BILL OF RIGHTS
“The perfection of humanity is not possible
without freedom for the individual.” –
Marcelo H. Del Pilar (one of the writers of the
Philippine Propaganda Movement)
 Balancing of power and freedom.
 A guarantee that there are certain
areas of a person’s life, liberty, and
property which governmental power
may not touch.
The totality of governmental power is
contained in three great powers:
1. police power;
2. power of eminent domain; and
3. power of taxation
 These belong to the very essence of
government and without them no
government can exist.
 They are inherent powers and they
belong to government as much as spirit
and mind belong to the essence of man.
 Exercised even without the need of
express constitutional grant.
JAIN MAE A. ROJO
Notes on Constitutional Law 2
POLICE POWER
- “The power vested in the legislature
by the constitution to make, ordain,
and establish all manner of
wholesome and reasonable laws,
statutes, and ordinances, either
with penalties or without, not
repugnant to the constitution, as
they shall judge to be for the good
and welfare of the commonwealth,
and of the subjects of the same.”
(Chief Justice Shaw)
- Power promoting public welfare by
restraining and regulating the use of
liberty and property.
- Rests upon public necessity and
upon the right of the state and of the
public to self-protection.
- Based on the Latin maxim: ‘salus
populi est suprema lex’ meaning the
welfare of the people is the supreme
law.
- ‘sic utere tuo ut alienum non laedas’
meaning use your own property in
such a manner as not to injure that
of another.
 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.
Protected liberty
- Includes “not merely freedom from
bodily restraint but also the right of
the individual to contract, to engage
in any common occupations of life,
to acquire useful knowledge, to
marry, establish a home and bring
up a children, and to worship God
according to the dictates of
conscience.”
Protected property
- Includes the right to work and the
right to earn a living.
Right to Life
- It is not just a protection of the right
to be alive or to the security of one’s
limb against physical harm.
- Right to life is also the right to a
good life.
JAIN MAE A. ROJO
Notes on Constitutional Law 2
Due process as procedural fairness
- “Law which hears before it
condemns; which proceeds upon
enquiry, and renders judgment only
after trial.” (Daniel Webster)
U.S. v Ling Su Fan
Due process simply means:
1. There shall be a law prescribed in
harmony with the general powers of
the legislative department of the
Government;
2. This law shall be reasonable in its
operation;
3. It shall be enforced according to the
regular methods of procedure
prescribed;
4. It shall be applicable alike to all
citizens of a state or to all of a class.
Essentials of Procedural Fairness in
Judicial Proceedings according to Banco
Español v. Palanca:
1. There must be a court or tribunal
clothed with judicial power to hear
and determine the matter before it;
2. Jurisdiction must be lawfully
acquired over the person of the
defendant or over the property
which is the subject of the
proceedings;
3. The defendant must be given an
opportunity to be heard;
4. The judgment must be rendered
upon lawful hearing.
Need for notice and an opportunity to
be heard

- Heart of procedural due process

Equal protection

- The equality the constitution

guarantees is “legal equality or, as it
usually put, the equality of all
persons before the law. Under it,
each individual is dealt with as an
equal person in the law, which does
not treat the person differently
because of who he is or what he is or
what he possesses.”

- According to Tolentino v. Board

of Accountancy the guarantee of
equal protection simply means, “that
no person or class of persons shall be
deprived of the same protection of
the laws which is enjoyed by other
persons or other classes in the same
place and in like circumstances.”

The Classification to be Reasonable:

(BARN)

1. Must Be germane to the purpose of

the law;

2. Must Apply equally to all members

of the same class;

3. Must Rest on substantial

distinctions;

4. Must Not be limited to existing

conditions only;

JAIN MAE A. ROJO

Notes on Constitutional Law 2