Local Legislators' Toolkit - The Sangguniang Panlalawigan ng ...

5. Mood• Always try to express ideas positively rather than negatively.• <strong>The</strong> words “shall” and “shall not” normally imply that to accomplish the purpose ofthe provision, one must act or refrain from acting; hence, in declaratoryprovisions, the indicative mood is appropriate for cases and conditions.• If a right, privilege or power is conferred, “may” should be used.• Avoid the common error of using “shall” to confer a right.6. Voice• Use the active rather than the passive voice. For example: say “No person shallthrow garbage in the rivers” instead of “It is unlawful to throw garbage in theriver.”• Use of active voice in provisions conferring powers or privileges or imposingduties helps avoid vagueness.7. Person• Use the third person.• <strong>The</strong> second person is inappropriate in statutes but maybe acceptable whenwriting administrative regulations directly addressed to an unsophisticated public.• Use gender-neutral language, e.g. use “he/she” instead of “he” for the genericterm “man”, “human resources” instead of ”manpower,” etc.8. Number• Use the singular.• If it is necessary to use the plural, do so but change to the singular, wheneverdesirable.9. Directness• Where the same idea can be correctly expressed positively, express positively.• <strong>The</strong> negative form “no person….unless….” is appropriate in mandatoryprovisions.• Avoid unnecessary modifying adjectives or explanatory phrases, e.g. “real”, “true”113