Bill of rights may be defined as the Declaration and enumeration of a person's rights and privileges
which the constitution is designed to protect against violations by the government or by an individual. It
serves as a limitation upon the power of the government (Art. III H. Deleon, Constitution)
It is a statement of individual liberties, freedoms, and rights that residents and sojourners in the
Philippines, Filipino or foreigners, enjoy against the exertion of government power. The Bill of Rights is
guarantee that there are certain areas of a person’s life, liberty, and property that governmental powers
may not touch. It focuses on civil and political rights and the guarantees in the Bill of Rights are generally
self-implementing, they can be appealed to even in the absence of implementing legislation.
With this, the 1987 Philippine Constitution was created and proposed with 22 sections in order to secure
the enjoyment of the right of the people:
Section 1: No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process
Section 2: Rights against unreasonable arrest, searches and seizures.
Section 3: Privacy of communication and correspondence
Section 4: Freedom of speech and expression of the press
Section 5: Freedom of religion
Section 6: Freedom of abode and travel
Section 7: Rights to access information on matters of the public press
Section 8: Right of assembly
Section 9: Expropriation of private property
Section 10: No law impairing the obligation of contracts shall be passed
Section 11: Free access to the courts and quasi-judicial bodies and adequate legal assistance
Section 12: Right of a person under investigation
Section 13: Right to bail
Section 14: Rights during trial
Section 15: Privilege of the writ of habeas corpus
Section 16: Right to a speedy disposition
Section 17: Privilege against self-incrimination
Section 18: No person shall be detained solely by reason of his political belief and aspirations
Section 19: Prohibition against cruel, degrading, and inhuman punishment
Section 20: No person shall be imprisoned for debt or non-payment of a poll tax
Section 21: Defense of double jeopardy
Section 22: No ex post facto law or bill of attainder shall be enacted
VIEWS ON THE TOPIC:
Although the Bill of Rights was proposed the human rights situation in the Philippines is still
deteriorating, a big part of this calamity is the continuous violation of the Philippine Constitution. The
unending drug wars and extrajudicial killings put numerous people in danger and are still gradually
increasing, proving that inhuman punishment is still existing in these troubled times.
Political killings, threats, and harassment are also present, an article states that “On June 4, OHCHR
published a report that found numerous systematic human rights violations in the Philippines, among
them the killing of 208 human rights defenders and activists since 2015.” And on other reports, media
personnel continue to receive threats in able for them to regress or get undermined by the government.
Although the Bill of Rights has its upside, the reality is that the government still holds power and
chooses to abuse it, they are usually on top of everything that the Philippine Constitution just began to
transform just into a formality. At present times, we are not progressing forward in fact, we are going
through a decline where the state of the people especially from the bottom of the society actually
degenerates. Prices and bills are high while receiving the lowest salary becomes the reality for the
people. Their rights keep on getting violated but they cannot do anything about it unless they hold
power to match the opposition. It is truly saddening that we, the Filipino people suffer a lot from poor
governing judgment when the only thing we all want and need is to live contented and peacefully but
always receive an unfair and miserable management.
