BILL OF RIGHTS

Article III of the 1987 Constitution delineates its content exclusively on Bill of Rights. A bill of rights could be perceived as an articulation and enumeration of an individuals rights and civil liberties premeditated under the Constitution to defend against contraventions done by the government or by a person or groups of people. It is a nature of freedom for the person and a restriction upon the power of the State. The communal significance concurred to the individual in a democratic or republican state, the conviction that every person has inherent decorum and merit in which respect and security is requisite are the keystone of Bill of Rights. There are three classifications of rights enjoyed by a citizen of a democratic state: Natural rights, constitutional rights and statutory rights. Natural rights are those enjoyed by all citizens needless to be fixed by the State since they are granted to man by God as a human being shaped to His image with the intention that he could live a blissful life. Constitutional rights are those established and safeguarded by the Constitution. They cannot be altered or eradicated by the legislative body for they are part of the fundamental law. Statutory rights are those granted by laws disseminated by the legislative body and accordingly could be abrogated by the same body. The constitutional rights are further classified into: political rights, civil rights, social and economic rights and the rights of the accused. Political rights are those rights of the citizens that provide them the right to partake, directly or indirectly, in the establishment or administration of the government. Civil rights are those rights which the law will implement at the request of private persons for the intention of assuring to them the delectation of their way of happiness. Social and economic rights incorporate those which are meant to indemnify the welfare and fiscal safety of the person. Rights of the accused are the rights ordained for the protection of a person accused of any crime. The following is a prcis of the provisions incorporating Bill of Rights, Article III of the 1987 Constitution: Section 1. Right to life, liberty and property; Section 2. Right against unreasonable searches and seizures; Section 3. Right to keep his communication or correspondence a secret; Section 4. Freedom of speech, right to a free press, freedom of assembly and the right of petition; Section 5. Freedom of Religion; Section 6. The liberty of domicile and the right to travel; Section 7. The right to information; Section 8. Right to form associations; Section 9. Right to just compensation; Section 10. Non-impairment clause; Section 11. Free access to court; Section 12. Right of person under custodial investigation; Section 13. Right to bail and against excessive bail; Section 14. Right of the accused: right to due process of law in criminal cases, innocent until proven guilty, right to confront ones accuser, basis for trials in absentia; Section 15. Writ of Habeas Corpus; Section 16. Right to speedy disposition of cases; Section 17. Right against self-incrimination; Section 18. Right to political beliefs and aspirations; Section 19. Prohibition against cruel, degrading or inhuman punishment; Section 20. Nonimprisonment for debts; Section 21. Right against double jeopardy; and Section 22. Ex post facto law and bill of attainder. Article III of the 1987 Constitution, being germane to learning students, aspires to inculcate to them the utmost felicity for ones life, liberty, and property and the obedience to the rule of law, the lawful recognition of their constitutional rights as citizens and persons living in the state, the perspicacity on the significance and necessities of due process of law in whichever instance that could direct to legal proceeding be it in civil, criminal or administrative case, the discernment and appreciation of the privileges fixed by the Constitution to a person who fends as defendant in any official/court proceedings, the familiarity with the prerequisites in the carrying out of a legitimate search and warrant of arrest when germane to an issue and the comprehension that liberty/freedom is not infrangible but several might be constrained by law on the strength of public order, security, disposition, welfare and national interest.