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Article XII National Economy and Patrimony

National Economy refers to the entire structure of economic life in a country. It encompasses all the
activities relating to or concerned with the production, distribution, and consumption, and consumption
of goods and services, and what are called “factors of production” i.e., labor (human resources), land
(and other natural resources) and capital which are utilized to carry out these activities. The different
enterprises engaged in these activities as well as the government agencies charged with the
implementation of laws governing them also form part of the national economy.

National Patrimony refers primarily to the natural resources of our country which under the
Constitution include “all lands of the public domain, waters, minerals, coal, petroleum and other mineral
oils, all forces of potential energy, fisheries, forests or timber, wildlife, flora and fauna,” and “all marine
wealth in its archipelagic waters, territorial sea, and exclusive marine zone.” Our cultural heritage
including historical landmarks form part also of our national patrimony.

Three-fold goals of the National Patrimony

1. Equity-a more equitable distribution of opportunities, income and wealth.

2. Growth-a sustained increase in the amount of goods and services produced by the nation for
the benefit of the people.
Gross domestic product – which is estimated total value of all goods and services produced by
the economy in a given year
Gross national product- which is equal to GDP plus receipts or income from abroad.
3. Productivity – an expanding productivity as the key to raising the quality of life for all, especially
the underprivileged. It is the ability, capacity or degree of effectiveness for making greater and
or better-quality output out of every unit of input employed.

Regalian Doctrine-this doctrine holds that all minerals, coals etc. found either in public lands or in
private lands belong to the State. It was considered a necessary premise for the recognition of the
power of the State to control the exploration, development, and utilization of our natural resources.

Classification of lands of the public domain

1. Agricultural – land devoted principally to the raising of crops such as rice, sugar, tobacco,
coconut etc., or for farming
2. Forest or timber – land producing wood, or able to produce wood, or if agricultural crops on the
same land will not bring the financial return that timber will, or if the same land is needed for
protection purposes.
3. Mineral – land in which minerals exist in sufficient quantity or quality to justify the necessary
expenditures to be incurred in extracting and utilizing such minerals; and
4. National Parks – land maintained by the national government as a place of beauty or of public
recreation, like the Rizal Park, or forested land reserved from settlement and maintained in its
natural state for public use (as campers or hunters) or as wildlife refuge.

Franchise -includes any special privilege or right conferred by the State on persons or corporations. It
may mean:
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a. Corporate or primary franchise – which is the right granted to a group of individuals to exist and
act as a corporation.
b. Secondary or special franchise – which is the right granted to an individual, or to a corporation
after its incorporation, to exercise certain powers and privileges, including those conferred for
purposes of public benefit (such as the power of eminent domain) enjoyed by public utilities.

Public Utility- a business organization which regularly supplies the public with some commodity or
service, such as electricity, gas, water, transportation, or telephone or telegraph service.

Profession-a calling which requires the passing of an appropriate government board or bar examination,
such as the practice of law, medicine, public accountancy, engineering.

Cooperative – a type of business unit through which individual members cooperate in providing specific
types of services of mutual benefit to the membership.

Monopoly is where a single seller or a group of sellers acting in concert actually controls or possesses
the power to control market prices. The real test is “big market power”-ability to influence or to
determine the price which will be charged in the market place, independent of normal economic
pressures of supply and demand.

Restraint of trade (1)in reference to combinations, acts, or practices which interfere with the normal
production and supply of commodities by the suppression of competition therein or by other means and
(2) also with reference to contractual restriction upon the right of a person to engage in trade, business
or profession.

Competition implies a struggle for advantage between two or more forces each possessing, in
substantially similar, if not identical, degree, certain characteristics essential to the business sought. It
means an independent endeavor of two or more persons to obtain the business patronage of a third by
offering more advantageous terms as inducement to secure trade.

Unfair Competition is the unjust appropriation of, or injury to, the goodwill or business reputation of
another. Simulation by one person of the name, symbols, or devices employed by a business rival so as
to induce the purchase of his goods under a false impression as to their origin or ownership.

Article XIII Social Justice and Human Rights

Social Justice – it requires the adoption by the State (Government) of measures that guarantee the right
of all the people to equality of opportunity in all fields of human endeavor and to equitable sharing of
the fruits of social and economic development with special emphasis to such measures that ameliorate
the standard of living of the underprivileged groups.

LABOR

AGRARIAN AND NATURAL RESOURCES REFORM

URBAN LAND REFORM AND HOUSING

HEALTH

WOMEN
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ROLE AND RIGHTS OF PEOPLE’S ORGANIZATION

HUMAN RIGHTS

Commission on Human Rights

One Chairman and four members

Natural-born citizens of the Philippines, a majority of whom shall be members of the bar.

Article XIV Education, Science and Technology, Arts, Culture and Sports

Education – refer to the process of training the physical, mental, and/ or moral faculties of an individual.
The purpose is to provide an individual with knowledge, skills, competence, or usually, desirable
qualities of behavior and character to render him fit for the duties of life.

Free public education in the elementary and high school levels. Elementary education is compulsory for
all children of school age.

All educational institutions shall include the study of the Constitution as part of the curricula.

Teaching of religion At the option expressed in writing by the parents or guardians, religion shall be
allowed to be taught to their children or wards in public elementary and high schools within the regular
class hours by instructors designated or approved by the religious authorities of the religion to which the
children or wards belong, without additional cost to the Government.

The National Language of the Philippines is Filipino.

Language refers to the words, their pronunciation, and the methods of combining them, used and
understood by a considerable community and established by long usage.

Dialect is a variant of a language, especially one restricted to a limited area.

The Official Languages of the Philippines are Filipino and, until otherwise provided by law, English, for
purposes of Communication and Instruction.

Official Language is the prescribed medium of communication in the government, the courts, and the
schools.

National Language is the standard medium of communication among the people.

Arts the branch of learning which involves the application of skill and taste to production according to
aesthetic principles; the conscious use of skill, taste and creative imagination in the practical definition
or production of beauty.

Culture, refers to all those things which go to the refining and developing of man’s diverse mental and
physical endowments.

National Cultural Treasure is defined by law as “a unique object found locally, possessing outstanding
historical, cultural, artistic and or scientific value which is highly significant and important to this country
and nation.”
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Article XV The Family

Family is a group of persons united together by ties of marriage and blood. Applied to group formed by
the spouses and their children.

Marriage refer to the ceremony or act by which a man and woman become husband and wife or to the
state of being married. It is both a contract and a status, the latter being a result of the former.

Article XVI General Provisions

Article XVII Amendments or Revisions

 AMENDMENTS-piecemeal change, specific provisions

 REVISIONS- re writing the whole document

 Congress-3/4 of all members

 Constitutional Convention

 Initiative- 12 % total number of Registered Voter

3% per Legislative District