ARTICLE 111 – BILL OF RIGHTS

Note:

There are some situational cases in this lecture, study and answer it. This will be
discussed later during the synchronous session.

• The Bill of rights governs the relationship between the individual and the
state.
• Its concern is not the relation between individuals, between a private
individual and other individual.
• What the Bill of Rights does is to declare some forbidden zones in the
private sphere inaccessible to any power holder
• The Bill of Rights is the limitation on the powers of the government.
Hence, it cannot be invoked if one who violated the same is a private
individual or entity. Use or invoke only the provisions of the Bill of rights
if the one who violated it is the government.
• The purpose of the Bill of Rights is to protect the people against arbitrary
and discriminatory use of political power. This bundle of rights
guarantees the preservation of our natural rights which include personal
liberty and security against invasion by the government or any of its
branches or instrumentalities.

Case 1:

Yrasuegi vs. Philippine Airlines, G.R. No. 168081, October 17, 2008

Facts: Mr. X is an international flight steward of the Philippine Airlines Inc.

(PAL). He stands five feet and eight inches (5’8”) with a large body frame.
Under the Cabin and Crew Administration Manual of PAL, the weight to be
maintained by all employees shall be 166 pounds. During the time he was
hired, Mr. X met the weight requirement. However, after a couple of years,
Mr. X weighed 205 pounds which is beyond the 166 pounds limit. Mr. X was
given a chance to lose weight, but instead of losing his weight, he gained
more. Thereafter, Mr. X was terminated for violating the company rules. He
filed an illegal dismissal case against PAL. One of the arguments of Mr. X is
that the company rules are discriminatory, it is not fair. In other words, Mr. X
is invoking section 1 of the Bill of Rights of the Constitution.

Issue: 1 Is Mr. X correct in invoking section 1 of the Bill of Rights against

Philippine Airlines Inc. which is a private entity?

Issue 2: Was he validly dismissed?

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 Ruling 1:

Ruling 2:

Article 3, Section1: No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or

property without due process of law, nor shall any person be denied
the equal protection of the laws.

There are two rights that are guaranteed by the above provision, namely:

1. The Right to Due Process

2. The Right to Equal Protection of the Law

Two Kinds of Person in Law

1. Natural Person
2. Juridical Person
• The “person” in the above section may refer either to natural or juridical
person

Concept of Due Process of aw in its Procedural Aspect

By “due process of law’, we mean “a law which hears before it condemns;

which proceeds upon inquiry, and renders judgment only after trial”

Due Process of Law contemplates notice and opportunity to be heard before

judgment is rendered, affecting one’s person or property.

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 Clearly, there are two requirements in order to have due process,

1. There must be notice; and

2. There must be hearing or the opportunity to be heard before judgment
is rendered

Therefore, if there is no due process, the government cannot take way the
life, liberty or property of a person. On the contrary, if there is due process,
then the government may take way the life, liberty or property of a person.

Example:

Mr. X is engaged in the business of Travel and Tour Services. In the year
2001, the Regional Director if the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) issued a
letter of authority to the BIR District Officer in order to assess, review and to
examine the books of accounts of Mr. X. Without any preliminary assessment
notice or any final demand issued to Mr. X, the BIR immediately ordered the
closure of the business of Mr. X.

Issue: Is the BIR correct in immediately ordering the closure of the business
of Mr. X?

Ruling:

Illustrative Case:

City of Manila versus Laguio, G.R. No. 118127, April 12, 2005

The City of Manila passed an ordinance prohibiting the establishment or

operation of business which provides certain forms of amusement,
entertainment, services and facilities in Ermita-Malate area.

Included as prohibited establishments are motels and inn, the purpose of the
ordinance is to prevent prostitutions.

Under the said ordinance, the owners and or operators of hotels and inns that
were already established there shall, within 3 months from the approval of the
ordinance close their business operations or transfer to any place outside of

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 the Ermita-Malate area or convert said businesses to other kinds of business
such as antique shop, coffee shop, flower shop or restaurant.

Malate Tourist Development Corporation questioned the said ordinance for

being violative of the Due process requirement.

Issue: Is there a violation of Due process?

Ruling: Yes, there was a violation of due process. The order of the ordinance
to close or cease the operation of the business or convert the hotels and inns
to coffee shop, etc. is a form of confiscation, taking, seizure or destruction
without any trial or hearing.

Question: Does extra-judicial killing exercise due process of law?

Three Areas Protected by Section 1

1. Life
2. Liberty – freedom to do right and never wrong; it is ever guided by
reason and the upright and honorable conscience of the individual
3. Property – may refer to personal, immovable or movable objects like
land buildings, car, etc. Thus if Ms. X owns a land, it cannot be taken by
the government without due process.

Included in property is employment. Employment is not merely a

contractual relationship; it has assumed the nature of property right

Equal Protection Clause

The 2nd sentence of Article 3 section 1 is called Equal Protection Clause. It

means people of the same class shall be treated alike, under like
circumstances and conditions both as to the privileges conferred and liabilities
enforced. It does not mean absolute equality, for otherwise there would be
injustice.

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 Article 3 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.

Essence of Right to Privacy

It simply means the right to be let alone. This means that the government or
any agencies cannot intrude with the private affairs of an individual.

The Privacy of Communication

Any communication given in confidence cannot be intercepted by the

government. Speeches delivered in public places, mass media and the like
are not covered by the privacy of communication simply because the same
was made in the public.

The Privacy of Letters

Correspondence made in writing is treated with confidentiality. Example, all

information recorded in the registration book of the hotel may not be inquired
into by the police officer because they are strictly confidential. However, if
there is a court order such as search warrant, then it can be taken by the
police.

Open letters or letters posted in social media are not protected by the right to
privacy.

The right to privacy is considered a fundamental right but it is not absolute. If

there is a lawful order of the court or when public safety or order requires
otherwise, then the right to privacy may be impaired or diminished.

Doctrine of the Fruit of the Poisonous Tree (Section 3)

(2) Any evidence obtained in violation of this or the preceding section

shall be inadmissible for any purpose in any proceeding.

RA 4200, Anti-Wiretapping Law

It shall be unlawful for any person, not being authorized by all the parties, to
tap any wire or cable or by using any device to secretly overhear, intercept or
record such communication or spoken word by using a device commonly
known as Dictaphone or dictograph, walkie-talkie or tape recorder.

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 In cases involving the crimes of treason, espionage, provoking war, piracy,
mutiny, rebellion and conspiracy, as long as there is a written order, then any
peace officer may intercept private conversation.

RA 9995 Anti-Photo and Video Voyeurism Act of 2009

It shall be unlawful to any person to take photo or video of a person

performing sexual act or any similar activity or to capture private parts of a
person without the consent of the person/s involved.

The selling, distributing or publishing of this video or photo through CD/DVD,

internet, cellular phones and other device shall likewise be prohibited.

Republic Act No. 10173

Otherwise known as the Data Privacy Act is a law that seeks to protect all
forms of information, be it private, personal, or sensitive. It is meant to cover
both natural and juridical persons involved in the processing of personal
information.

Can hotels give out / release the names of their guests or other information
to someone? Why or why not?

Article 3. Section 6.

The liberty of abode and of changing the same within the limits
prescribed by law shall not be impaired except upon lawful order of
the court. Neither shall the right to travel be impaired except in the
interest of national security, public safety, or public health, as may be
provided by law.

There are two rights that are protected in the said provision:

1. The Liberty of Abode

2. The Right to Travel

Liberty of Abode

The constitution guarantees the right of a person to establish his own

residence or home. In the same manner, any person can also change his
residence or dwelling from one place to another.

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 The Right to Travel

Travelling from one place to another is also a guaranteed right. However,

there are cases wherein this right can be impaired or restricted by the
government. Under the bill of rights to travel can be impaired if any of the
following circumstances are present, to wit:

1. Interest of National Security;

2. Public Safety; and
3. Public Health.

Example:

Mr. X has a scheduled business meeting in Isabela, Basilan on December

15,2014. However, the Provincial Government issued an ordinance banning
all citizens to go there because of the on-going armed conflict between the
terrorist group and the Armed Forces of the Philippines, effective December
13,2014 until after the conflict ceases. Mr. X was very angry because he will
lose millions of pesos if he will not appear in the meeting. He questioned the
ordinance for being violative of his right to travel.

Issue: Is the ordinance banning the citizens to go to Isabela Basilan

Unconstitutional?

Answer:

Example 2:

XXX travel and tour were engaged by YYY University to tour their students
in Ilocos Norte on December 15, 2014. However, the provincial government
of the said province issued an ordinance banning all the citizens to go there
effective December 15, 2014 because of Ebola Virus that already killed 20
persons. Thus, the tour was suspended.

Issue: Was the ban Unconstitutional?

In this time of the global pandemic, our Right to Travel was impaired. Why?

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 All your answers in the cases
stated in this lesson, include it in
the Session 2 Recap File

Continue to the last topic of this

session,

Article 4 – Citizenship

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