Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The Bill of Rights is the list of the most important rights of a citizen. The
purpose is to protect these rights against infringement. The first coded
bill of rights is that of England in 1689, although it already has its Magna
Carta as early as 1215. The United States, from which we borrowed
much of our Constitution, had their Bill of Rights only in 1776.
Section 1: (1st part) No person shall be deprived of life, liberty
or property without due process of law, (2 nd part) nor shall any
person be denied the equal protection of the laws.
There are two parts of Section 1. The parts are as important as
other. The first is termed as the due process clause of
Constitution. The second is the equal protection clause of
Constitution. The parts of Section 1 should be separated. They
identical but are not the same.
the
the
the
are
bill of rights that applies only to Filipino citizens. Section 7 only applies
to Filipino citizens and is not applicable to foreigners.
The idea of government is brought about by two social values; Power
and Freedom. Power, on the part of the government that exercises it and
freedom exercised by the citizen. The governance therefore becomes
the delicate art of balancing the power of the government and the
freedom of the governed. It is the story of governmental power and
constitutional limits on each individual.
The bill of rights protects the right to life, right to liber and right to
property (Section 1). The bill of rights is the restriction of the great
powers of the government. It is a protection against abuse of power, by
the government and the freedom of the governed.
The totality of governmental power is contained in three great powers;
the police power, power of eminent domain and the power of taxation.
These powers are not granted by the constitution. They are inherent
powers of the government without which the government cant exist.
What can the constitution do to these powers? The Constitution
can only define and delimit these powers and allocate their exercise
among various government agencies.
Police power, among the inherent powers has been characterized as
the most essential, insistent and the least limitable of powers, extending
as it does to all the great public needs. Police power is that inherent and
plenary power in the State which enables it to prohibit all that is hurtful
to the comfort, safety and welfare of society. Police power rests upon
public necessity and upon the right of the State and the public to selfprotection. Police power has been used to justify public safety
measures such as building regulations, the regulation of the carrying of
deadly weapons, the requirement of rotational participation in patrol
duty, regulation of gasoline stations and movie theaters and the use of
city roads. Police power has been used to justify public health
measures, as in compulsory connection to sewerage facilities?
In the field of public morals, police power has been used as the basis
for judicial approval of legislation punishing vagrancy, prohibiting
gambling, regulating the operation of dance halls, hotels and motels.
But where a municipality refused to give any permit for night clubs
and any license for professional dancers, the Court declared the
ordinance unconstitutional as going beyond mere regulation into
prohibition of profession or calling which, properly regulated, can be
legitimate.
While gambling may be prohibited, when it is allowed, the courts will not
pass judgment on the choice of the legislature.
The morality of
gambling is not a justiciable issue. Gambling is not illegal per se.
While generally inimical to the interests of the people, there is nothing
in the Constitution categorically proscribing gambling.
What are the rights protected of the due process clause of
Section 1? No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property
without due process of law. Right to life, right to liberty and right to
property.
What is the principal yardstick against which the exercise of
police power can be measured? How may one measure the
exercise of police power? Police must be exercised within the limits
set by the Constitution. In the words of the leading case of US v.
Toribio, the legislative determination of what is a proper exercise of its
police power is not final or conclusive, but is subject to the supervision
of the courts. The principal yardsticks against which such exercise
must be measured are the due process clause and the equal protection
clause.
Case of U.S. v. Toribio is cited by Bernas, the reach of the due process
and the equal protection clauses touched all persons, be they citizens or
aliens, natural or corporate.
What is the extent of the protection of the right to life that is
protected by the Constitution? The Constitutional protection of the
But before in
School
of
Alliance
of
Educators
v.
The constitution as a general rule places the civil rights of aliens in equal
footing with those of citizens. For political rights, however, they do not
enjoy the same protection.
Case of Li Seng Giap; law prohibiting aliens from acquiring certain
public lands was challenged as discriminatory.
Case of Ichong v. Hernandez; the Retail Nationalization Law
Case of King v. Hernaez on the Anti-Dummy Law
A law can offense against equal protection law not only when it classifies,
(classifies but there was a mistake in the classification), but also when it
fails to classify (there is no classification at all). The equal protection
clause is violated.
Case of Villegas v. Hiu Chiong; The Court invalidated a Manila
ordinance imposing a uniform license fee of 50 pesos on all aliens as a
precondition for accepting employment. There was no classification. So
there was a violation of the equal protection clause.
Case of Gumabon v. Director of Prisons; petitioners had been
sentenced to life imprisonment for the complex crime of rebellion with
murder.
Case of Himagan v. People; Ordinary accused (not accused
policemen) when they are accused in court, they are imposed suspension
of maximum of 90 days under Anti-graft and Corrupt Practices Act. But
Court said that there is as yet no cause for the application of the
constitutional rule when what are involved are routine checks consisting
of "a brief question of one or two. For as long as the vehicle is neither
searched nor its occupants subjected to a body search and the
inspection of the vehicle is limited to a visual search. So sa checkpoint,
sabi ng pulis," boss para na yan at checkpoint", tapos "yung flashlight
pakibukas lang po at yung bintana."--- yung pagbukas ng bintana, okay
pa, pero pag sinabeng pati compartment ay bukas, HINDI na pwede yun.
Hindi na considered na visual search yun that is already searching.
Pagka nagflaflash light lang, okay pa yun pero pag naging malikot na,
hndi na pwede yun.
Bago kayo magmatigas o makipag-away man sa pulis, make sure na
walang kahina-hinala sa sasakyan mo. Because under another principle
or exemption, kapag kahina-hinala naman ang kilos ng vehicle that
would give the police officers reason to believe that a crime has been
committed, makakalusot yung pulis na yun.
Court invalidated the search warrant. There must be only one search
warrant for one specific offense.
3. Seizure of evidence in plain view. Kitang kita na. Eg. --- nasa lamesa
na, kitang kita na ng pulis, so hindi na kailangan pumunta sa korte.
4. Customs Searches ----- It is in accordance with the Customs Law.
5. Where there is a waiver of the right againtsillegal searches and
seizures.
objects only after poking around, the discovery would not be considered
as inadvertent (People v. Musa).
In Moreno v. Ago Chi, "An officer making an arrest may take from the
person arrested any money or property found upon his person which
was used in the commission of the crime or was the fruit of the crime.
Both search warrants and warrants of arrest must satisfy the same
requirements as to the probable cause and the manner of its
determination. The 1987 Constitutional provision, specifically imposes
the same requirements for search warrant and warrant of arrest.
Question: May such incidental arrest be made in a place other than the
offender was arrested? This is the case when the accused was arrested
while riding in a jeepney and then the search was made inside his house
----- hindi pwede ito. The search must be done in the place where the
arrest was made.
NOTE: READ about ANIAG v. COMMISSION on ELECTIONS
WAIVER. Waiver must be precise, hindi lang kunwari waiver lang. Like
the "stop and frisk" rule.
from penal
establishment.
Note that one does not need to have a warrant of arrest.
The arrest maybe made immediately.
Section
3.
(1)
The
privacy
of
communication
and
correspondence shall e 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 of purpose in any
proceeding.
In Section 3 of the Bill of Rights, is privacy of communication and
correspondence
be
absolutely
inviolable?
The
invasion
of
communication and correspondence is one kind of a search. What type
of communication and correspondence is then covered by the
provision?--- The provision covers letters and messages. It also covers
wire taps and other methods of electronic tracking.
RA 10175. Cyber Crime Prevention Act, Section 12:
" No enforcement of authority shall be authorized to collect or
record by technical or electronic means tracking data in real file
associated in to the specific communication transmitted by means of
a computer system.
Question: Does Section 3 of the Bill of Rights intrusion to the privacy of
communication and correspondence? What are the conditions for such
allowable intrusion. --- Intrusion is allowed upon lawful orders of the