Concept of Human Rights

HUMAN RIGHTS

•I t is refer to anything that are properly and justly

due to a person by virtue of his being human.
 ……According to Senator Jose Diokno
• Man’s basic right :
-right to life
-right to health
-to own a property
-to work
-to form trade union
-to MARRY
 ……According to Senator Jose Diokno
• Man’s Second basic right :
- human dignity
-honor and reputation
-freedom of opinion and
expression
-equal treatment before the law
 ……According to Senator Jose Diokno
• Man’s Third basic right :
-education
-share in the cultural life our
community
-to form association with our fellows
 Bill Of Rights

• Article III-Bill of Rights

-an enumeration of the people’s right’s that
the constitution guarantees and protects against government
violation, or by individual/s.

- there are certain areas in a person's, liberty

and property that government power should not encroach upon
in a democratic state.
 THREE GREAT POWERS OF GOVERNMENT

Without this 3 great powers government cannot perform it’s

function and cannot exist.
 Police Power
It is the inherent power of the state to
prohibit all that is hurtful to the
comfort, safety and welfare society .
 4 laws under POLICE POWER

 Public Health

laws restricting of importation of

harmful drugs, maternity leave, restraining mobility of those
infected with AIDS
Public Safety
• Laws on driving without license, carrying of deadly weapons

Public Welfare

• Laws on regulating rent of apartment/houses,

price control
Public Morals
• Laws prohibiting gambling, closing movie houses
exhibiting lewd films.
Power Of Eminent Domain
• It is the right to the state to appropriate, not only the
public, but also private property of all citizens for
public purposes.
Power of Taxation
• Refers to the power of the state to impose a burden
on income or property of citizens.
Classes Of Rights Of Citizens
• Natural Rights
those inherent to a person as a creation of
GOD.

Example:
Right to Life and Right to LOVE.
Classes Of Rights Of Citizens
• Constitutional Rights
those which are granted and protected by the
constitution.
Constitutional rights categorized into:
• Political Rights
-right to participate in affairs of government
such as the right to suffrage, right of citizenship, and
the right to petition the government for redness of
grievances.

• Civil Rights
-those rights that a citizen enjoys in pursuance
of individual happiness and developments such as right
against involuntary servitude.
Classes Of Rights Of Citizens
• Statutory Rights
-they refer to rights provided by laws
which are granted by the legislature.
Individual Rights In Relation To society and State Authority
Right means privilege to claim and do what one is justly
entitled.

Freedom means to be free to do anything at will without

prior restraint.
Right to Life, Liberty and Property
• There are 5 Human rights enumerated in this
section:
 Right to life
 Right to liberty
 Right to property
 Right to due process of law
 Right to equal protection of the law
Due process of LAW
• A right enshrined in the constitution.
Two aspects:
Procedural due process
-refers to the manner which must be
followed in the enforcement of LAW.
Substantive due process
-means that the law to be applied
should be valid, just and not arbitrary.
Equal Protection of the Law

• It means equality of all persons before the LAW

whether he is rich or poor.
 Rights against Illegal Search, Seizure and Arrest

Article 3, Section 2 of the Philippine Constitution

• The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects
against unreasonable searches and seizures of whatever nature and for any
purpose shall be inviolable, and no search warrant or warrant of arrest shall
issue except upon probable cause to be determined personally by the judge after
examination under oath or affirmation of the complainant and the witnesses he
may produce, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons
or things to be seized.
Elements of a good evidence:

• It must be relevant
• It must be material
• It must be competent

Requisites for a valid warrant of arrest or search warrant:

• There should be probable cause

• It must be personally determined by a judge
• It should be examined under oath or affirmation of the complainant and the witness he may
produce.
• Place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized should be particular, not general.
 The Bid for Warrantless Arrest
• In July 9, 1990, The Supreme Court, handed down a very controversial, which caused militant groups
and advocates of human rights to take the street in vigorous protest.

This is known as the Umil versus Ramos case, 187 SCRA 311.

• In 1993, the Philippine National Police ( PNP ) submitted to Congress a proposed amendment on the
ban of warrantless arrest in the Revised Penal Code of 1985. one of the proponents of this is, Senator
Panfilo Lacson, when he was the Director General of the PNP.

• What the PNP wants is the change of the phrase

“personal knowledge” to “reasonable knowledge”
as grounds to effect arrest without warrant.
Warrant-less Arrests:
• In flagrante delicto
• Hot pursuit
• Escapee
Warrant-less Searches:
• Search incident to lawful arrest
Arrest precedes search
• Consented Search
• Plain-view search
• Checkpoints
• Administrative Searches
• At airports
Rights to Privacy
Every person has the right to keep his communication or correspondence a secret to
anybody.

The privacy of communication and correspondence is protected by section 3, which

states that:

• Section 3. (1) The privacy of communication and correspondence shall be

inviolable except upon lawful order of the court, or when public safety or order
requires otherwise, as prescribed by law.

• (2) Any evidence obtained in violation of this or the preceding section shall be
inadmissible for any purpose in any proceeding.
Section 3 supplements and strengthens the protection
given by the prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures.

This is to prevent the intrusion to right to privacy by government law-enforcers on individuals suspected of
violating a law.

To enforce this constitutional provision,

R.A. 4200 ( Anti-Wiretapping Law ) provides penalties for specific violations of private communications.

However, allows court-authorized taps for:

• Kidnapping
• Inciting to sedition
• Rebellion among others
Freedom of expression

Section 4 provides that “No law shall be passed

abridging the freedom of speech, of expression, or
of the press or the right of the people peaceably to
assemble and petition the government for redress
of grievances.
• Freedom of speech means an individual is free to speak or utter what he wants without prior
restraint.

• Freedom of the press means an individual is free to write, publish, and circulate whatever he pleases
without restraint.

• Speech and expression refers to any form of oral utterances while press covers very sort of publication
such as newspapers, magazines, books, leaflets and the like radio and television are also included.

• Freedom of speech and expression and freedom of the press are collectively called freedom of
expression, which includes every form of expression whether oral, written, tape or disc recorded.

• It also covers movies, picketing and symbolic speech such as wearing armband as a symbol of protest.
Importance of freedom of expression…
• It encourages exploration of ideas and • It brings government officials to the bar of
dissemination of knowledge, which are of public opinion and criticism in the exercise of
public benefit and interest their duties

• It enables the citizens to be informed of

government acts and policies • It helps prevent irregularities in any
department of government
There are 3 standards in regulating freedom of expression
• The Dangerous Tendency Rule
-Freedom of expression is restricted and speech may be curtailed or punished if the speech or
statements made by an individual in a public assembly or gathering have the tendency to create
disturbance or breach of peace or may cause the listeners to act in defiance of government such as in
the case of seditious speech.
• The Clear and Present Danger Rule
-The right of assembly and the right to petition the government for redress of grievances as
part of freedom of expression are guaranteed by the constitution to be held without fear of
subsequent punishment.
• The Balancing of Interest Rule
-The restriction on the freedom of expression rest on the premise that freedoms are not
absolute and that they may be abridged to some extent to serve appropriate and important interest
RIGHT TO FORM
ASSOSIATION
Section 8 provides that, “The right of the people,
including those employed in the public and private
sectors, to form unions, associations, or societies for
purpose not contrary to law shall not be abridged
• This right means that any person has the freedom to organize or to be a member of any group, association,
union, or society and to adopt the rules that are appropriate to achieve the purpose of the organization

• Section 8 upholds this right that even government employees can now organize themselves.

• Purposively this provision encourages formation of different organization that seek to advance the interest and
welfare of members in cooperative endeavors.

• There was a practice before by some companies that requires an employee to sign an agreement as a condition
for his employment that he will not join any labor union.

• This is called yellow dog contract.

• Such practice constitutes violation of section 8 and a form of unfair labor practice.
• But the right to form or be a member of organization is not absolute.

• The state, through its police power interferes when the organization or association has a purpose contrary law.

• As stated even government employees can organize themselves

• Formerly it is only private employees who can organize labor unions

• Now employees in the public sector can organize themselves for collective endeavors and advanced their interest

• But the right to organize given to government employees does not include the right to strike

• The right to strike is a tool of the employees to press their demands to their employers.
RIGHT TO PROPERTY
The right to own and dispose
property at will is an inherent right
of an individual hence, Section
states, that “Private property shall
not be taken for public use without
just compensation.”
• Section 9 is a constitutional provision on eminent domain that sets the limits of
government to take private property for public use

(see also Art. XII Sec.18; Art. XIII Sec 4;Art. XVIII Sec. 22 which are specific
examples of the use of power of eminent domain

• The power of eminent domain can be exercised by the national government or by

local government, public entities or public utilities by delegation.
Condition For or limitation upon its exercise
• Existence of public use
-It refers to broad concept that covers anything that may be beneficial to the community

• Payment of just compensation

-The amount to be paid for the expropriated property shall be determined by the proper court
based on the fair market value at the time of taking

• Observance of due process of law in the taking

-The owner shall have due notice and hearing in the expropriation proceedings especially if
the owner of the private property is against selling it to the government.
RIGHT OF THE
ACCUSED
Section 11 to Section 21 refers to the constitutional
rights of the accused. It may be stated that these
rights are accorder to the accused to make sure that
there would be no miscarriage of justice
Specifically, these rights underlie the following:

• Criminal case is an unequal contest between the accused and government since all criminal offenses
are public crimes that government must prevent.

• Criminal accusation is a very serious matter. You and your family will suffer immeasurably, whether
you are guilty or not, if you are accused of criminal offense.

• Protection of innocent must be ensured. From the list of the rights of the accused, it may seem that
the accused is given preference than the victim.
Constitutional rights of the accused in criminal cases are:
• The right to adequate legal assistance.
• The right when under investigation for the commission of an offense, to be
informed of his right to remain silent and to counsel.
*That he has a right to remain silent
*Anything he says can and will be used against him in court
*That he has a right of counsel and that if he cannot afford one,
government will provide him
• The right against the use of torture, force, violence, threat, intimidation or any
others means which vitiates the free will.
• The right against being held secret, incommunicado, or similar forms of
solitary detention
• The right to bail and against excessive bail (Sec.13)
• The right to due process of law
• The right to be heard by himself and council.
• The right to be informed of the nature and cause of accusation against him.
• The right to have speedy, impartial and public trial.
• The right to meet the witness face to face
• The right to have compulsory process to secure the attendance of the witnesses and the production of
evidence in his behalf.
• The right against self-incrimination
• The right against detention by reason of political beliefs and aspiration
• The right against excessive fines
• The right against cruel, degrading or inhuman punishment.
• The right against infliction of the death penalty except for heinous crimes
• The right against double jeopardy.
RIGHT AGAINST DOUBLE
JEOPARDY
Section 21 provides that “No person shall be twice
put in jeopardy of punishment for the same offense.
If an act is punished by a law and an ordinance,
conviction or acquittal under either shall constitute
a bar to another prosecution for the same act.”
REQUSITES FOR EXISTENCE OF DOUBLE JEOPARDY
• He has been previously brought to trial.

• In a court of competent jurisdiction.

• Under a valid complaint or information, which is sufficient in from and substance to sustain a
conviction

• He has been arraigned and pleaded either guilty or not guilty or not guilty to the charge

• He has been convicted or acquitted or the case against him has been dismissed or otherwise
terminated without his express consent

• He has been charge again for the same offense.

Privilege of the
writ of habeas corpus
Section 15 states that, “The
privilege of the writ of habeas
corpus shall not be suspended
except in cases of invasion or
rebellion when the public safety
requires it(see also Art. VII, Sec.18).
The writ of habeas corpus
• Is an order issued by a court of competent jurisdiction, directed to the person detaining another,
commanding him to produce the body of the prisoner at a designated time and place, and to show
sufficient cause for holding in custody the individual so detained.

• The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus is the proper remedy and recourse of a person against
illegal detention and restrain by another person or by any peace officer

• It is a right that can be used to determine immediately the legality of detention of a person by
authorities
SUSPENSION OF
THE PRIVELEGE OF THE WRIT
The president can suspend the privilege of the writ
of habeas corpus(Art. VII, Sec.18) but only in other
cases
• 1.Invasion or rebellion

• 2.When public safety requires it.

• During its suspensions a person under detention by government cannot invoke the privilege:

• Any citizen however, may question before the Supreme Courts the factual basis of the president
suspension.

• The president can suspend the privilege on a national basis or just a portion of the country

• The privilege may be suspended so as not to tamper the State in swiftly addressing the problems in
cases of invasion and rebellion or when public safety is threatened