Definition [Highlight]

• The Commission on Human Rights was created in response to martial law–related abuses and to uphold the constitutional value of human dignity and respect for human rights.
• The CHR operates independently from the three branches of government to prevent undue influence.
• CHR members are appointed by the President without needing confirmation from the Commission on Appointments.
• Qualifications for CHR Members - Natural-born citizens of the Philippines, Majority must be members of the Philippine Bar.
• The CHR is composed of one Chairman and four members.
• Commission on Human Rights (CHR) - An independent constitutional body that promotes and protects human rights in the Philippines.
• Article 9, Section 17. Human Rights
• The State has a duty to promote social justice by protecting human dignity, reducing inequalities, and eliminating cultural inequities.
• The concept of social justice emphasizes the government's duty to ensure equal opportunities and fair distribution of resources, with special legal favor toward the less privileged.
• Section 2. The promotion of social justice shall include the commitment to create economic opportunities based on freedom of initiative and self-reliance.
• To this end the state shall regulate the acquisition, ownership, use, and disposition of property and its increments.
• Article 13. Social Justice and Human Right
• 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.
• Liberty of Abode and Travel - The right of a person to have his home in whatever place chosen by him and thereafter to change it at will, and to go where he pleases, without interference from any source.
• Section 6. The liberty of abode and of changing the same within the limits prescribed by law shall not be impaired except upon lawful order of the court. Neither shall the right to travel be impaired except in the interest of national security, public safety, or public health, as may be provided by law.
• The scope of freedom of expression includes free speech, free press, the rights to assemble and petition, to form lawful associations, and to practice religious freedom.
• Section 4. No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, of expression, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances.
• Limitations on the Right of Privacy: Upon lawful order of the court; or When public safety or order requires otherwise as prescribed by law.

  Note: the first limitation is in relation to the search warrant issued by the court. The second is subject to the police power of the state.
• Right of Privacy - Right of a person to be free from undesirable publicity, or disclosure and as the right to live without unwarranted interference by the public.
• Article 3. Concept of bill of rights
• Bill of Rights - 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, or by an individual or groups of individuals.
• Bill of RIghts - Charter of liberties for the individual and a limitation upon the power of the state.
• Natural rights - rights possessed by every citizen without being granted by the state for they are given to man by God.
• Constitutional rights - rights conferred and protected by the constitution. It cannot be modified or taken away by the law making body.
• Statutory rights - right provided by laws promulgated by the law-making body.
• Classes of Rights - Natural, Constitutional, and Statutory Rights.
• 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.
• Bill of Rights - It embraces all persons within the territorial jurisdiction of the Philippines without regard to any difference of race, color, or nationality.
• 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 or 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.
• Houses - this is not limited to dwelling houses but extends to garage, warehouse, shop, store, office, and even a safety deposit vault.
• Paper and effect - this include sealed letters and packages which may be opened and examined only in pursuance of a valid search warrant.
• Section 3. (1) The privacy of communication and correspondence shall be inviolable except upon lawful order of the court, or when public safety or order requires otherwise as prescribed by law. Any evidence obtained in violation of this or the preceding section shall be inadmissible for any purpose in any proceeding.