What are the Bill of Rights?

Otherwise known as the "Charter of Liberty", it is defined as the series of prescriptions setting
forth the fundamental rights of the individual and imposing limitations on the powers of
government as a means of securing the enjoyment of those rights.

In other words, the Bill of Rights identifies and compiles our rights as citizens and sojourners
in the Philippines. These rights are granted by the Government and must be protected by it. No
law or government regulation must curtail these rights.

What is the basis of the Bill of Rights?

The Bill of Rights accords great importance to human dignity. Its basis is the social importance
given to the individual in a democratic or republican state. The rights granted in the Bill sees
the lowliest in economic or social status as equal to the richest or most influential because they,
too, are endowed with human dignity.

Why do I focus my discussion on the Bill of Rights?

Emphasis must given to the provisions on the rights of the citizens as it is imperatively desirable
that citizens have adequate knowledge of them. One may better exercise their rights and
discharge their corresponding obligations to others as responsible members of a democratic
society if they are aware of these rights and obligations.

What are those powers of Government that the Bill of Rights seek to limit?

1. Police power
2. Eminent Domain
3. Taxation

These three are the inherent powers of the state. Thus, it is important that when the state uses
or applies these powers through a law or regulatory measure, it does not curtail, step-on or
violate the rights of the citizens. These rights are identified in our Bill of Rights. Thus, every
state action, regulatory or directive, must balance out and take into consideration the welfare
of the common good and the individual’s rights enshrined in the Bill of rights.

What is the relation between the Constitution and the Courts?

Since the Constitution mandates our authority, rights and obligations in a written document,
we may have different interpretations as to its application. This is where the courts sets in. The
courts seek to interpret the actions of the government and individuals and is directed to rule if
these actions are in line with the mandates of the Constitution.

The judiciary occupies a vital and indispensable part in our system of government, for it is the
ultimate guardian of the Constitution.

The political departments, if only because of the nature of their powers, have a tendency to bend
if not actually break the laws, sometimes for the best of motives or out of mistaken zeal, but
more often because of a desire for self-aggrandizement.
When they do so, the judiciary is expected to rectify the wrong and affirm its "sacred and solemn
duty" to uphold the Constitution and the laws of the land.

This role of the judiciary is particularly needed in the protection of the individual liberties
guaranteed by the Bill of Rights.

What is the purpose of studying Supreme Court decisions?

Article 8 of the Civil Code provides that "Judicial decisions applying or interpreting the laws or
the Constitution shall form part of the legal system of the Philippines."

Indeed, the courts exist in order to state what the law is, not for giving it. Judicial decisions,
otherwise known as Jurisprudence, though not laws, are evidence of what the laws mean, and
this is why they are part of the legal system of the Philippines.

The Supreme Court, by tradition, and in our system of judicial administration, has the last word
on what the law is; it is the final arbiter of any justiciable controversy.

In simple terms, Supreme Court decisions are interpretations of laws. They too, become basis
for the proper application of the law.