1. 1987 Constitution
Article II,
Section 9 - The State shall promote a just and dynamic social order that will ensure the
prosperity and independence of the nation and free the people from poverty through
policies that provide adequate social services, promote full employment, a rising standard
of living, and an improved quality of life for all.
Section 10. The State shall promote social justice in all phases of national development.
Section 11. The State values the dignity of every human person and guarantees full
respect for human rights.
Section 12. The State recognizes the sanctity of family life and shall protect and
strengthen the family as a basic autonomous social institution. It shall equally protect the
life of the mother and the life of the unborn from conception. The natural and primary right
and duty of parents in the rearing of the youth for civic efficiency and the development of
moral character shall receive the support of the Government.
Section 13. The State recognizes the vital role of the youth in nation-building and shall
promote and protect their physical, moral, spiritual, intellectual, and social well-being. It
shall inculcate in the youth patriotism and nationalism, and encourage their involvement
in public and civic affairs.
Section 14. The State recognizes the role of women in nation-building, and shall ensure
the fundamental equality before the law of women and men.
Section 18. The State affirms labor as a primary social economic force. It shall protect the
rights of workers and promote their welfare.
Section 20. The State recognizes the indispensable role of the private sector, encourages
private enterprise, and provides incentives to needed investments.
ARTICLE III
BILL OF 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.
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.
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 8. The right of the people, including those employed in the public and private
sectors, to form unions, associations, or societies for purposes not contrary to law shall
not be abridged.
Section 10. No law impairing the obligation of contracts shall be passed.
Section 16. All persons shall have the right to a speedy disposition of their cases before all judicial, quasijudicial, or administrative bodies.
Section 18. (1) No person shall be detained solely by reason of his political beliefs and
aspirations.
(2) No involuntary servitude in any form shall exist except as a punishment for a crime
whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.
ARTICLE XIII
SOCIAL JUSTICE AND HUMAN RIGHTS
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 inequities by equitably diffusing wealth and
political power for the common good.
To this end, the State shall regulate the acquisition, ownership, use, and disposition of
property and its increments.
Section 2. The promotion of social justice shall include the commitment to create
economic opportunities based on freedom of initiative and self-reliance.
LABOR
Section 3. The State shall afford full protection to labor, local and overseas, organized
and unorganized, and promote full employment and equality of employment opportunities
for all.
It shall guarantee the rights of all workers to self-organization, collective bargaining and
negotiations, and peaceful concerted activities, including the right to strike in accordance
with law. They shall be entitled to security of tenure, humane conditions of work, and a
living wage. They shall also participate in policy and decision-making processes affecting
their rights and benefits as may be provided by law.
The State shall promote the principle of shared responsibility between workers and
employers and the preferential use of voluntary modes in settling disputes, including
conciliation, and shall enforce their mutual compliance therewith to foster industrial peace.
The State shall regulate the relations between workers and employers, recognizing the
right of labor to its just share in the fruits of production and the right of enterprises to
reasonable returns to investments, and to expansion and growth.
Section 13. The State shall establish a special agency for disabled persons for their
rehabilitation, self-development, and self-reliance, and their integration into the
mainstream of society.
WOMEN
Section 14. The State shall protect working women by providing safe and healthful
working conditions, taking into account their maternal functions, and such facilities and
opportunities that will enhance their welfare and enable them to realize their full potential
in the service of the nation.
CIVIL CODE
Civil Code
Art. 1418. When the law fixes, or authorizes the fixing of the maximum number of hours
of labor, and a contract is entered into whereby a laborer undertakes to work longer than
the maximum thus fixed, he may demand additional compensation for service rendered
beyond the time limit.
Art. 1419. When the law sets, or authorizes the setting of a minimum wage for laborers,
and a contract is agreed upon by which a laborer accepts a lower wage, he shall be
entitled to recover the deficiency.
Art. 1700. The relations between capital and labor are not merely contractual. They are
so impressed with public interest that labor contracts must yield to the common good.
Therefore, such contracts are subject to the special laws on labor unions, collective
bargaining, strikes and lockouts, closed shop, wages, working conditions, hours of labor
and similar subjects.
Art. 1701. Neither capital nor labor shall act oppressively against the other, or impair the
interest or convenience of the public.
Art. 1702. In case of doubt, all labor legislation and all labor contracts shall be construed
in favor of the safety and decent living for the laborer.
Art. 1703. No contract which practically amounts to involuntary servitude, under any guise
whatsoever, shall be valid.
Art. 1704. In collective bargaining, the labor union or members of the board or committee
signing the contract shall be liable for non-fulfillment thereof.
Art. 1705. The laborer's wages shall be paid in legal currency.
Art. 1706. Withholding of the wages, except for a debt due, shall not be made by the
employer.
Art. 1707. The laborer's wages shall be a lien on the goods manufactured or the work
done.
Art. 1708. The laborer's wages shall not be subject to execution or attachment, except for
debts incurred for food, shelter, clothing and medical attendance.
Art. 1709. The employer shall neither seize nor retain any tool or other articles belonging
to the laborer.
Art. 1710. Dismissal of laborers shall be subject to the supervision of the Government,
under special laws.
Art. 1711. Owners of enterprises and other employers are obliged to pay compensation
for the death of or injuries to their laborers, workmen, mechanics or other employees,
even though the event may have been purely accidental or entirely due to a fortuitous
cause, if the death or personal injury arose out of and in the course of the employment.
The employer is also liable for compensation if the employee contracts any illness or
disease caused by such employment or as the result of the nature of the employment. If
the mishap was due to the employee's own notorious negligence, or voluntary act, or
drunkenness, the employer shall not be liable for compensation. When the employee's
lack of due care contributed to his death or injury, the compensation shall be equitably
reduced.
Art. 1712. If the death or injury is due to the negligence of a fellow worker, the latter and
the employer shall be solidarily liable for compensation. If a fellow worker's intentional
malicious act is the only cause of the death or injury, the employer shall not be
answerable, unless it should be shown that the latter did not exercise due diligence in the
selection or supervision of the plaintiff's fellow worker.
Art. 2208. In the absence of stipulation, attorney's fees and expenses of litigation, other
than judicial costs, cannot be recovered, except:
(7) In actions for the recovery of wages of household helpers, laborers and skilled
workers;
Art. 2241. With reference to specific movable property of the debtor, the following claims
or liens shall be preferred:
(6) Claims for laborers' wages, on the goods manufactured or the work done;
Art. 2242. With reference to specific immovable property and real rights of the debtor,
the following claims, mortgages and liens shall be preferred, and shall constitute an
encumbrance on the immovable or real right:
(3) Claims of laborers, masons, mechanics and other workmen, as well as of architects,
engineers and contractors, engaged in the construction, reconstruction or repair of
buildings, canals or other works, upon said buildings, canals or other works;
Art. 2244. With reference to other property, real and personal, of the debtor, the following
claims or credits shall be preferred in the order named:
(2) Credits for services rendered the insolvent by employees, laborers, or household
helpers for one year preceding the commencement of the proceedings in insolvency;
(4) Compensation due the laborers or their dependents under laws providing for indemnity
for damages in cases of labor accident, or illness resulting from the nature of the
employment;