GE 9 – Module VI

Articles XI – XV

Objectives: at the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:

1. To discuss the accountability of public officers

2. To explain the national economy and patrimony
3. To appreciate social justice and human rights
4. To cite the relevance of education, science and technology, arts, culture, and sports
5. To recognize the importance of the family.

Article XI: Accountability of Public Officers

Section 1: Public office is a public trust

Public Office – is defined as the right, authority, and duty created and conferred by law in a given
period either fixed by law or enduring at the pleasure of the supporting power.

Public officer – is the in dividual invested with some portion of the sovereign functions of the
government for the benefit of the public.

Nature of Public Office:

1. It is a public trust because it renders service to the public.

2. It is not a property for the holder of public office may not claim vested right in it.
3. It is not a contract because one has no right to sue the government for the recovery of damages
which he may suffer from his removal from office.

The principle of accountability is emphasized in this section. All public officers and servants must
consider their positions as sacred trusts and not as a means for achieving power and wealth.

Section 2. Nature of impeachment

Impeachment has been defined as a method of national inquest into the conduct of public men. It
aims to protect the people from official delinquencies or malfeasances.

Officials Removable by Impeachment:

1. The president and the vice-president

2. Members of the Supreme Court
3. Members of the Constitutional Commissions
4. The Ombudsman

Grounds for Impeachment:

1. Culpable violation of the Constitution

2. Treason: example when a Filipino imposes war in the Philippines
3. Bribery either direct or indirect

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 4. Graft and corruption
5. Betrayal of public trust

Section 3: Initiating and Trial for Impeachment:

The House of Representatives has the sole power to initiate all cases of impeachment. The Senate
has the sole power to try all cases of impeachment.

Procedure in Impeachment Cases:

1. Filing of verified complaint in the House of Representatives

2. Trial by the Senate - The members are required to be under oath or affirmation.
3. Requirement for conviction
 To convict an officer, at least 2/3 of all members of the Senate agreeing are necessary.
 The only penalty to impose in an officer is limited to removal from office and disqualification
to hold any office under the Republic of the Philippines. If a criminal offense has been
committed, the party convicted is still liable to prosecution, trial and punishment.
 The power of the President to grant reprieves, commutations, and pardons does not
extend to cases of impeachment.

Section 4: Anti-graft Court known as the Sandiganbayan

The Sandiganbayan was a special court created by the Batasang Pambansa under the 1973
Constitution.

Section 5: Office of the Ombudsman to be known as Tanodbayan. Tanodbayan is a coined term in

Filipino which literally means “ guardians of nations.” It is categorized like the three Constitutional
Commissions as independent. It is known as the Office of the Special Prosecutor.

Section 8: Qualifications of Ombudsman Deputies:

1. Natural-born citizens of the Philippines

2. At least forty years of age at the time of the appointment
3. Persons with recognized probity and independence
4. Members of the Philippine Bar
5. Not have been candidates for any elective office in the preceding election.

Article XII: National Economy and Patrimony

National Economy - refers to the entire structure of economic life in the country.

National Patrimony - consists of the national wealth and possessions of a country derived or acquired
from the past, or from past generations and, in turn, transmitted to the next, and so on successively.

Lands of public domain are classified into agricultural, forest or timber, mineral lands, and national
parks. Agricultural lands of the public domain may be classified by law according to the use to which
they may be devoted. Alienable lands of the public domain shall be limited to agricultural lands. Private
corporations or associations may not hold such alienable lands of public domain except by lease, for a

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period not exceeding twenty-five years, renewable for not more than twenty-five years, and not exceed
one thousand hectares in area. Citizens of the Philippines may lease not more than five hundred
hectares or acquire not more than twelve hectares thereof by purchase, homestead, or grant.

Article XIII: Social Justice and Human Rights

The Congress shall give highest priority to the enactment of measures that protect and enhance the
right of all people to human dignity; reduce social, economic, and political inequalities; and remove
cultural inequalities by equitably diffusing wealth and political power for the common good.

To this end, the State shall regulate the acquisition, ownership, use, and disposition of property and
its increments, i.e., fruits and gains.

The promotion of social justice shall include the commitment to create economic opportunities
based on freedom of initiative and self-reliance.

LABOR

The state shall afford full protection to labor, local and overseas, organized and unorganized, and
promote full employment and equality of employment opportunities for all.
It shall guarantee the rights of all workers to self-organization, collective bargaining and negotiations,
and peaceful concerted activities, including the right to strike in accordance with law. They shall be
entitled to security of tenure, humane conditions of work, and a living wage. They shall also participate
in policy and decision-making processes affecting their rights and benefits as may be provided by law.

HUMAN RIGHTS

There is hereby created an independent office called the Commission of Human Rights. The
Commission shall be composed of a chairman and four members who must be natural-born citizens of
the Philippines and a majority of whom shall be members of the Bar. The term of office and other
qualifications and disabilities of the members of the Commission shall be provided by law.

Article XIVL: EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, ARTS, CULTURE, AND SPORTS

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

1. Inculcate patriotism and nationalism

2. Foster love of humanity
3. Respect for human rights
4. Appreciate the role of national heroes in the historical development of the country,
5. Teach the rights and duties of citizenship
6. Strengthen ethical and spiritual values
7. Develop moral character and personal discipline
8. Encourage critical and creative thinking
9. Broaden scientific and technological knowledge

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 10. Promote vocational efficiency

Article XV: THE FAMILY

The State recognizes the Filipino family as the foundation of the nation. Accordingly, it shall
strengthen its solidarity and actively promote its total development.

Requisites of a Valid Marriage

1. Legal capacity of the contracting parties

a. Age
b. Status
2. Consent freely given
3. Authority of the solemnizing officer
4. Marriage license
5. Public ceremony

Marriage, as an inviolable social institution, is the foundation of the family and shall be
protected by the State.

Reference: Textbook on the Philippine Constitution by Hector S. De Leon and Hector M. De Leon, Jr.

2014 Edition, Rex Printing Company, Inc., Quezon City, Philippines.

Philippine Politics and Governance by Renan Ramos, 2016, Vibal Group, Inc., Quezon City,

Philippines.

Exercise 1. Define the following:

1. Accountability
2. Public office
3. Public officer
4. Impeachment
5. Sandigan Bayan
6. Ombudsman
7. National economy
8. National patrimony
9. Social justice
10. OFW
11. Human rights
12. Dep-Ed

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 13. CHED
14. TESDA
15. Family

Exercise 2. Answer the following questions.

1. Who are the impeachable officials?

2 . Describe the impeachment process in the Congress.

3. Why is public office a public trust?

4. Which is more important, natural resources or human resources? Explain

5.What measures have been taken by our government for the full implementation of the land

reform program?

6. Differentiate between alienable and inalienable lands.

7. What values are to be inculcated by our educational system?

8. Why is the family the basic foundation of our society?

Activity:

1. Draw cartoons illustrating the feeling of the tenant farmers from being “emancipated from
bondage of the soul.”

2. Discover the wealth of the Philippines through pictorial illustration showing the resources of the
different regions of the country.

3. Make a one -sentence summary of each article of the 1987 Philippine Constitution.

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