Article XIII

SOCIAL JUSTICE AND HUMAN RIGHTS

SECTION 1. The Congress shall give highest priority to the enactment of measures
that protect and enhance the right of all the 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.

SECTION 2. The promotion of social justice shall include the commitment to create
economic opportunities based on freedom of initiative and self-reliance.

 Concept of social justice

Social justice
 requires the adoption by the State (Government) of measures that
guarantee the right of all the people to equality of opportunity in all fields
of human endeavor and to equitable sharing of the fruits of social and
economic development with special emphasis to such measures that
ameliorate the standard of living of the underprivileged groups mandated
by the Constitution.

The end of social justice measures or programs should be to assure that “those
who are less favored in life be more favored in law.”

 Duty of the State to promote social justice

1. Aims of policy to promote social justice

a. to protect and enhance the right of all the people to human dignity
b. to reduce social, economic and political inequalities
c. to remove cultural inequities
2. Measures to achieve aims
 To be achieved by the enactment of measures to which Congress shall
give the highest priority, that seek to equitably diffusion of wealth and
political power.
3. Commitment to create economic opportunities
 Social justice includes a commitment on the part of the State to create
economic opportunities for all the citizens.
 While it is the duty of the State to create economic opportunities, it is
also the obligation of the individual to exert efforts to equip himself with
knowledge and skills necessary for productive employment or livelihood
 without having to depend on the State or other members of the
community for his needs.

 Beneficiary of social justice policy

 Tao or “little man”-slum dwellers, the landless, the tillers of the soil, the laborers,
the economically underprivileged should rightly be the beneficiary of social
justice.

“They deserve a little more food in their stomachs, a little more shelter over
their heads, and a little more clothing on their backs. “-Pres. Ramon
Magsaysay
  The State should help the poor who find it difficult and who suffer privations in
the universal struggle for existence. To achieve the goals of social justice, it will
be constitutionally permissible to tilt the scale in favor of the needy, the weak, and
the handicapped for the well-being and economic security of the higher income
groups are assured through their own efforts and without the help of the
government.

 Social justice and property rights

1. Right to property entitled to protection

 Social justice does not propose to destroy property rights or to authorize the
taking of what is in excess of one’s personal needs and the giving it to another.
 The right to be protected against deprivation without due process of law is one of
the rights that is legally acquired in the Constitution.

2. Poverty not an excuse for violating right of property owner

 Property owners are also entitled to protection under the Constitution.
 Charity and social justice cannot be used to commit an injustice against the more
fortunate classes to improve the lot of the less fortunate ones, thus a squatter
cannot claim that the government should protect him because he is poor and that
he has no place to stay.

 Social justice neither social/economic nor legal/political equality

1. Social and economic distinctions will always exist

 Social or economic equality, because inequality will always exist as long as
social relations depend on personal or subjective proclivities. For example,
between the rich and the poor, a person has absolute right to choose the group
which he desires to associate with.

2. Equal, not same, treatment under the law contemplated

 It is neither legal nor political equality, because the latter is relative and is
necessarily premised on differentiations based on personal and natural
conditions, such as age, sex, mentality, physical capacity, citizenship, etc.

 Social justice through regulation of property and diffusion of wealth

1. Property ownership impressed with social function

 Property ownership carries with it a social function which obliges the owner
to use his property not only to benefit himself but society as well.
Thus, the State has the right to:
-limit property holdings
-abolish share tenancy and replace with a system of leaseholding
-require that private property be used or enjoyed in the certain definite ways
or to it that profits in any business activity are shared equitably.

2. Aim of provision
 The aim of the constitutional mandate is to bridge the gap by assuring that
more people will be able to own property sufficient to satisfy the basic needs
of decent living and to maintain human dignity and self-respect since the
everwidening gap between the rich and the poor is a basic problem in the
Philippines where the wealth is concentrated in the hands of the privileged
few while a great majority of the people suffer in deprivation and misery.
  Social justice through promotion of equality of opportunity

People believe that our society is oligarchic in structure. Age-old problem of

poverty and its derivative consequences, like unemployment, low level of income,
and low level of production are effects of this society structure. In order to solve
these problems, it is necessary to provide equality of opportunity.
Promoting equality of opportunity and enabling and individual to acquire
intellectual and work skills for productive activities is through education it is an
effective measure in correcting the social, economic, political and cultural
inequities that cause mass discontent.

 Constitutional provisions on social justice

The Constitution in Article XIII provided the means towards the realization in the
declaration of the principles of social justice.
Other provisions promote social justice by mandating:
1. the prohibition against the imposition of literacy, property, and substantive
requirements for the exercise of suffrage (Art. V, Sec.1.)
2. the imposition of the requirement that taxation shall be uniform, equitable, and
progressive so that its burden will fall on those better able to pay (Art. VI,Sec.28[1].)
3. sectoral representation in the House of Representatives (Art. VI, Sec. 5[2].) and in
legislative bodies of local governments (Art.X, Sec. 9.)
4. the maintenance of an independent judiciary (Art.VIII, Secs. 2[par.2., 7[3], 8-12; Art.
XI, Sec. 2.), for social justice cannot be fully achieved if equal justice is not
administered to all
5. the encouragement of broader-based ownership of private enterprises, and equity
participation in public utilities and imposing upon the State the duty to promote
distributive justice and to intervene when the common good so demands in
connection with the ownership, establishment and operation of private enterprises(
Art. XII, Secs. 1 last par., 6, 11.)
6. small scale utilization of natural resources by Filipino citizens (Ibid., Sec. 3. par. 3.)
7. the limitation of the area of lands of the public domain that may be acquired by lease,
purchase, homestead, or grant (Ibid., Sec. 4.)
8. the protection of the rights of the indigenous cultural communities to their ancestral
lands (Ibid., Sec.5.)
9. the creation of an agency to promote cooperatives as instruments for social justice
(Ibid., Sec.15.)
10. the regulation or prohibition of private monopolies ( Ibid., Sec. 19.)
11. the maintenance of free education; grant of scholarships, etc. to deserving students
especially the underprivileged; the encouragement of non-learning; the giving of
vocational training to adult citizens, the disabled and out-of-school youth; and the
giving of the highest budgetary priority to education. (Art. XIV, Secs. 2, 5[4]

The Constitution requires the President, Vice President, or Acting President to

subscribe to an oath to the effect that he will “do justice to every man.”(Art. VII,
Sec. 5.)

LABOR

SECTION 3. The State shall afford full protection to labor, local, overseas, organized,
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 decision-making processes affecting their rights and benefits as may be provided by law.
The State shall promote the principle of shared responsibilities between workers and
employers and the preferential use of voluntary modes in settling disputes, including
conciliation, and shall enforce their mutual compliance therewith to foster industrial peace.
The State shall regulate the relations between workers and employers, recognizing
the right of labor to its just share in the fruits of production and the right of enterprises to
reasonable returns on investments, and to expansion and growth.

 Protection to labor
1. Right to one’s labor deemed property
 The right to labor is a constitutional as well as a statutory right. Every man has
a natural right to the fruits of his own industry. (Art. III, Sec.1.) He cannot be
deprived of his labor of work without due process of law.
2. Labor , a primary social economic force
 The constitutional policy of social justice recognizes the basic fact that human
labor is not merely an article of commerce or a factor of production to be
similarly treated as land, tools and machinery. The State is under obligation of
the rights of workers and the promotion of their welfare.(Art. II, Sec. 18)

 Promotion of full employment and equal work opportunities

The right to full employment and equality of employment through the equal work
opportunities is not merely but is elevated into a constitutional right.

1. Creation of employment opportunities imperative

 Lack of employment is one cause of social tension. Unemployment leads to
distortion of personality and a life without color and texture. Full employment
will enable the citizens to lift their level of life and contribute their share in the
task of nation building.
2. State has duty to eliminate discriminatory practices
 The State is mandated to adapt measures to the end that all persons who are
capable of working may be provided with employment and that job
opportunities may be open to all-man or woman, citizen or alien, Christian or
non-Christian.
3. Useful labor essential to personal dignity and development
 It is an obligation of the government to see that an economic environment is
created within which the members of society may obtain employment suitable
to their capabilities.
4. Duty of every citizen to engage in gainful work
 Work is both a right and a duty on the part of every citizen.
“To engage in gainful work to assure himself and his family a life worthy
of human dignity.”
 Rights of workers

1. Right to self-organization
 Everyone who works has the right to form trade or labor unions or join the trade
union of his choice for the protection of his economic and social interests
subject only to such restrictions which may be prescribed by law in the interest
of national security or public order or for the protection of the rights and
freedoms of others.
 The right to self-organization of all workers, whether in the public or private
sector, is not a statutory creation. It is a natural and constitutional right.(Art. III,
Sec. 8.)
 2. Right to collective bargaining
 “collective bargaining”- is the performance of the mutual obligation of
employer and the representative of the employees to meet, negotiate and confer
in good faith with respect to wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of
employment.
 Collective bargaining agreement- an agreement resulting from a collective
bargaining.

3. Right to collective negotiation

 Collective negotiation- a new concept in the Constitution for resolving
disputes between employer and employees. It calls for consensus rather than
confrontation in the order to reach a peaceful solution to issues affecting both
parties.

4. Right to peaceful and concerted activities including the to strike

 the right to take group or mass action, a special form the freedom of expression
guaranteed in the Bill of Rights.(Art. III, Sec. 4.)
 its purpose is to dramatize a demand of workers or their stand for or against an
issue affecting them.

Concerted activities: strike, picketing, work stoppage, and boycott.

Strike – is the final weapon of labor in case of refusal of employers to bargain

collectively or the inability of workers to bargain successfully for improvement
in their working conditions.

5. Right to security of tenure

 Employment should be terminated against the worker’s will only for just causes
and under conditions provided for by law.
 The State must afford protection to workers dismissed without just cause. At
the same time, the State must also afford a measure of protection to employers.

6. Right to just and humane conditions of work

 The right insures safe and healthful working conditions, equal opportunity to
promotion and rest, leisure, and reasonable limitations of working hours.
 A worker has a right to be protected against unfair labor practices.

(7.) Right to a living wage

 A worker has a right to receive a fair and just compensation for his work. He is
entitled to equal remuneration for work of equal value. ( see Art. IX, B-Sec.5)
 A man works to make a living to support himself and his family. His wage
must be sufficient to enable him and his family to live in reasonable and frugal
comfort, provide education for their children, and make some savings to meet
unexpected contingencies.
(8.) Right to participate in policy and decision-making processes.
 workers are entitled to certain rights and benefits provided by law. On the other
hand, the employer, as the owner, has the prerogative to exercise control and to
make decisions with respect to all matters affecting the business. A policy or
decision of management may affect the rights or benefits to which workers are
entitled under the law, such as those pertaining to minimum wages, maximum hours
of work, working conditions, social security. Self-organization, collective
bargaining, lay-offs, company discipline, transfer or re- assignments, etc. For the
protection of their interest, workers are granted the right to participate with
management in the formulation of such policies or decisions.
 Principle of shared responsibility

(1) Duty of management and labor

 Both management and labor share a responsibility in the promotion of industrial
peace which redounds in the end to the benefit of all. They must observe legal
requirements and prohibitions and obey the orders of the courts and other agencies.

(2) Duty of the State

 The State mandated to promote this principle of shared responsibility between
workers and employers and the preferential use of voluntary modes, instead of
strikes and compulsory arbitration, in settling disputes, and to make sure that the
workers and employers comply with their voluntary agreements in good faith to
foster industrial peace.

 Methods for resolving labor disputes

Two principal methods:

1. collective bargaining- an agreement is arrived at between the representatives of the
workers and employer.

2. Arbitration – there are two forms: voluntary and compulsory

a. Voluntary – the parties submit the controversy to a third person for final
determination

b. Compulsory – the parties are compelled to submit their controversy to a court

or other government agency provided by law and pursuant to the procedures
laid down by law.

 Reciprocal rights of labor and enterprises

(1) Rights of workers and employers under a wage system

 Under the wage system, the worker or employee receives from the employer or
owner a remuneration or compensation usually in the form of money for his labor
or services pursuant to a contract. He has no share in the profits and bears the losses.
The profits are his compensation for taking the risks and losses. The worker offers
his services for wages because of his lack of capital; the owner hires workers
because he cannot run the business by himself.

(2) Reconciliation of their conflicting rights

 The Constitution enjoins the State to reconcile the conflicting rights between
workers and employers
 Recognizing the right of labor to its just share in the fruits of production and the
right of enterprises to reasonable returns of investments and to expansion of growth.
(Sec. 3, last par.)
 The State is morally obligated to protect the rights of both parties.

AGRARIAN AND NATURAL RESOURCES REFORM

SECTION 4. The State shall, by law, undertake an agrarian reform program

founded on the right of farmworkers, who are landless, to own directly or
collectively the lands they till or, in the case of other farmworkers, to receive
a just share of the fruits thereof. To this end, the State shall encourage and
undertake the just distribution of all agricultural lands, subject to priorities
 and reasonable retention limits as the Congress may prescribe, taking into
account ecological, development, or equity considerations, and subject to the
payment of just compensation. In determining retention limits, the State shall
respect the right of small landowners. The State shall further provide
incentives for voluntary landsharing.

 Undertaking an agrarian reform program

(1) Basis or aim of the program

