Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Labor Law Review First Semester, SY 2017 - 2018: The Labor Provisions of The 1987 Constitution
Labor Law Review First Semester, SY 2017 - 2018: The Labor Provisions of The 1987 Constitution
Labor Law Review First Semester, SY 2017 - 2018: The Labor Provisions of The 1987 Constitution
One of the very significant parts of our study of labor law review, is
identification and recognition of the fundamental and basic principles
specifically provided in our 1987 Constitution. These are:
Section 10, Article II that provides:
The State shall promote social justice in all phases of national
development.
It is commonly believed that social justice is intended for the
protection of the poor and underprivileged as they are considered as having
less in life and therefore they should have more in law. It may not be amiss
to stress that laws which have for their object the preservation and
maintenance of social justice are not only meant to favor the poor and
underprivileged. They apply with equal force to those who, notwithstanding
their more comfortable position in life, are equally deserving of protection
from the courts. Social justice is not a license to trample on the rights of the
rich in the guise of defending the poor, where no act of injustice or abuse is
being committed against them. For in the eyes of the Constitution and the
statutes, equal justice under the law remains the bedrock principle by which
our Republic abides. (Emerson B. Bagongahasa et al. v. Johanna L.
Romuladez, G.R. No. 179844, March 23, 2011)
Social justice — or any justice for that matter — is for the deserving,
whether he be a millionaire in his mansion or a pauper in his hovel. It is true
that, in case of reasonable doubt, the Court is called upon to tilt the balance
in favor of the poor to whom the Constitution fittingly extends its sympathy
and compassion. But never is it justified to give preference to the poor
2
simply because they are poor, or to reject the rich simply because they are
rich, for justice must always be served for poor and rich alike, according to
the mandate of the law. Vigilance over the rights of the employers is equally
important because social justice cannot be invoked to trample on the rights
of employers owners, who under our Constitution and laws are also entitled
to protection. (Buklod Nang Magbubukid Sa Lupang Ramos v. E. M. Ramos
and Sons, Inc., G.R. No. 131481, March 16, 2011).
An employee who is clearly guilty of conduct violative of Article 282
(now Article 296) of the Labor Code should not be protected by the social
justice clause of the Constitution. Social justice, as the term suggests, should
be used only to correct an injustice. As the eminent Justice Jose P. Laurel
observed, social justice must be founded on the recognition of the necessity
of interdependence among diverse units of a society and of the protection
that should be equally and evenly extended to all groups as a combined force
in our social and economic life, consistent with the fundamental and
paramount objective of the state of promoting the health, comfort, and quiet
of all persons, and of bringing about "the greatest good to the greatest
number."
Section 18, Article II provides:
The state affirms labor as a primary social economic force. It shall
protect the rights of workers and promote their welfare.
GOOD LUCK!!!