 granting free airtime to the COMELEC is an amendment of the franchise of radio and television stations.

JG Summit Holdings v. CA, 2003: A joint venture

falls within the purview of an “association” pursuant to Section 11 of Article XII; thus a joint venture which would engage in the business of operating a public utility, such as a shipyard must comply with the 60%-40% Filipino-foreign capitalization requirement.

XI. Preferential Use of Filipino Labor

Section 12. The State shall promote the preferential use of

Filipino labor, domestic materials and locally produced goods, and adopt measures that help make them competitive.

Section 13. The State shall pursue a trade policy that serves

the general welfare and utilizes all forms and arrangements of exchange on the basis of equality and reciprocity.

XIII. Sustained Development of Human Resource; Practice of Profession

Section 14. The sustained development of a reservoir of

national talents consisting of Filipino scientists, entrepreneurs, professionals, managers, high-level technical manpower and skilled workers and craftsmen in all fields shall be promoted by the State. The State shall encourage appropriate technology and regulate its transfer for the national benefit.

The practice of all professions in the Philippines shall be limited to Filipino citizens, save in cases prescribed by law.

XIV. Cooperatives

Section 15. The Congress shall create an agency to promote

the viability and growth of cooperatives as instruments for social justice and economic development.

In Cooperative Development Authority v. Dolefil

Agrarian Reforms Beneficiaries Cooperative, 2002,

the Supreme Court said that, after ascertaining the clear legislative intent of RA 6939, it now rules that the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) is devoid of any quasi-judicial authority to adjudicate intra-cooperative disputes and, more particularly, disputes related to the election of officers and directors of cooperatives. It may however, conduct hearings and inquiries in the exercise of its administrative functions.

XV. GOCCs

Section 16. The Congress shall not, except by general law, provide for the formation, organization, or regulation of private corporations. Government-owned or controlled corporations may be created or established by special charters in the interest of the common good and subject to the test of economic viability.

XVI. Temporary State Take-Over

Section 17. In times of national emergency, when the public

interest so requires, the State may, during the emergency and

under reasonable terms prescribed by it, temporarily take over or direct the operation of any privately-owned public utility or business affected with public interest.

Takeover of Public Utilities. The power given to

the President to take over the operation of public utilities does not stand alone. It is activated only if Congress grants emergency powers to the President under Article VI, Section 23.200

XVII. Nationalization of Industries

Section 18. The State may, in the interest of national welfare

or defense, establish and operate vital industries and, upon payment of just compensation, transfer to public ownership utilities and other private enterprises to be operated by the Government.

XVIII. Nationalization of Industries

Section 19. The State shall regulate or prohibit monopolies

when the public interest so requires. No combinations in restraint of trade or unfair competition shall be allowed.

Monopoly. A monopoly is “a privilege or peculiar

advantage vested in one more persons or companies, consisting in the exclusive right (or power) to carry on a particular business or trade, manufacture a particular article, or control the sale of a particular commodity.” Clearly, monopolies are not per se prohibited by the Constitution but may be permitted to exist to aid the government in carrying on an enterprise or to aid in the performance of various services and functions in the interest of the public. However, because monopolies are subject to abuses that can inflict severe prejudice to the public, they are subjected to a higher of State regulation than an ordinary business undertaking (Agan Jr. v. PIATCO)

The Constitution does not absolutely prohibit monopolies. Thus for example, an award for stevedoring and arrastre services to only one corporation is valid. (Philippine Authority v. Mendoza)

Be that as it may, in Tatad v. Sec., 1997, the Supreme Court declared that Article XII, Section 19 is anti-trust in history and spirit; it espouses competition. The desirability of competition is the reason for the prohibition against restraint of trade, the reason for the interdiction of unfair competition, and the reason for the prohibition in unmitigated

200

_{Obiter in David v. Ermita, G.R. No. 171409, May 3,}

monopolies. A market controlled by one player (monopoly) or dominated by a handful of players (oligopoly) is hardly the marker where honest-to- goodness competition will prevail. In this case, it cannot be denied that our downstream oil industry is operated and controlled by oligopoly, foreign oligopoly at that. So, of only to help the may who are poor from further suffering as a result of unmitigated increase in the prices of oil products due to deregulation, it is a must that RA 8180 be repealed completely.

In Tanada v. Angara, 272 SCRA 18, the Supreme Court said that the WTO does not violate Article II Section 19, nor Sections 19 and 12 of Article XII, because these sections should be read and understood in relation to Sections 1 and 13 of Article XII, which require the pursuit of trade policy that “serves the general welfare and utilizes all forms and arrangements of exchange on the basis of equality and reciprocity.”

In Association of Philippine Coconut Desiccators v.

Philippine Coconut Authority, 1998, the Supreme

Court declared that although the Constitution enshrines free enterprise as a policy, it nevertheless reserves to the Government the power to intervene whenever necessary for the promotion of the general welfare, as reflected in Sections 6 ad 19 of Article XII.

Monopolies in restraint of trade. Contracts

requiring exclusivity are not per se void. Each contract must be viewed vis-à-vis all the circumstances surrounding such agreement in deciding whether a restrictive practice should be prohibited as imposing an unreasonable restraint on competition.201

XIX. Central Monetary Authority

Section 20. The Congress shall establish an independent

central monetary authority, the members of whose governing board must be natural-born Filipino citizens, of known probity, integrity, and patriotism, the majority of whom shall come from the private sector. They shall also be subject to such other qualifications and disabilities as may be prescribed by law. The authority shall provide policy direction in the areas of money, banking, and credit. It shall have supervision over the operations of banks and exercise such regulatory powers as may be provided by law over the operations of finance companies and other institutions performing similar functions. Until the Congress otherwise provides, the Central Bank of the Philippines operating under existing laws, shall function as the central monetary authority.

201

_{Avon v. Luna, G. R. No. 153674, December 20,}

2006.

XX. Foreign Loans

Section 21. Foreign loans may only be incurred in accordance

with law and the regulation of the monetary authority. Information on foreign loans obtained or guaranteed by the Government shall be made available to the public.

XXI. Penal Sanctions

Section 22. Acts which circumvent or negate any of the

provisions of this Article shall be considered inimical to the national interest and subject to criminal and civil sanctions, as may be provided by law.