freedom of assembly and the freedom of petition.

It also
prohibits unreasonable search and seizure, cruel and
unusual punishment and compelled self-incrimination.
Among the legal protections it affords, the Bill of Rights
prohibits Congress from making any law respecting
establishment of religion and prohibits the federal
government from depriving any persons’ life, liberty and
property without due process of law. In federal criminal
cases it requires indictment by a grand jury for any capital
offense, or infamous crime, guarantees a speedy public
trial with an impartial jury in the district in which the crime
occurred, and prohibits double jeopardy.
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
(1789)
In 1789, the people of France brought about the
abolishment of the absolute monarchy and set the stage
for the establishment of the first French Republic. Just six
weeks after the storming of the Bastille, and barely three
(3) weeks after the abolition of Feudalism. The Declaration
of the rights of Man and of the Citizen (French: La
Declaration des Droits de I’Homme et du Citoyen) was
adopted by the National Constituent Assembly as the first
step toward writing a constitution for the Republic of
France.
The declaration proclaims that all the citizens are
to be guaranteed the rights of “liberty, property, security
and resistance to oppression.” It argues that the need for
law derives from the fact that “…the exercise of the natural
rights of each man has only those boarders which assure
other members of the society the enjoyment of these same
rights.” Thus, the Declaration sees law as an “expression
of the general will, intended to promote this equality of
rights and to forbid only actions harmful to the society.”
The First Geneva Convention
The original document from the first Geneva
Convention in 1864 provided for care to wounded soldiers.
In 1864, sixteen European countries and several
American states attended a conference in Geneva, at the
invitation of the Swiss Federal Council, on the initiative of
the Geneva Committee. The Diplomatic conference was
held for the purpose of adopting a convention for the
treatment of wounded soldiers in combat.
The main principles laid down in the Convention
and maintained by the later Geneva Conventions provided
for the obligation to extend care without discrimination to
wounded and sick military personnel and respect for and
marking of medical personnel transports and equipment
with the distinctive sign of the Red Cross on a white
background.
The United Nations (UN)
Fifty nations met in San Francisco in 1945 and
formed the United Nations to protect and promote peace.
World War II had rage from 1939 to 1945, and as
the end drew near, cities throughout Europe and Asia lay
in smoldering ruins. Millions of people were dead, millions
more homeless or starving. Russian forces were closing in
on the remnants of German resistance in Germany’s
bombed-out capital of Berlin. In the Pacific, US Marines
were still battling entrenched Japanese force on such
islands as Okinawa.
On April 1945, delegates from fifty countries met in
San Francisco full of optimism and hope. The goal of the
UN Conference on International Organization was to
fashion an international body to promote peace and
prevent future wars. The ideals of the organization were
stated in the preamble to its proposed charter: “We the
peoples of the United Nations are determined to save
succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which
twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to
mankind.”
The Charter of the new UN organization went into
effect on October 24, 1945, a date that is celebrated each
year as United Nations’ Day.
LESSON 2: FREEDOM AND HUMAN RIGHTS
Freedom VS. Human Rights
Rights and the term freedom appear at various
places in constitutions around the world. In fact, Freedom
is one of the core concepts of the American constitution
(and the Philippines as well). Frequently, the terms are
interchangeable. In most scenarios, they mean the same
thing. In fact, taking away someone’s right means taking
away their freedom as well. The main difference between a
right and freedom is a right is an entitlement of a given
thing. For example, a person working at a job has a right to
receive their salary as per the contract. However, freedom
refers to the state in which a government cannot restrict a
person from performing a certain activity. However, this
activity has to be within the bounds of the law.
Parameters of
comparison
RIGHTS FREEDOM
Restrictions
A person or
governing body
cannot violate
the rights of
another person
without facing
legal
consequences.
A person or
governing body
can take away
person’s
freedom to carry
out an activity.
Advantages
Society is legally
obliged to
uphold the rights
of its people.
This decreases
events of
injustice that
occur.
The advantage
of freedom is
that one can be
an independent
individual.
Duration
Rights may
come at different
times. The rights
a person
receives also
differ from other
people.
Freedom can be
taken away or
given to a
someone at any
time. It is not
permanent like a
right.
Method of
Receiving
A person
receives legal
rights only after
becoming a
citizen or
performing a
certain duty.
A person
receives certain
freedoms at birth
itself. This
implies that it is
an innate notion.
What are Rights?
Freedom VS. Human Rights

Rights and the term freedom appear at various places in constitutions around the world. In fact,
Freedom is one of the core concepts of the American Constitution (and the Philippines as well).
Frequently, the terms are interchangeable. In most scenarios, they mean the same thing. In fact, taking
away someone’s right means taking away their freedom as well. The main difference between a right and
freedom is a right is an entitlement of a given thing. For example, a person working at a job has a right to
receive their salary as per the contract. However, freedom refers to the state in which a government cannot
restrict a person from performing a certain activity. However, this activity has to be within the
bounds of the law.

Parameters of
comparison
RIGHTS FREEDOM
Restrictions
A person or
governing body
cannot violate
the rights of
another person
without facing
legal
consequences.
A person or
governing body
can take away
person’s
freedom to carry
out an activity.
Advantages
Society is legally
obliged to
uphold the rights
of its people.
This decreases
events of
injustice that
occur.
The advantage
of freedom is
that one can be
an independent
individual.
Duration
Rights may
come at different
times. The rights
a person
receives also
differ from other
people.
Freedom can be
taken away or
given to a
someone at any
time. It is not
permanent like a
right.
Method of
Receiving
A person
receives legal
rights only after
becoming a
citizen or
performing a
certain duty.
A person
receives certain
freedoms at birth
itself. This
implies that it is
an innate notion

Parameters of
comparison RIGHTS FREEDOM

A person or governing body A person or governing

cannot violate the rights of body can take away
Restrictions another person without person’s freedom to carry out
facing legal consequences. an activity.

Society is legally obliged to The advantage of freedom

uphold the rights of its people. is that one can be
Advantages This decreases events of an independent individual.
injustice that occur.

Rights may come at different Freedom can be taken away

times. The rights a person or given to a someone at any
Duration receives also differ from time. It is not permanent
other people. like a right.

A person receives legal A person receives certain

Method of rights only after becoming freedom at birth itself. This
Receiving a citizen or performing a implies that it is an innate
certain duty. notion

What are Rights?

A right is an entitlement that one receives
when
one becomes part of society. Human
can get different
types of rights throughout their lives
depending on various
factors. A few factors are:
▪ Age
▪ Nationality
▪ Occupation
▪ Education
What are Rights?
A right is an entitlement that one receives when one becomes part of society. Human can get
different types of rights throughout their lives depending on various actors. A few factors are:
▪Age
▪Nationality
▪Occupation
▪Education

A right can be given based on the economic, social and political standing of an individual. A country
confers national rights to a citizen. These rights are a core component of a country’s
constitution. A few common rights that are given to a citizen by their government is:
▪Right to Education
▪Right to freedom of Thought
▪Right to freedom of Religion
▪Right to Life
▪Right to freedom of Movement
▪Right to freedom of Expression

An individual receives rights because they are human. These are known as human rights. Human rights were
the creation of the United Nations. The meeting wherein the outline of Human Rights was given under the
guidance of Eleanor Roosevelt. Human rights include:
▪Right to freedom of life
▪Right against slavery
▪Right against inhuman treatment and torture
▪Right to equality
▪Right to a fair trial and many more.

What is Freedom?
Freedom is a state of being where a person can carry out different activities without interference from other
individuals or authority. This is an emotional entity. It is also objective. This means that the
term freedom can mean different things for different people. People can have a different perception of
freedom depending on different factors. They are
▪Upbringing
▪Education
▪Location
▪Occupation
▪Race

Freedom is a product of rights. This means that a person can receive freedom only when he or she has been
given rights.
Freedom is also an essential component of human society.
Freedom allows one to live a happier and a healthier life. It is a requirement for one to express themselves

Main Difference Between Rights and Freedom

▪A right has a legal binding. It is a privilege that a country or an institution gives to an individual for being a
part of it. Freedom is a state of being.
▪A right is an objective. However, Freedom is subjective. It differs from person to person.
▪A right is an important component of the constitution. A person receives at different times.
Freedom is given to a person at the time of their birth.

▪A right cannot be taken away from a person unlawfully. However, Freedom can be taken away
unlawfully as well as lawfully.

State Obligations to Human Rights:

1. Obligation to RESPECT – Requires the state and all its organs and agents to abstain from doing
anything that violates the integrity of individual or fringes on his/her freedom.

2. Obligation to PROTECT – Requires the state and its agents – the measures necessary to prevent
other individuals or groups from violating the integrity, freedom of action, or the human rights of the
individual.

3. Obligation to FULFILL – Requires the state to take measures to ensure for each person within its
jurisdiction opportunities to obtain satisfaction of those needs, recognized in the human rights
instruments, which cannot be secured by personal efforts.

What are the Three Inherent Powers of the State?

The fundamental powers of the State are the police power, the power of eminent domain, and the power
of taxation.

Inherent defined:
As being inherent, it means that as long as the State exists, this power can never be taken away. These
powers are inherent expressly conferred by constitutional provision on the State. They are supposed to co-
exist the State. The moment the State deemed invested with these three powers as its innate attributes.
1. Police power - the power of promoting the public welfare by restraining and regulating the use of liberty
and property. This least limitable, and the most demanding of the three powers. The police power regulates
not only property but, more importantly to persons, and virtually all the people. The person’s acts and
acquisitions are hemmed in by the police power.

Note: The nature of Police power is an attribute of sovereignty and founded on the obligation of the State to
provide protection, safety and good order of society.

Basis: The justification is found in the ancient Latin maxims, Salus pupoli est suprema lex (The welfare of
the people is the supreme law) and sic utere tuo ut alienum non-laedas (Use your own property in such a
way that you do not injure other people's) subordination of individual benefit to the interests of the greater
number.

3 Inherent Powers of the State:

1. Police Power;
2. Power of Eminent Domain
3. Power of Taxation
Purpose:
1. for public good or welfare - Police Power
2. for public use - Power of Eminent Domain
3. for revenu - Power of Taxation

1. POLICE POWER is the power of promoting the public welfare by restraining and regulating
the use of both liberty and property of all the people. It is considered to be the most encompassing
of the three powers. It may be exercised only by the government. The property taken in the
exercise of this power is destroyed because it is noxious or intended for a noxious purpose. It lies
primarily in the discretion of the legislature. Hence, the President, and administrative boards as
well as the lawmaking bodies on all municipal levels, including the barangay may not exercise
it without a valid delegation of legislative power. Municipal government exercise this power by
virtue of the general welfare clause of the Local Government Code of 1991. Even the courts cannot compel
the exercise of this power through mandamus or any judicial process.
Requisites of a valid police power:
(a.) Lawful Subject – the activity or property sought to be regulated affects the public
welfare. It requires the primacy of the welfare of the many over the interests of the few.
(b.) Lawful Means – the means employed must be reasonable and must conform to the
safeguards guaranteed by the Bill of Rights.
2. POWER OF EMINENT DOMAIN is the power of the government to expropriate private property
for public use.
Requisites:
1. There must be taking of private property;
2. It must be for public use;
3. There must be just compensation; and
4. Due process of law must be observed in taking of the of property

The taking of property in law may include:

- trespass without actual eviction of the owner;
- material impairment of the value of the property; or
- prevention of the ordinary uses for which the property was intended.

3. POWER OF TAXATION - taxes are enforced proportional contributions from persons and property,
levied by the State to support the government and for all public needs. The importance of taxation derives
from the unavoidable obligation of the government and extend to them benefits in the form of public
projects and services. In exchange for these, the people are subjected to the expenses to be incurred therefore
through the payment of taxes.

Note: Taxes are the nation’s lifeblood of economy through which government agencies continue to operate
and with which the State’s duty for the welfare of its constituents. To sustain tax, it is necessary to show that
the proceeds are devoted to a public purpose.

freedom of assembly and the freedom of petition. It also

prohibits unreasonable search and seizure, cruel and
unusual punishment and compelled self-incrimination.
Among the legal protections it affords, the Bill of Rights
prohibits Congress from making any law respecting
establishment of religion and prohibits the federal
government from depriving any persons’ life, liberty and
property without due process of law. In federal criminal
cases it requires indictment by a grand jury for any capital
offense, or infamous crime, guarantees a speedy public
trial with an impartial jury in the district in which the crime
occurred, and prohibits double jeopardy.
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
(1789)
In 1789, the people of France brought about the
abolishment of the absolute monarchy and set the stage
for the establishment of the first French Republic. Just six
weeks after the storming of the Bastille, and barely three
(3) weeks after the abolition of Feudalism. The Declaration
of the rights of Man and of the Citizen (French: La
Declaration des Droits de I’Homme et du Citoyen) was
adopted by the National Constituent Assembly as the first
step toward writing a constitution for the Republic of
France.
The declaration proclaims that all the citizens are
to be guaranteed the rights of “liberty, property, security
and resistance to oppression.” It argues that the need for
law derives from the fact that “…the exercise of the natural
rights of each man has only those boarders which assure
other members of the society the enjoyment of these same
rights.” Thus, the Declaration sees law as an “expression
of the general will, intended to promote this equality of
rights and to forbid only actions harmful to the society.”
The First Geneva Convention
The original document from the first Geneva
Convention in 1864 provided for care to wounded soldiers.
In 1864, sixteen European countries and several
American states attended a conference in Geneva, at the
invitation of the Swiss Federal Council, on the initiative of
the Geneva Committee. The Diplomatic conference was
held for the purpose of adopting a convention for the
treatment of wounded soldiers in combat.
The main principles laid down in the Convention
and maintained by the later Geneva Conventions provided
for the obligation to extend care without discrimination to
wounded and sick military personnel and respect for and
marking of medical personnel transports and equipment
with the distinctive sign of the Red Cross on a white
background.
The United Nations (UN)
Fifty nations met in San Francisco in 1945 and
formed the United Nations to protect and promote peace.
World War II had rage from 1939 to 1945, and as
the end drew near, cities throughout Europe and Asia lay
in smoldering ruins. Millions of people were dead, millions
more homeless or starving. Russian forces were closing in
on the remnants of German resistance in Germany’s
bombed-out capital of Berlin. In the Pacific, US Marines
were still battling entrenched Japanese force on such
islands as Okinawa.
On April 1945, delegates from fifty countries met in
San Francisco full of optimism and hope. The goal of the
UN Conference on International Organization was to
fashion an international body to promote peace and
prevent future wars. The ideals of the organization were
stated in the preamble to its proposed charter: “We the
peoples of the United Nations are determined to save
succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which
twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to
mankind.”
The Charter of the new UN organization went into
effect on October 24, 1945, a date that is celebrated each
year as United Nations’ Day.
LESSON 2: FREEDOM AND HUMAN RIGHTS
Freedom VS. Human Rights
Rights and the term freedom appear at various
places in constitutions around the world. In fact, Freedom
is one of the core concepts of the American constitution
(and the Philippines as well). Frequently, the terms are
interchangeable. In most scenarios, they mean the same
thing. In fact, taking away someone’s right means taking
away their freedom as well. The main difference between a
right and freedom is a right is an entitlement of a given
thing. For example, a person working at a job has a right to
receive their salary as per the contract. However, freedom
refers to the state in which a government cannot restrict a
person from performing a certain activity. However, this
activity has to be within the bounds of the law.
Parameters of
comparison
RIGHTS FREEDOM
Restrictions
A person or
governing body
cannot violate
the rights of
another person
without facing
legal
consequences.
A person or
governing body
can take away
person’s
freedom to carry
out an activity.
Advantages
Society is legally
obliged to
uphold the rights
of its people.
This decreases
events of
injustice that
occur.
The advantage
of freedom is
that one can be
an independent
individual.
Duration
Rights may
come at different
times. The rights
a person
receives also
differ from other
people.
Freedom can be
taken away or
given to a
someone at any
time. It is not
permanent like a
right.
Method of
Receiving
A person
receives legal
rights only after
becoming a
citizen or
performing a
certain duty.
A person
receives certain
freedoms at birth
itself. This
implies that it is
an innate notion.
What are Rights