Rights, privileges and responsibilities of a citizen

1. Rights, Privileges and Responsibilities of a
Citizen

2. Objectives
At the end of this lesson, the student should be able to:
1. Explain what is citizenship;
2. Enumerate the rights, privileges and responsibilities of a
citizen; and
3. Illustrate the value of citizenship

3. A Glimpse Back
Write a poem of two to four stanzas describing both the civil
society organizations and social movements. Provide a title for
the poem.

4. There are basically two types of people living within the
jurisdiction of the Republic of the Philippines :
1) Citizens; and
(2) Aliens.

5. Aliens
People who live within the territory of the Philippines but “owe
permanent allegiance to a foreign country”.
They are not entitled to vote or run for elections.
They have limited business capabilities, and they cannot engage
in professions like law and medicine, among other restrictions.
But the State provides them protection by extending the civil
right guaranteed by the Constitution, provided that they also
obey the laws of the land and pay taxes(Ramirez 1969)

6. A citizen meets the qualifications stated under Section 1, Article IV
of the 1987 Philippine Constitution , which are:
(1) Those who are citizens of the Philippines at the time of the
adoption of this Constitution;
(2) Those whose fathers or mothers are citizens of the Philippines;
(3) Those born before January 17, 1973, of Filipino mothers, who
elect Philippine citizenship upon reaching the age of majority;
and
(4) Those who are naturalized in accordance with law.

7. Two kinds of citizens based on the manner by
which citizenship is acquired:
Natural- Born Citizens- Filipino citizens from birth without
having to perform any act to acquire citizenship, as well as those
who chose Filipino citizenship in accordance with paragraph 3 of
Section 1, Article IV ; and
Naturalized citizens- aliens who became citizens through
naturalization or the legal act of adopting alien and giving him
the rights that belong to natural- born citizens.

8. Citizenship can be acquired (Section 1 [4] ,Article IV) but it can
also be lost in special circumstances such as , but not limited to,
express renunciation of citizenship, and subscribing to an oath of
allegiance to a foreign country, and becoming a naturalized
citizen of another country.
A Filipino citizen who marries an alien or foreign retains his/her
Filipino citizenship unless circumstances will prove that he/she
renounced his/her Filipino citizenship.

9. While aliens have limited rights, a citizen of the country enjoys all the
rights and privileges provided under the law. One of the important rights
enjoyed by the citizens is the right of suffrage or the right to vote and run
for elections(provided that the citizen is qualified to participate in the
elections as provided by law). This means that citizens are capable of
participating in the government, that they have power to voice out their
opinions, something that aliens in the country cannot do.

10. Under the Philippine Constitution, Article III (Bill of Rights)
of the 1987 Constitution provides the basic rights of Filipino citizens. All the
provisions in Article III can actually be divided into three “ fundamental
rights” of the citizens, namely,
(1) Right to life
(2) Right to liberty, and
(3) Right to property (Defensor-Santiago 2002).

11. The following are some of the rights enumerated
under Article III. Take time to read the others.
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.

12. Section 7. The right of the people to information on matters of public concern
shall be recognized. Access to official records, and to documents and papers
pertaining to official acts, transactions, or decisions, as well as to government
research data used as basis for policy development, shall be afforded the
citizen, subject to such limitations as may be provided by law.
Section 9. Private property shall not be taken for public use without just
compensation.
Section 14. (1) No person shall be held to answer for a criminal offense
without due process of law.
Section 17. No person shall be compelled to be a witness against himself

13. Two fundamentals clauses incorporated in the
Bill of Rights.
1. Due process clause- gives every citizen the right to be
notified and heard in court before any of his or her rights “ be
reduced or affected by any action of the state” (Defensor-
Santiago 2002).
2. Equal protection clause- every person facing similar cases
must receive similar, although not necessarily identical,
treatment under tha law (Defensor- Santiago 2002).

14. The 1987 Constitution does not directly enumerate the
responsibilities of a citizen. But the provisions of the law actually
provide us with the attached responsibility of each right and
privilege. For example, under Section 1 of Article 3:
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.
Applied to one’s self, you have the right to life, liberty, or property
as with everyone else and others must respect your right. But the
law is for everyone, thus your classmates, teachers, family
members, and neighbors have those rights so you must also
respect them in this sense.

15. Another general law of the country is the Civil code of the Philippines. For the
purpose of this lesson, we will refer to the Preliminary Title Part of the Civil
Code. Some of the Provisions of the civil code are the following:
CIVIL CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES CHAPTER 1:
Effects and Application of Laws
Article 3 : Ignorance of the law excuses no one from compliance therewith;
Article 4 : Rights may be waived , unless the waiver is contrary to law, public
order, public policy, morals, or good customs or prejudicial to a third person
with a right recognized by law;

16. Article 9: No judge or court shall decline to render judgment by
reason of the silence, obscurity or insufficiency of laws;
Article 11: Customs which are contrary to law, public order or
public policy shall not be countenanced;
Article 15: Laws relating to family rights and duties, or to the
status, condition and legal capacity of persons are binding upon
citizens of the Philippines, even though living abroad;
Article 16: Rea property as well as personal property is subject to
the law of the country where it is situated;

17. CIVIL CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES CHAPTER 2:
Human Relations
Article 19. Every person must, in the exercise of his rights and in the
performance of his duties, act with justice, give everyone his due, and
observe honesty and good faith.
Article 20. Every person who, contrary to law, wilfully or negligently causes
damage to another, shall indemnify the latter for the same.
Article 21. Any person who wilfully causes loss or injury to another in
manner that is contrary to morals, good customs or public policy shall
compensate the latter for the damage.
Article 22. Every person who through an act of performance by another, or
any other means, acquires or comes into possession of something at the
expense of the latter without just or legal ground, shall return the same to
him.

18. Article 23. Even when an act or event causing damage to another's property
was not due to the fault or negligence of the defendant, the latter shall be
liable for indemnity if through the act or event he was benefited.
Article 26. Every person shall respect the dignity, personality, privacy and
peace of mind of his neighbors and other persons. The following and similar
acts, though they may not constitute a criminal offense, shall produce a
cause of action for damages, prevention and other relief:
(1) Prying into the privacy of another's residence;
(2) Meddling with or disturbing the private life or family relations of another;
(3) Intriguing to cause another to be alienated from his friends;
(4) Vexing or humiliating another on account of his religious beliefs, lowly
station in life, place of birth, physical defect, or other personal condition.

19. Here we notice that the civil code express the responsibilities of
citizens more directly than how they are stated in the
Constitution. However, both imply the same rights and
responsibilities.