HUMAN RIGHTS?

Ano ‘yon???
 HR
DEFINITION

UN Definition
HUMAN RIGHTS – those rights which
are inherent in our nature and without
Which we cannot live as human beings.

CHR Definition
HUMAN RIGHTS – are the supreme,
Inherent and inalienable rights to life, to
dignity and to self-development. It is the
essence of these rights that makes man
human.
The 1987 Constitution expressly
enunciates:

“The State values the dignity of every

human person and guarantees full
respect for human rights.

Section 11, Art. II

 life

Person has basic rights dignity

self development
 BASIC CHARACTERISTICS OF
HUMAN RIGHTS

• INHERENT • INDIVISIBLE

• FUNDAMENTAL • INTERDEPENDENT

• UNIVERSAL • IMPRESCRIPTIBLE

• INALIENABLE • INTER-RELATEDNESS
 CLASSIFICATION OF RIGHTS

According to Source: According to Recipient: According to Aspect of

1. Natural Rights 1. Individual Rights
2. Constitutional Rights
3. Statutory Rights
2. Collective Rights
According to Struggle
for Recognition
1. First Generation
2. Second Generation
3. Third Generation
•Right to life
•Right to Dignity
•Right to Self-Development
•Right of People to Survive
•Right of People to Self-
Determination
•Right to Develop as a People
Life:
1. Civil Rights
2. Political Rights
3. Economic & Soc’l Rights
4. Cultural Rights
According to Its
Derogability:
1. Non-Derogable or
Absolute Rights
2. Derogable/Relative not
Absolute Rights
RIGHT TO LIFE – right to live in
a manner consistent with our
common humanity and dignity.
RIGHT TO ADEQUATE
FOOD – right of every man,
woman and child, alone or in
community with others, to
have physical and economic
access at all times to adequate
food or means for its
procurement
RIGHT TO EQUALITY –
right to enjoy and
exercise all HR on an
equal basis and in their
totality
RIGHT TO HOUSING –
right to live somewhere in
security, peace and dignity
RIGHT TO WORK –
right to opportunity to gain
a living by work freely
chosen or accepted
FREEDOM OF OPINION, RIGHT
OF PEACEFUL ASSEMBLY &
ASSOCIATION, FREEDOM OF
MOVEMENT
– these are derogable rights, hence may
be suspended during state of emergency
RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN
THE AFFAIRS OF THE
GOVERNMENT – right to freely,
voluntarily, effectively & fully
participate in the affairs of the
government without sanction or
threat
 DEFINITION OF
RIGHT TO DEVELOPMENT

is an inalienable human right by virtue

RIGHT TO of which every human person and all
DEVELOPMENT people are entitled to participate in,
contribute to, and enjoy economic,
social, cultural and political development,
in which all human rights and funda-
mental freedoms can be fully realized.
 STATE OBLIGATIONS

PRINCIPAL STATE OBLIGATION – to take

steps to the maximum of its available
resources towards achieving progressively
the full realization of HR by all appropriate
means.
 NATURE of
STATE of OBLIGATION

1. OBLIGATION OF CONDUCT – State must

respect HR limitations and constraints on their
scope of action.

2. OBLIGATION OF RESULT – State are

obliged to be active in their role as protector
and provider.
 3 LEVELS OF
STATE OBLIGATION

1. OBLIGATION TO RESPECT – state must abstain from doing

anything that violates the integrity of the individual or infringes on the
individual’s freedom. State practices non-interference.

2. OBLIGATION TO PROTECT – compels the State to take steps to

prohibit others from violating recognized rights and freedoms, to preclude
further deprivation.

3. OBLIGATION TO FULFILL – (facilitate, promote and provide)

ultimate provider of productive resources and, if necessary, goods and
services. It means the State should take the necessary measures to ensure
that each individual has the opportunity to obtain the entitlements of HR
that cannot be secured by personal or individual efforts alone.
 INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON CIVIL
AND POLITICAL RIGHTS (ICCPR)

 Equal right of men and women to enjoy all

civil and political rights (Art. 3)

 Freedom from slavery and slave-trade,

servitude, or forced or compulsory labor
(Art. 8)

 Right to liberty of movement and freedom to

choose residence, to freely leave any country
and to enter his/her own country (Art. 12)
 Equal before the law and equal protection
the law (Art. 26)

 Right of self-determination and to freely

dispose of their natural wealth and resources;
freedom from being deprived of own
means of subsistence (Art. 1)
 INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON ECONOMIC,
SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS (ICESCR)

 Right to enjoyment of just and favorable

conditions of work which ensure, in
particular: a) remuneration; b) safe & healthy
working conditions; c) equal opportunity to be
promoted; d) rest, leisure and reasonable
limitation of working hours and periodic
holidays with pay, as well as remuneration for
public holidays (Art. 7)
CLINCHER:

“ No cause is more worthy than the cause of human

rights. Human rights are more than legal, they are
the essence of man/woman. They are what makes
man/woman human. That is why they are called
human rights. Deny them and you deny man/
woman’s dignity.”
Jose W. Diokno
 Perspective of Being Human
FOUNDATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
1. (BIBLICAL) Spiritual/Moral

2. Philosophical

3. Historico-Legal
• PRE – HISPANIC
• HISPANIC
• KKK/MALOLOS - 1898 Constitution
• AMERICAN COMMONWEALTH – Phil Bill of 1902
1935 Constitution
• POST W W II - Int’l Bill of Human Rights
• MARCOS - 1973 Constitution
• EDSA - 1986 Freedom
Constitution
- 1987 Philippine Constitution
II. ACCDG TO SOURCE
Natural Rights
Constitutional Rights
Legal Rights
Statutory Rights
III. Classification According to Aspects of Life

Civil Rights
Political Rights 1 st
Generation
Economic Rights
Social Rights 2nd Generation
Cultural Rights

IV ACCDG TO RECEPIENT

Individual Rights 3rd Generation

Collective Rights
IV ACCDG. TO DEROGABILITY

Derogable Rights

Absolute Rights
 Civil and Political Rights
Guaranteed by the Philippine Constitution
• Civil Rights in the Philippine Constitution

1.The Right to Due Process of Law (Art III, Sec 1

2. The Right to Equal Protection of the Law ( Art II,

Sec 1)

3. The Right to Life, Liberty and Security of Person

(Art III Sec 2,3)

4. The Rights of an Accused Person (Art III, Sec

11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22)

5. The Right to Freedom of Religion ( Art III, Sec 5)

• The Rights of Freedom of Expression, Free
Speech, Free, Press (Art III Sec 4,

• The Right to Peaceful Assembly (Art III Sec 4 )

• The Right of Freedom of Association, (Art, Sec

8)

• The right to Property. (Art III, 1,9,10)

 POLITICAL RIGHTS IN THE 1987 PHIL. CONSTITUTION

Basic principle: “The Philippines is a democratic and

Republican State, Sovereignty resides in the people
and all government authority emanates from them.
“(Art II, Sec 1)

1. The Right of Suffrage (Art V, Sec 1)

2. The Right to Directly Exercise Legislative Power

Through a System of Initiative and
Referendum. (Art XVII, Sec 2; Art VI, Sec 32)

3. The Right to Information on Matters of Public

Concern (Art III, Sec 7)
 Administrative Detention in Ordinary
Criminal Procedure: Warrantless Arrest
Art. III, Section 1 of the Constitution states that no person
shall be deprived of liberty without due process of law.

Art. III, Section 2 The right of the people to be secure in

their persons against unreasonable seizures of whatever nature
and for any purpose. . . no. . . 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 the
witnesses he may produced, and particularly describing the. . .
persons. . . to be seized.
 An arrest is defined as the taking of a person into
custody in order that he may be bound to answer for the
commission of an offense. It is made by an actual restraint
of the person to be arrested, or by his submission to the
custody of the person making the arrest.

To secure a warrant of arrest, the following

requirements must be met:

(1) it must be issued upon probable cause;

  Probable cause means such facts and circumstances
antecedent to the issuance of a warrant that are in themselves
sufficient to induce a cautious man to rely upon them. In relation
to the issuance of a warrant, probable cause would mean such
facts and circumstances which would lead a reasonably discreet
and prudent man to believe that an offense has been committed
by the person sought to be arrested.

(2) probable cause must be determined personally by the

judge;

(3) such judge must examine under oath or affirmation the

complainant and the witnesses; and

(4) the warrant must particularly described the person to be

seized.
A. Warrantless Arrests

 Article 125 of the Revised Penal Code

allows the detention of persons arrested for some
legal ground but without a warrant, for twelve hours
in cases of offenses punishable by light penalties;
eighteen hours in cases of offenses punishable by
correctional penalties; and thirty-six hours in cases
of offenses punishable by afflictive or capital
penalties.
 Warrantless arrests: Section 5 of Rule 113 – a
peace officer or a private person may, without a warrant,
arrest a person in the following instances:

1) When, in his presence, the person to be arrested has

committed, is actually committing, or is attempting to
commit an offense;

2) When an offense has just been committed and he

has probable cause to believe based on personal
knowledge of facts or circumstances that the person to
be arrested has committed it;
 Warrantless Arrest:
Section 5 of Rule 113

3. When the person to be arrested is a prisoner

who has escaped from a penal establishment or
a place where he is serving final judgment or is
temporarily confined while his case is pending,
or has escaped while being transferred from one
confinement to another.
 B. Waiver to an Illegal Arrest
The right to object to an illegal arrest may be waived. A
valid waiver requires that:

1. the right exists;

2. the person has knowledge that it exists;
and
3. the person has actual intention to relinquish
the right.

… waived if the accused submits to the court’s jurisdiction

by entering plea and participating in trial.
 Rule 114, Section 26

 An application for or admission to bail shall

not bar the accused from challenging the validity
of his arrest or the legality of the warrant issued
provided he raises his objections prior to
arraignment.
 c. Detention Proper
 RA 6975 states that there shall be
established and maintained secure, clean,
adequate equipped and sanitary jails for
persons detained awaiting investigation and
for fugitives from justice. If further provides
that great care must be exercise to protect
and respect the human rights and spiritual
and physical well-being of prisoners.
 Section 11 of (LOI No. 621)
 Further provides guidelines on the treatment of
detainees. It prohibits torture and any other form
of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of
detainees. It obligates to ensure that detainees
are accorded the basic necessities of life. It
states that segregation procedures based upon
considerations of sex, morality, security and
other cogent factors shall be observed.
 Current Detention Practices:
 presumption of innocence does not exist

 lack of adequate food in jails

 cells have no exhaust system, no windows, and no

ventilation.

 detainees complained of the times they had to sleep

standing up because of the crowded jail conditions.

 lack of segregation between male and female prisoners

and between adult and juvenile offenders
 Other Illegal Practices Include
1 The Legally allowable period of twelve,
eighteen or thirty-six hours were often not
complied with;
2 Extended, legalized and repeated detentions
are practiced
3 Maltreatment, physical abuse, extortion, forced
labor and extrajudicial execution are
committed.
Rights of the Detained Person
 Article 111, Sec 12 of the Constitution
enumerates the guarantees in favor of a person
under custodial investigation and maybe applied
to persons administratively detained.

 Custodial investigation is defined as any

questioning initiated by law enforcement officers,
where a person has been taken into custody or
otherwise deprived of his freedom of action in
any significant way. This begins to be available
when the investigation is no longer a general
inquiry into an unsolved crime but has begun to
focus on a particular suspect.
 Article III, Section 12
Constitution during custodial investigation
1 Right to Remain Silent;
2 Right to Counsel;
3 Right to be Informed
4 Waiver of Rights;
 This right to remain silent and to counsel can only be waived
in the presence of counsel and in writing.

5 No torture, force, violence, threat, intimidation or any

other means which vitiates the free will shall be used
against the detainee. Secret, Solitary, incommunicado
or other similar forms of detention are prohibited.
6 Exclusionary Rule
 Any confession in violation of Article III, Section
12 shall be in admissible in evidence against him.
 Republic Act 7438
 Also reiterates and fleshes out the
rights guaranteed by the constitution.
However, it provides a broader protection
as it covers persons arrested, detained
and under custodial investigation. It States
that:
1. The person arrested, detained or under
custodial investigation shall at all times be
assisted by counsel. The investigating officer
must provide him with competent and
independent counsel;
2. The counsel shall at all times be allowed to
confer in private with the person arrested,
detained or under custodial investigation;
3. The public officer or employee or anyone
acting under his order shall inform the said
person of his right to remain silent and to have
competent counsel, of his own choice;
4 The custodial investigation report shall be
reduced to writing by the investigating officer.
Before signature, it shall be read and
adequately explained to him by his counsel in
a language known to him, otherwise, the report
shall be void;
5 Any extrajudicial confession made by the said
person shall be in writing and signed in the
presence of the counsel or upon a valid
waiver, in the presence of his parents, older
siblings, spouse, mayor, municipal judge,
district school supervisor or priest or minister
of the gospel as chosen by him, otherwise, the
confession is inadmissible;
6. Any waiver of Article 125 of the Revised
Penal Code shall be in writing and signed in the
presence of counsel;

7. Any person arrested, detained or under

custodial investigation shall be allowed visits by
any member of his immediate family, doctor,
priest, and national and international non
governmental organizations.
 Article III of the Constitution
Provides other Rights
1 No person shall be held to answer for a
criminal offense without due process of law;
2 In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall
be presumed innocent until the contrary is
proved;
3 All persons shall have the right to a speedy
disposition of their cases;
4 The employment of physical, psychological or
degrading punishment against any detainee
shall be dealt with law.
 Concerning Arrests
1 Majority of detainees interviewed were
arrested without a warrant and in violation of
the various procedural requirements under the
law;
2 Many of the detainees interviewed were
“invited” for questioning. They were later
detained and treated like others directly
arrested;
3 Many detainees were not informed of the
causes of their arrest.
4 The Police employed unreasonable force. A
number of detainees were beaten up at the
time of the arrest;
Concerning Custodial Investigation
1 Many police officers were unaware that
custodial investigation includes “investigation”
for questioning;

2 Many of those arrested were not informed of

their rights to remain silent and to counsel.

3 Majority did not have lawyers at the time of the

investigation. For many, lawyers became
available only during arraignment. On the other
hand, police viewed lawyers as obstacles to
their investigation;
4 Many detainees claimed to have been
subjected to acts of torture or maltreatment by
the police;

5 Many detainees have been subjected to

threats and intimidation while under
investigation;

6 Many detainees were made to sign or

fingerprint documents without them knowing
the contents.
Safeguard and Remedies against
Illegal arrest and Detention
1 Inquest
2 Criminal Liability
 Article 124, Revised Penal Code
 Article 125 Revised Penal Code
 Republic Act 7438
3 Habeas Corpus
4 Compensation
5 Damages/ Torts
6 Bail
THANK YOU
AND HAVE A
GOOD DAY!!