POLICE POWER

1. What is the scope of the police power?

              "The Supreme Court has said that police power is so far-reaching that it has almost become impossible to limit its sweep. It derives its existence from the very existence of the State itself, it does not need to be expressed or defined in its scope; it is said to be co-extensive with self-protection and survival, and as such it is the most positive and active of all governmental processes, the most essential, insistent and illimitable. Especially it is so under the modern democratic framework where the demands of society and nations have multiplied to almost unimaginable proportions. The field and scope of police power have become almost boundless, just as the fields of public interest and welfare, they cannot delimit beforehand the extent or scope of the police power by which and through which the state seeks to attain or achieve public interest and welfare. " (Ichong vs Hernandez)
            
      Police power does not involve the taking or confiscation of property with the exception of a few cases where there is the need to destroy it for the purpose of protecting the peace and order and of promoting the general welfare as for instance, the confiscation of an illegally possessed article, such as opium and firearms.(City Government of Quezon City vs Ericta)



2. What are the characteristics of police power?

               
               It may be exercised as long as the activity or the property sought to be regulated has some relevance to the public welfare.

               The person's acts and acquisitions are hemmed in by the police power.

               The impairment clause must yield to the police power whenever the contract deals with a subject affecting the public welfare.

               The police power is dynamic, not static, and must move with the moving society it is supposed to regulate.

               The police power may sometimes use the taxing power as an implement for the attainment of a legitimate police objective. Likewise, the power of eminent domain could be used as an implement of the police power.

3. Which branch of government may exercise the police power?

            The exercise of the police power lies in the  discretion of the legislative department.

4. May a judicial process compel the legislative department to act on a police problem?

            No. No mandamus is available to coerce the exercise of the police power.


5. What is the remedy to legislative inaction?

           The only remedy is the refusal of the electorate to return to the legislature members who, in their view, have been remiss in the discharge of their duties.


6. May the judiciary inquire into the choice of measures or remedies of the legislature on the ground that it is not the best one?

           No. These are political questions and therefore off-limit to the judiciary. In same manner, the ascertainment of facts upon which the police power is to be based is likewise a legislative prerogative.
But if the measures chosen are intrinsically invalid, courts have the right and the obligation to declare them so.

7. What are the tests to determine the validity of a police measure?


         (1) Lawful Subject. The subject of the measure is within the scope of the police power, that is, that the activity or property sought to be regulated affects the public welfare.

          (2) Lawful Means. The lawful objective must be pursued through a lawful method. The means employed for the accomplishment of the police objective must pass he test of reasonableness and, specifically, conform to the safeguards embodied in the Bill of Right for the protection of private rights.