Philippine Law

The democratic transition experienced by the Philippines more than thirty years ago ushered in a constitutional order that guarantees non-recurrence of its authoritarian past. The 1987 Philippine Constitution paved the way for the creation of an independent Commission on Human Rights. State legislation also created transitional justice mechanisms such as the Presidential Commission on Good Government for the recovery of ill-gotten wealth and, more recently, the Human Rights Victims' Claims Board for the distribution of reparations. This paper examines the impact of these transitional justice mechanisms addressing Marcos-era violations in the Philippines. With the ongoing negation and negotiation of the Marcos-era narrative in Philippine society, this paper seeks to assess the net effect of deploying transitional justice as a framework in shaping law and policy within the context of the Philippines after redemocratization.

Authoritarian state power always has an impact on violations of human rights. In fact, in a period of authoritarian change of power in a country towards democratic governance often leaves scars in the form of gross violations of human rights. This condition is exacerbated by the inability of the judiciary to provide a sense of justice for victims of gross human rights violations committed by the ruling government. Indonesia has also experienced the same thing, where gross violations of human rights were committed by an authoritarian government. Some of the gross violations of human rights have not even been resolved to date. The concept of Transitional Justice is considered to be one of the answers to the problem of gross human rights violations that have occurred in Indonesia.This article will analyze the concept of Transitional Justice in dealing with gross human rights violations in Indonesia.The purpose of this paper is to find out the application of the concept of Transitional ...

A seminal work in the legal history of the Philippines and its land law. Its thesis is that Spanish and U.S. policies on land implicated state formation and continues to influence constitutional conversations  about the nature of the Philippine state and the relationship between identity and community.

The earliest constitution establishing a "Philippine Republic", the 1899 Malolos Constitution, was never fully implemented throughout the Philippines and did not establish a state that was internationally recognized, due in great part to the eruption of the Philippine-American War following its adoption. BACKGROUND OF THE 1987 CONSTITUTION Ruling by decree during the early months of her tenure as a president installed via the People Power Revolution, President Corazon Aquino was granted three options: restore the 1935 Constitution, retain and make reforms to the 1973 Constitution, or pass a new constitution. She decided to draft a new constitution and issued Proclamation No. 3 on March 25, 1986, abrogating many of the provisions of the 1973 Constitution adopted during the Marcos regime, including the unicameral legislature (the Batasang Pambansa), the office of Prime Minister, and provisions which gave the President legislative powers. Often called the "Freedom Constitution", this constitution was intended as a transitional constitution to ensure democracy and the freedom of the people. The Freedom Constitution provided for an orderly transfer of power while a Constitutional Commission was drafting a permanent constitution. 2 The Constitutional Commission was composed of forty-eight members appointed by Aquino from varied backgrounds, including several former members of the House of Representatives, former justices of the Supreme Court, a Roman Catholic bishop, and political activists against the Marcos regime. The Commission elected Cecilia Muñoz-Palma, a former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, as its president. Several issues were of particular contention during the

The anti-illegal drug campaign of the Philippine government under President Rodrigo Duterte has exacted heavy social costs in the Philippines. It has also placed the institutions for accountability and democratic rule of law at a precarious situation. With the collective moral ethos of Philippine society heavily strained by the consequences of the anti-illegal drug campaign, the conceptually parallel ideas forwarded by Catholic social teaching on the one hand and human rights law on the other can potentially provide an oasis for making sense out of the so-called war on drugs. This paper presents the prospects of the intersection between the teachings of the Catholic Church—an institution held in high regard in Philippine society—and the different ideas underpinning human rights law as a potent counterpart to the war on drugs.

The identity of a country and the sentiments which surround it may manifest in different forms such as art, music, literature, poetry, and symbols. Every established country, throughout its history, develops its own unique symbol which comes in the form of a flag. Through this flag, the ideals and aspirations which every country wishes to uphold for itself and each one of its citizens are visualized and represented. How each state treats the use of their flag differs, normally influenced by the experiences of the country throughout its history. In the Philippines, the flag has embodied national unity. The Philippines is a nation of diverse cultural backgrounds and varying historical experiences in each area. In the midst of such diversity, the Philippine flag provided a symbol which transcends provincial or regional identity. The Philippine flag has also been time and again been a symbol of sovereignty, and, a banner to rally under for those who wish to be free from foreign control, such struggle against an occupying power being one of the catalysts for such unity. Occupying forces have also tried throughout history to suppress the use of the national flag, with Filipinos striving to regain such right each time. Ironically, the Philippine government, decades after freedom has been gained once again from the last foreign occupier, imposes particular restrictions on the use of the national flag. Some restrictions in particular prohibiting attachment of the flag in clothing and other articles. Even more ironic is such restrictions were put in place not long after the government enshrined the right to free expression in its constitution. Despite this, Filipinos still proudly adorn the flag and its imagery on their everyday belongings, while brands and businesses in the Philippines continue to make products showcasing such designs. This thesis seeks to tackle the use of freedom of expression against the imposed restrictions on the use of the flag.

Researcher posits that Republic Act No. 11469, otherwise known as the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, contains questionable provisions that may be challenged. Certain provisions are constitutionally infirm, while others are superfluous, overbroad and unnecessary. Researcher hopes that this paper will encourage further discussion and engagement regarding the subject law.

This involves Republic Act No. 26 and Republic Act No. 6732. This presentation tackles the nature, purpose and proceedings involving reconstitution title. The presentation also includes recent jurisprudence about the topic of reconstitution of title.

FACTS: Respondent Presiding Judge issued a search warrant against the petitioner upon the application of respondent Special Investigator U R. Bahinting of the Saranggani District Office of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI SARDO) on the basis of his finding of probable cause for a violation of Section 2(b) of Batas Pambansa Blg. 33. Petitioner presented his Omnibus Motion to Quash Warrant and/or Suppress Evidence and to Order Return of Seized Items, raising therein the lack of probable cause, failure to specify the single offense committed, illegality of the nighttime search, improper application of the plain view doctrine, and inclusion of other offenses. The motion was denied by the presiding judge observing that he had issued the search warrant for one specific offense; that there was probable cause to issue the search warrant. The petitioner assailed the order in the Court of Appeals via a petition for certiorari mainly positing that respondent Presiding Judge had committed grave abuse of discretion amounting to excess of jurisdiction. However, the CA promulgated the first assailed order dismissing the petition for certiorari for failure to implead the People of the Philippines as respondents, and for lack of any showing that a copy of the petition had been served on the OSG. The petitioner moved for reconsideration, arguing that impleading the People of the Philippines as respondents was premature because no criminal case had yet been filed against him with only the application for the issuance of the search warrant having been made; and that serving the copy of the petition on the OSG pursuant to Section 3, Rule 46 of the Rules of Court was not indispensable. Not satisfied, the petitioner has come to the Court on appeal to reverse and set aside the aforesaid resolutions by insisting that the failure to implead the People of the Philippines was not a fatal defect.

Respect for, protection, and fulfillment of human rights anchor the modern international legal system that emerged in the latter half of the 20th century. More than their persuasive political and normative content, human rights contain obligations mainly legally binding upon States in their relations with those governed. They create legal relationships between duty-bearers of human rights obligations and rights-holders. The present system of international human rights law emerged out of the wreckage of global conflict and destruction, with sovereign States coming together in recognition of the need to respect human dignity. Generally embodied within the international human rights treaty regime, human rights as legal concepts embrace the primary duties of States to nurture the totality of the human condition. While civil and political rights are the main set of rights that come to mind in any discussion of legally enforceable rights, economic, social, and cultural rights (ESCR) are no less important or enforceable. These two main groups of rights are complementary and deeply entangled in terms of their normative aims and practical enforcement. With a global pandemic posing challenges to the elasticity of traditional legal concepts, there is a pressing need to examine how human rights can withstand the seeming need for increased State control. The right to health especially surfaces as a crucial species of rights in the context of the contemporary crisis brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. This brief essay first surveys the foundations of the right to health in international law. It then looks at how this right has been shaped and enforced in the domestic legal sphere. Finally, it will examine the prospects of enforcing the right to health within the context of the COVID-19 public health emergency in the Philippines.

Tomo 1. Ang librong ito ay una sa serye ng Handbook ng mga Batas para sa mga Katutubong Kababaihan na naglalaman ng Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) – Batas Republika Blg. 8371 at Magna Carta ng Kababaihan – Batas Republika Blg. 9710 na isinalin sa wikang Filipino.

Patnugot: Judy A. Pasimio
Disenyo, Layout, at Litrato: Susan Corpuz
Karapatang-ari © 2015 Lilak (Purple Action for Indigenous Women’s Rights) Lungsod ng Quezon, Metro Manila, 2015
ISBN 978-621-95339-0-4 (print)

Batas Republika Blg. 9710 — Magna Carta ng Kababaihan (Magna Carta of Women)
Karapatang-sipi © 2014 ng salin ng Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino. Mula sa Official Gazette ang orihinal na manuskrito sa Ingles. ISBN 978-971-0197-35-4
Editor: Grace F. Bengco
Mga Tagasalin: Miriam P. Cabila, Lourdes L. Hinampas, at Pinky Jane S. Tenmatay

Batas Republika Blg. 8371 — Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of 1997 (IPRA of 1997)
Mula sa website ng National Commission of Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) ang orihinal na manuskrito sa Tagalog.
Ang pagsasaayos ng mga kamalian sa paglimbag o typographical errors, at pagwasto ng ilang mga salita mula sa orihinal ay sa pagtutulungan ng tagapaglathala ng dokumentong ito at ng kanilang mga kaibigan upang sumang-ayon, sa abot ng nakayanan, sa pamantayan ng wastong pagsalin ng Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino.

Maaring kopyahin at sipiin ang nilalamang teksto nitong dokumento sa pasubaling may pagkilala sa mga tagasalin at mga tagapaglathala.

Ang mga litrato sa dokumentong ito ay may kanya-kanyang karapatang-ari at reserbado ang lahat ng karapatan. Pakiusap po na ipagbigay alam sa tagapaglathala at retratista kung nais gamitin alin sa mga ito. Ang detalye ng bawat retrato ay mababasa sa panghuling parte ng dokumentong ito.

Processual presumption, described as a "well-embedded" principle in this jurisdiction, has been largely unexplored. This paper attempts to fill that vacuum. Composed of three parts, it examines how processual presumption operates in the cases where it was invoked by our Supreme Court. In the first part, it inquires into the pertinent conflict areas in Philippine law where the question of foreign law, as a fact, usually arises, surveying in the process various cases relating to the conflict areas in consideration, observing that the application of the said concept is preceded by two steps, namely characterization and ascertainment and application of the proper law, and it is in the second stage where processual presumption may or may not be brought into play. In the second part, this article analyzes how, in the conflict areas being observed, the doctrine of processual presumption functions as a tool in determining foreign law for failure of the proponent of such a law to overcome the burden of proof imposed upon him by our law on evidence, noting that the proof required is remarkably technical. In the third part, this study looks into the "apparent" exceptions to the use of processual presumption, while discussing the dynamics involved in a conflict of laws litigation as a civil proceeding, as well as suggesting a confrontational approach by which to avoid, as it were, the so-called problem of processual presumption. This article concludes by reinforcing the need to go back to basics as far as conflict trials are concerned, leaving a note to our Supreme Court for further analysis.