ARTICLE 3

BILL OF RIGHTS
 CONCEPT OF A BILL OF RIGHTS
A bill of rights may be defined as a declaration and enumeration
of a person's rights and privileges which the Constitution is
designed to protect against violations by the government
individuals. or by individual or groups of individual
It is a charter of liberties for the individual and a limitation upon
the power of the State.
Its basis is the social importance accorded to the individual in the
democratic or republican state, the belief that every human being
has intrinsic dignity and worth which must be respected and
safeguarded
 CLASSES OF RIGHTS
The rights that a citizen of a democratic state enjoys may be
classified into:
• Natural rights- They are those rights possessed by every
citizen without being granted by the State for they are given to
man by God as a human being created to His image so that he
may live a happy life. Ex. Right to life and right to love
• Constitutional rights- They are those rights which are
conferred and protected by the Constitution. Since they are part
of the fundamental law, they cannot be modified or taken away
by the law -making body
• Statutory rights- They are those rights which are provided by
laws promulgated by the law -making body and, consequently,
may be abolished by the same body. Ex. right to receive
minimum wage and right to inherit property
CLASSIFICATION OF CONSTITUIONAL RIGHTS
The rights secured by the Constitution may be classified as
follows:
• Political rights- They are such rights of the citizens which give them
the power to participate, directly or indirectly, in the establishment or
administration of the government. Ex. right of citizenship, right of
suffrage and the right to information on matters of public concern
• Civil rights- They are those rights which the law will enforce
at the instance of private individuals for the purpose of
securing to them the enjoyment of their means of happiness.
Ex. rights against involuntary servitude, liberty of abode,
freedom of speech, of expression or of the press.
• Social and economic right- They include those right s which
are intended to insure the well-being and economic security of
the individual. Ex. right to property, right to just compensation
for private property taken for public use.
• Rights of the accused- They are the (civil) rights intended for
the protection of a person accused of any crime, like the right
to presumption of innocence, right to a speedy, impartial, and
public trial, and the right against cruel, degrading, or inhuman
punishment
SECTION 1. NO PERSON SHALL BE DEPRIVED OF
LIFE, LIBERTY, OR PROPERTY WITHOUT DUE
PROCESS OF LAW, NOR SHALL ANY PERSON BE
DENIED THE EQUAL PROTECTION OF THE LAWS.
What is due process?
Any deprivation of life, liberty, or property is with due process if
it is done under the authority of a law that is valid (i.e., not
contrary to the Constitution) or of the Constitution itself, and
after compliance with fair and reasonable methods of procedure
prescribed by law.
ASPECTS OF DUE PROCESS OF LAW.
Procedural due process which refers to the method or manner by
which the law is enforced. Daniel Webster's famous definition: a
procedure "which hears before it condemn, which proceed s upon
inquiry, and renders judgment only after trial." An indispensable
requisite of this aspect of due process is the requirement of notice
and hearing
Substantial due process which requires that the law itself, not
merely the procedures by which the law would be enforced, is
fair, reasonable, and just. In other words, no person shall be
deprived of his life, liberty, or property for arbitrary reasons or
on flimsy grounds.
PROCEDURAL DUE PROCESS.
1. In judicial proceedings-For the most part, procedural due
process has its application in judicial proceedings, civil or
criminal. It requires:
a. An impartial court clothed by law with authority to hear and
determine the matter before it;
b. Jurisdiction lawfully acquired over the person of the defendant
or property which is the subject matter of the proceeding;
c. Opportunity to be heard given the defendant; and
d.Judgment to be rendered after the lawful hearing
2. In administrative proceedings- Due process, however, is not
always judicial process. In certain proceedings of an
administrative character, notice and hearing may be dispensed
with, where because of public need or for practical reasons, the
same is not feasible. Thus, an offender may be arrested pending
the filing of charges, or an officer or employee may be suspended
pending an investigation for violation of civil service rules and
regulation.
SUBSTANTIVE DUE PROCESS
Viewed in its substantive aspect, due process of law requires that
the law in question affecting life, liberty, or property be a valid
law, i.e., within the power of the law making body to enact and is
reasonable in its operation. Ex. taking of property for private use
or without payment of just compensation offends substantive due
process.
• Meaning of life- Life, as protected by due process of law,
means something more than mere animal existence. The
prohibition against its deprivation without due process extends
to all the limbs and faculties by which life is enjoyed.
• Meaning of liberty- Liberty, as protected by due process of
law, denotes not merely freedom from physical restraint e.g.
imprisonment. It also embraces the right of man to use his
faculties with which he has been endowed by his Creator
subject only to the limitation that he does not violate the law or
the rights of others.
• Meaning of property- Property, as protected by due process of
law, may refer to the thing itself or to the right over a thing. It
includes the right to own, use, transmit and even to destroy,
subject to the right of the State and of other persons.
 MEANING OF EQUAL PROTECTION OF THE LAWS
Equal protection of the laws signifies that:
"all persons subject to legislation should be treated alike, under
like circumstance and conditions both in the privileges conferred
and liabilities imposed."
What it prohibits is class legislation, which discriminates against
some and favors others when both are similarly situated or
circumstanced.
SECTION 2. THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE TO BE SECURE IN
THEIR PERSONS, HOUSES, PAPERS, AND EFFECTS AGAINST
UNREASONABLE SEARCHES AND SEIZURES OF WHATEVER
NATURE AND FOR ANY PURPOSE SHALL BE INVIOLABLE,
AND NO SEARCH 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 AND THE
WITNESSES HE MAY PRODUCE, AND PARTICULARLY
DESCRIBING THE PLACE TO BE SEARCHED AND THE
PERSONS OR THINGS TO BE SEIZED.
 MEANING OF SEARCH WARRANT AND WARRANT OF
ARREST
(1) A search warrant is an order in writing, issued in the name of
the People of the Philippines, signed by a judge and directed to a
peace officer, commanding him to search for certain personal
property and bring it before the court
(2) If the command is to arrest a person designated, i.e., to take
him into custody in order that he may bound to answer for the
commission of an offense, the written order is called warrant of
arrest.
SCOPE OF THE PROTECTION.
• Persons. The protection applies to everybody, to citizens as
well as aliens in the Philippines, whether accused of crime or
not. Corporations are also entitled to the protection.
• Houses.- The protection is not limited to dwelling houses but
extends to a garage, warehouse, shop, store, office, and even a
safety deposit vault. It does not extend, however, to the open
spaces and fields belonging to one.
• Papers and effect.- They include sealed letters and packages in
the mail which may be opened and examined only in pursuance
of a valid search warrant.
 WHAT CONSTITUTES A REASONABLE OR
UNREASONABLE SEARCH OR SEIZURE IN ANY
PARTICULAR CASE IS A PURELY JUDICIAL
QUESTION (I.E., ONLY COURTS ARE EMPOWERED TO
RULE UPON), DETERMINABLE FROM A
CONSIDERATION OF THE CIRCUMSRTANCES
INVOLVED
REQUISITES FOR VALID SEARCH WARRANT OR
WARRANT OF ARREST
They are:
• It must be issued upon probable cause;
• The probable cause must be determined personally by the judge
himself,
• Such determination of the existence of probable cause must be
made after examination by the judge of the complainant and
the witnesses he may produce; and
• The warrant must particularly describe the place to be
searched, and the persons or things to be seized
• The law prohibits the issuance of a search warrant for more
than one specific offense.
MEANING OF PROBABLE CAUSE.
By probable cause is meant such facts and circumstances
antecedent to the issuance of a warrant sufficient in themselves to
induce a cautious man to rely upon them and act in pursuance
there of.
It presupposes the introduction of competent proof that the party
against whom a warrant is sought to be issued has performed
particular acts, or committed specific omissions, violating a
given provision of our criminal laws.
WHEN SEARCH AND SEIZURE MAY BE MADE
WITHOUT WARRANT
In the following instances:
• Where there is consent or waiver,
• Where search is an incident to a lawful arrest,
• In the case of contraband or forfeited goods being transported
by ship automobile, or other vehicle, where the officer making
it has reasonable cause for believing that the latter contains
them, in view of the difficulty attendant to securing a search
warrant,
• Where, without a search, the possession of articles prohibited
by law is disclosed to plain view or is open to eye and hand
• As an incident of inspection, supervision and regulation in the
exercise of police power such as inspection of restaurants by
health officers, of factories by labor inspectors, etc. The same
thing may be said of inspection of books of accounts by
revenue examiners, and
• Routinary searches usually made at the border or at ports of
entry in the interest of national security and for the proper
enforcement of customs and immigration laws.
WHEN ARREST MAY BE MADE WITHOUT WARRANT.
A peace officer or private person may, without a warrant, arrest a
person:
• When, in his presence, the person to be arrested has committed,
is actually committing, or is attempting to commit an offense;
• When an offense has in fact just been committed and he has
personal knowledge of facts indicating that the person to be
arrested has committed it; and
• When the person to be arrested is a prisoner who has escaped
from a penal establishment or place where he is serving final
judgment or temporarily confined while his case is pending, or
has escaped while being transferred from one confinement to
another.
SECTION 3. (1) THE PRIVACY OF CORRESPONDENCE
SHALL BE INVIOLABLE EXCEPT UPON LAWFUL
ORDER OF THE COURT, OR WHEN PUBLIC SAFETY
OR ORDER RERQUIRES OTHERWISE AS PRESCRIBED
BY LAW.
(2) ANY EVIDENCE OBTAINED IN VIOLATION OF THIS
OR THE PRECEDING SECTION SHALL BE INADMISSIBLE
FOR ANY PURPOSE IN ANY PROCEEDING.
• Every person has the right to keep his communication or
correspondence a secret. His communication with others by
phone or by letter is a personal or private matter that nobody
should intrude upon. But this right can be lawfully suspended
upon order of the court if the safety and security of the people
is at stake.