POLITICS AND GOVERNANCE WITH PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION

LADERA, REA MARECE G. BBF 3-9D

DEFINITION OF TERMS

BILL OF RIGHTS A bill of rights is a list of the most important rights of the citizens of a country. The term "bill of rights" originates from England, where it referred to the Bill of Rights 1689. Bills of rights may be entrenched or unentrenched. An entrenched bill of rights cannot be modified or repealed by a country's legislature through normal procedure, instead requiring a supermajority or referendum; often it is part of a country's constitution and therefore subject to special procedures applicable to constitutional amendments. An unentrenched bill of rights is a normal statute law and as such can be modified or repealed by the legislature at will. In practice, not every jurisdiction enforces the protection of the rights articulated in its bill of rights. NATURAL RIGHTS A natural rights, also called inalienable rights, one of the type of rights that is considered to be self-evident and universal. They are not contingent upon the laws, customs, or beliefs of any particular culture or government. POLITICAL RIGHTS A political rights, one of the classes of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression. Political rights include natural justice (procedural fairness) in law, such as the rights of the accused, including the right to a fair trial; due process; the right to seek redress or a legal remedy; and rights of participation in civil society and politics such as freedom of association, the right to assemble, the right to petition, the right of self-defense as supported by the Bill of Rights, and the right to vote. CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS A constitutional rights are those guaranteed to people and explicitly stated in a government's constitution, which sets forth laws of the region. A familiar example of constitutional rights is the United States of America's constitution, which devotes its first ten amendments to explicitly defining the rights of its people. STATUTORY RIGHTS Statutory rights are an individuals legal rights, given to him or her by the local and national ruling government. These are generally designed to protect citizens. They are typically enforced by local law enforcement, and their violation usually carries a penalty of legal prosecution and punishment. These rights are created by the ruling government of a country through legislation. For example, the statutory rights of the United States are created by the judicial branch of the federal government. They are often based on cultural customs. This means that certain rights bestowed by one country may not be recognized by another.

DUE PROCESS OF LAW Due Process of law implies and comprehends the administration of laws equally applicable to all under established rules which do not violate fundamental principles of private rights, and in a competent tribunal possessing jurisdiction of the cause and proceeding upon justice. It is founded upon the basic principle that every man shall have his day in court, and the benefit of the general law which proceeds only upon notice and which hears and considers before judgement is rendered. PROCEDURAL DUE PROCESS A procedural law enforces those rights or seeks redress for their violation. In US, it is concerned with provisions such as the right to adequate notice of a lawsuit, the right to be present during testimony, and the right to an attorney. Procedural Due Process provides the procedure on how to go about hearing the side of the employee and evaluating all facts and evidences against the allegation. Procedural Due Process must follow the twin notice rule (1) Notice to explain and (2) Notice of decision. SUBSTANTIVE DUE PROCESS Substantive due process (SDP) is one of the theories of law through which courts enforce limits on legislative and executive powers and authority. It provides the ground for disciplinary action, i.e. corrective or retributive. EQUAL PROTECTION OF LAW Equal protection of the law is the right of all persons to have the same access to the law and courts and to be treated equally by the law and courts, both in procedures and in the substance of the law. CLASS LEGISLATION Class legislation refers to legislation that applies to certain persons or class of persons, either natural or artificial, or to certain districts of territory or state. Class legislation violates equal protection guaranteed through the fourteenth amendment of the U.S. Constitution. An Act enacted in the form of private act for the benefit of certain individual is an example of class legislation. RIGHT OF PRIVACY The Right to Privacy is in fact the foundation of most if not all of the human rights and duties that are granted to individual citizens under a Constitutional Democracy! The Right To Privacy is the Mother of all democratic rights.

PROBABLE CAUSE A probable cause is the standard by which an officer or agent of the law has the grounds to make an arrest, to conduct a personal or property search, or to obtain a warrant for arrest, etc. when criminal charges are being considered. It is also used to refer to the standard to which a grand jury believes that a crime has been committed. SEARCH WARRANT A search warrant is a court order issued by a Magistrate, judge or Supreme Court Official that authorizes law enforcement officers to conduct a search of a person or location for evidence of a crimeand to confiscate evidence if it is found. WARRANT OF ARREST A warrant of arrest is a warrant issued by and on behalf of the state, which authorizes the arrest and detention of an individual. CROSS EXAMINATION A cross-examination is the interrogation of a witness called by one's opponent. It is preceded by direct examination (in the United Kingdom,Scotland, Australia, Canada, India and Pakistan known as examination-in-chief) and may be followed by a redirect (reexamination in England, Scotland,Australia, Canada, India, Hong Kong, and Pakistan). INADMISSIBLE EVIDENCE An inadmissible evidence is an evidence that usually lacks reliability, which means that it is not trustworthy. If testimony, exhibits, or documents are found to be immaterial to a case, they may be deemed inadmissible evidence. FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION The term freedom of expression is sometimes used synonymously as freedom of speech, but includes any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used. In practice, the right to freedom of speech is not absolute in any country and the right is commonly subject to limitations, such as on libel, slander, obscenity, incitement to commit a crime, etc. RELIGIOUS FREEDOM A religious freedom is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance; the concept is generally recognized also to include the freedom to change

religion or not to follow any religion. The freedom to leave or discontinue membership in a religion or religious group in religious terms called "apostasy" is also a fundamental part of religious freedom, covered by Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. NON ESTABLISHMENT CLAUSE A non establishment clause is also a constitutional command, with even more operative force, as it is found in the Bill of Rights, which protects individuals from the great powers of the State while laying down specific obligations on what the State may not do to the individuals comprising the Philippine polity. FREEDOM TO BELIEVE The right to belief includes the right to hold a belief, the right to change ones religion or belief, the right to express ones religion or belief, and the right not to hold a belief. The right to believe is not limited to religion. It also includes atheistic beliefs, as well as matters of conscience such as pacifism and conscientious objection to military service. FREEDOM TO ACT IN ACCORDANCE WITH ONES BELIEF The freedom to act in accordance with ones religion/belief is not as wide as the freedom to believe. Limitations can be imposed on how religion is expressed, particularly where matters of public safety or the fundamental rights and freedoms of others are affected. POWER OF EMINENT DOMAIN The power of eminent domain is "the power of the nation or a sovereign state to take, or to authorize the taking of, private property for a public use without the owners consent, conditioned upon payment of just compensation. EXPROPRIATION An expropriation is the politically motivated and forceful confiscation and redistribution of private property outside the common law. Unlike eminent domain or laws regulating the foreign investment, expropriation takes place outside the common law and may be used to denote an armed robbery by revolutionaries. SEQUESTRATION A sequestration is the act of removing, separating or seizing anything from the possession of its owner under process of law for the benefit of creditors or the state. POLICE POWER Police power is the state authority to enact legislation that may interfere with personal liberty or property to promote the general welfare. It consists of (a) an imposition of restraint

upon liberty or property; (b) in order to foster the common good. It is not capable of an exact definition, but has been, purposely, veiled in general terms to underscore its all comprehensive embrace. POWER OF TAXATION Power of taxation refers to the inherent power of the State thru the law-making body to impose proportionate burden among its inhabitants in order to raise revenue to finance government operations and expenditures. PAUPER LITIGANT As used in this Act, the term "poor litigants" shall refer to indigent and pauper litigants as defined under Section 19, Rule 141 of the Rules of Court: "Section 19, Indigent litigants exempt from payment of legal fees, - Indigent litigants (a) whose gross income and that of their immediate family do not exceed an amount double the monthly minimum wage of an employee and (b) who do not own real property with a fair market value as stated in the current tax declaration of more than three hundred thousand (P300,OOO.OO) pesos shall be exempt from the payment of legal fees, x x x " DOCKET FEE Docket fee means a sum of money charged by a court for placing a case on its docket or calendar. In other words it means a set amount chargeable as part of the expenses of the action. PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION Preliminary investigation is an inquiry or proceeding to determine whether there is sufficient ground to engender a well-founded belief that a crime has been committed and the respondent is probably guilty thereof, and should be held for trial. PRIMA FACIE CASE A case in which the evidence presented is sufficient for a judgment to be made unless the evidence is contested.

RIGHT AGAINST SELF INCRIMINATION The right against self-incrimination forbids the government from compelling any person to give testimonial evidence that would likely incriminate him or her during a subsequent criminal case. This right enables a defendant to refuse to testify at a criminal trial and, according to the U.S. Supreme Court, "privileges him not to answer official questions put to him in any other proceeding, civil or criminal, formal or informal, where the answers might incriminate him in future criminal proceedings. RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENCE The right to remain silent is a legal right of any person. This right is recognized, explicitly or by convention, in many of the world's legal systems. The right covers a number of issues centered around the right of the accused or the defendant to refuse to comment or provide an answer when questioned, either prior to or during legal proceedings in a court of law. This can be the right to avoid self-incrimination or the right to remain silent when questioned. The right usually includes the provision that adverse comments or inferences cannot be made by the judge or jury regarding the refusal by a defendant to answer questions before or during a trial, hearing or any other legal proceeding. This right constitutes only a small part of the defendant's rights as a whole. TESTIMONIAL COMPULSION A formal statement of a persons good character and qualifications in a pressure to do something. WRIT OF AMPARO The writ of amparo is a remedy available to any person whose right to life, liberty, and security has been violated or is threatened with violation by an unlawful act or omission of a public official or employee, or of a private individual or entity. The writ covers extralegal killings and enforced disappearances or threats thereof. WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS The Writ of Habeas Corpus (Latin for, To present the body) means that a person has a right to appear before a judge or magistrate and hear the charges against him. This is to prevent the executive from just throwing people in jail whenever it feels like it. RIGHT TO BAIL Bail is a matter of right when the offense charged is punishable by any penalty lower than reclusion perpetua (absolute).

RECLUSION PERPETUA Reclusin perpetua (Spanish, from Latin: reclusio perpetua, meaning "permanent imprisonment") is a particular kind of sentence of imprisonment in the Philippines, Argentina, and several other countries. In the Philippines, it is one of two sentences, the other being life imprisonment, designed to replace the death penalty and is, in legal parlance, almost synonymous with life imprisonment. However, there are several important distinctions between the two terms:

Reclusin perpetua is prescribed on crimes punishable by the Revised Penal Code, while life imprisonment is imposed on offences punishable by Special Laws. Reclusin perpetua carries the accessory penalty in which, as defined by Philippine Law, guilty parties suffer lifetime barring from holding political office. Life imprisonment does not carry this penalty.

Unlike life imprisonment, the length of a sentence for reclusin perpetua is an indivisible penalty of 40 years and cannot be altered during sentencing. Reclusin perpetua does not allow pardon or parole until after the first 30 years of the sentence have been served; after 40 years without pardon or parole, the sentence ends. Life imprisonment does not have any definite extent or duration of imprisonment, and prisoners serving life imprisonment can have parole at any time.

RECOGNIZANCE a recognizance is a conditional obligation undertaken by a person before a court. It is an obligation of record, entered into before a court or magistrate duly authorized, whereby the party bound acknowledges (recognizes) that he owes a personal debt to the state. A recognizance is subject to a "defeasance"; that is, the obligation will be avoided if person bound does some particular act, such as appearing in court on a particular day, or keeping the peace. PRESUMPTION OF INNOCENCE The presumption of innocence, sometimes referred by the Latin Ei incumbit probatio qui dicit, non qui negat (the principle that one is consideredinnocent until proven guilty), is a legal right of the accused in a criminal trial, recognised in many nations. The burden of proof is thus on the prosecution, which has to collect and present enough compelling evidence to convince the trier of fact, who is restrained and ordered by law to consider only actual evidence and testimony that is legally admissible, and in most cases lawfully obtained, that the accused is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. In case of remaining doubts, the accused is to be acquitted.

COUNSEL DE OFFICIO A counsel de officio is the counsel appointed by the court to represent and defend the accused in case he cannot afford to employ one himself MARTIAL LAW A martial law is the imposition of military rule by military authorities over designated regions on an emergency basisusually only temporarywhen the civilian government or civilian authorities fail to function effectively (e.g., maintain order and security, and provide essential services), when there are extensive riots and protests, or when the disobedience of the law becomes widespread. TRIAL IN ABSENTIA It usually means a trial at which the defendant is not physically present. EXPOST FACTO LAW An ex post facto law (from the Latin for "from after the action") or retroactive law is a law that retroactively changes the legal consequences (or status) of actions committed or relationships that existed prior to the enactment of the law. In reference to criminal law, it may criminalize actions that were legal when committed; or it may aggravate a crime by bringing it into a more severe category than it was in at the time it was committed; or it may change or increase the punishment prescribed for a crime, such as by adding new penalties or extending terms; or it may alter the rules of evidence in order to make conviction for a crime more likely than it would have been at the time of the action for which a defendant is prosecuted. BILL OF ATTAINDER A bill of attainder (also known as an act of attainder or writ of attainder) is an act of a legislature declaring a person or group of persons guilty of some crime and punishing them without benefit of a judicial trial. BILL OF PAIN AND PENALTIES A "bills of pain and penalties" is a milder form of a "bill of attainder" in that it is a stutory provision for (non-capital) punishment without judicial determination of guilt. RIGHT AGAINST DOUBLE JEOPARDY, LIFE, LLIBERTY, PROPERTY The Rule against double jeopardy protects the accused not against the peril of the second punishment, but against the being again tried for the same offense.

The right to life is not, however, as inviolable as it might seem at first sight. There are a number of situations where states may deprive individuals of life itself and to which international human rights law does not raise an objection. The use of the death penalty is one such example. SUBPOENA ADTESTIFICANDUM A subpoena ad testificandum is a court summons to appear and give oral testimony for use at a hearing or trial. The use of a writ for purposes of compelling testimony originated in the Ecclesiastical Courts of the High Middle Ages, especially in England. The use of the subpoena writ was gradually adopted over time by other courts in England and the European Continent. SUBPOENA DUCES TECUM A subpoena duces tecum (or subpoena for production of evidence) is a court summons ordering a named party to appear before the court and produce documents or other tangible evidence for use at a hearing or trial. ARRAIGNMENT Arraignment is a formal reading of a criminal complaint in the presence of the defendant to inform the defendant of the charges against him or her. In response to arraignment, the accused is expected to enter a plea.

ENUMERATION

Requisites of Procedural Due Process

1. There must me a court or tribunal clothe with judicial power to hear and determine the matter before it. 2. Jurisdiction must be lawfully acquired over theperson of the defendant or over the property whichis the subject of the proceedings. 3. The defendant must be given the opportunity to beheard (right to notice and hearing before a impartialcourt of law) 4. Judgment must be rendered upon a lawful hearing.

Requisites of a Valid Warrant

5. It must be issued upon "probable cause" 6. Probable cause must be determined personally by the judge; 7. Such judge must examine under oath or affirmation the complainant and the witnesses he may produce; and 8. The warrant must particularly describe the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.

Requisites of Trial in Absentia

9. The accused has already been arraigned 10. He has been duly notified of the trial 11. His failure to appear is unjustifiable

Rights of Person Under Investigation

12. Any person under investigation for the commission of an offense shall have the right to be informed of his right to remain silent and to have competent and independent counsel preferably of his own choice. If the person cannot afford the services of counsel, he must be provided with one. These rights cannot be waived except in writing and in the presence of counsel. 13. No torture, force, violence, threat, intimidation, or any other means which vitiate the free will shall be used against him. Secret detention places, solitary, incommunicado, or other similar forms of detention are prohibited. 14. Any confession or admission obtained in violation of this or Section 17 hereof shall be inadmissible in evidence against him.

15. The law shall provide for penal and civil sanctions for violations of this section as well as compensation to and rehabilitation of victims of torture or similar practices, and their families.

Rights of the Accused During Trial

16. To be presumed innocent until the contrary is proved beyond reasonable doubt. 17. To be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation against him. 18. To be present and defend in person and by counsel at every stage of the proceedings, from arraignment to promulgation of the judgment. The accused may, however, waive his presence at the trial pursuant to the stipulations set forth in his bail, unless his presence is specifically ordered by the court for purposes of identification. The absence of the accused without justifiable cause at the trial of which he had notice shall be considered a waiver of his right to be present thereat. When an accused under custody escapes, he shall be deemed to have waived his right to be present on all subsequent trial dates until custody over him is regained. Upon motion, the accused may be allowed to defend himself in person when it sufficiently appears to the court that he can properly protect his rights without the assistance of counsel. 19. To testify as a witness in his own behalf but subject to cross-examination on matters covered by direct examination. His silence shall not in any manner prejudice him. 20. To be exempt from being compelled to be a witness against himself. 21. To confront and cross-examine the witnesses against him at the trial. Either party may utilize as part of its evidence the testimony of a witness who is deceased, out of or can not with due diligence be found in the Philippines, unavailable, or otherwise unable to testify, given in another case or proceeding, judicial or administrative, involving the same parties and subject matter, the adverse party having the opportunity to cross-examine him. 22. To have compulsory process issued to secure the attendance of witnesses and production of other evidence in his behalf. 23. To have speedy, impartial and public trial. 24. To appeal in all cases allowed and in the manner prescribed by law.

25. To make an unsworn oral or written statement in his or her defence;

Requisites of Double Jeopardy

26. A first jeopardy must have attached prior to the second; 27. The first jeopardy must have been validly terminated; and 28. The second jeopardy must be for the same offense as that in the first.

Instances When Bail Is Not Allowed

29. 30.