ARTICLE XII

NATIONAL ECONOMY AND PATRIMONY

Section 1. The goals of the national economy are a more

equitable distribution of opportunities, income, and
wealth; a sustained increase in the amount of goods and
services produced by the nation for the benefit of the
people; and an expanding productivity as the key to raising
the quality of life for all, especially the underprivileged.

The State shall promote industrialization and full

employment based on sound agricultural development
and agrarian reform, through industries that make full of
efficient use of human and natural resources, and which
are competitive in both domestic and foreign markets.
However, the State shall protect Filipino enterprises
against unfair foreign competition and trade practices.

In the pursuit of these goals, all sectors of the economy

and all regions of the country shall be given optimum
opportunity to develop. Private enterprises, including
corporations, cooperatives, and similar collective
organizations, shall be encouraged to broaden the base of
their ownership.

Section 2. All lands of the public domain, waters, minerals,

coal, petroleum, and other mineral oils, all forces of
potential energy, fisheries, forests or timber, wildlife, flora
and fauna, and other natural resources are owned by the
State. With the exception of agricultural lands, all other
natural resources shall not be alienated. The exploration,
development, and utilization of natural resources shall be
under the full control and supervision of the State. The
State may directly undertake such activities, or it may enter
into co-production, joint venture, or production-sharing
agreements with Filipino citizens, or corporations or
associations at least 60 per centum of whose capital is
owned by such citizens. Such agreements may be for a
period not exceeding twenty-five years, renewable for
not more than twenty-five years, and under such terms and
conditions as may provided by law. In cases of water rights
for irrigation, water supply, fisheries, or industrial uses
other than the development of waterpower, beneficial use
may be the measure and limit of the grant.

The State shall protect the nations marine wealth in its

archipelagic waters, territorial sea, and exclusive economic
zone, and reserve its use and enjoyment exclusively to
Filipino citizens.

The Congress may, by law, allow small-scale utilization of

natural resources by Filipino citizens, as well as
cooperative fish farming, with priority to subsistence
fishermen and fish workers in rivers, lakes, bays, and
lagoons.

The President may enter into agreements with foreign-

owned corporations involving either technical or financial
assistance for large-scale exploration, development, and
utilization of minerals, petroleum, and other mineral oils
according to the general terms and conditions provided by
law, based on real contributions to the economic growth
and general welfare of the country. In such agreements,
the State shall promote the development and use of local
scientific and technical resources.

The President shall notify the Congress of every

contract entered into in accordance with this provision,
within thirty days from its execution.
Section 3. Lands of the public domain are classified into
agricultural, forest or timber, mineral lands and national
parks. Agricultural lands of the public domain may be
further classified by law according to the uses to which they
may be devoted. Alienable lands of the public domain shall
be limited to agricultural lands. Private corporations or
associations may not hold such alienable lands of the
public domain except by lease, for a period not exceeding
twenty-five years, renewable for not more than twenty-five
years, and not to exceed one thousand hectares in area.
Citizens of the Philippines may lease not more than five
hundred hectares, or acquire not more than twelve
hectares thereof, by purchase, homestead, or grant.

Taking into account the requirements of conservation,

ecology, and development, and subject to the requirements
of agrarian reform, the Congress shall determine, by law,
the size of lands of the public domain which may be
acquired, developed, held, or leased and the conditions
therefor.

Section 4. The Congress shall, as soon as possible,

determine, by law, the specific limits of forest lands and
national parks, marking clearly their boundaries on the
ground. Thereafter, such forest lands and national parks
shall be conserved and may not be increased nor
diminished, except by law. The Congress shall provide for
such period as it may determine, measures to prohibit
logging in endangered forests and watershed areas.

Section 5. The State, subject to the provisions of this

Constitution and national development policies and
programs, shall protect the rights of indigenous cultural
communities to their ancestral lands to ensure their
economic, social, and cultural well-being.

The Congress may provide for the applicability of

customary laws governing property rights or relations in
determining the ownership and extent of ancestral domain.

Section 6. The use of property bears a social function, and

all economic agents shall contribute to the common good.
Individuals and private groups, including corporations,
cooperatives, and similar collective organizations, shall
have the right to own, establish, and operate economic
enterprises, subject to the duty of the State to promote
distributive justice and to intervene when the common good
so demands.

Section 7. Save in cases of hereditary succession, no

private lands shall be transferred or conveyed except to
individuals, corporations, or associations qualified to
acquire or hold lands of the public domain.

Section 8. Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 7 of

this Article, a natural-born citizen of the Philippines who
has lost his Philippine citizenship may be a transferee of
private lands, subject to limitations provided by law.

Section 9. The Congress may establish an independent

economic and planning agency headed by the President,
which shall, after consultations with the appropriate public
agencies, various private sectors, and local government
units, recommend to Congress, and implement continuing
integrated and coordinated programs and policies for
national development.

Until the Congress provides otherwise, the National

Economic and Development Authority shall function as the
independent planning agency of the government.
Section 10. The Congress shall, upon recommendation of
the economic and planning agency, when the national
interest dictates, reserve to citizens of the Philippines or to
corporations or associations at least sixty per centum of
whose capital is owned by such citizens, or such higher
percentage as Congress may prescribe, certain areas of
investments. The Congress shall enact measures that will
encourage the formation and operation of enterprises
whose capital is wholly owned by Filipinos.

In the grant of rights, privileges, and concessions covering

the national economy and patrimony, the State shall give
preference to qualified Filipinos.

The State shall regulate and exercise authority over foreign

investments within its national jurisdiction and in
accordance with its national goals and priorities.

Section 11. No franchise, certificate, or any other form of

authorization for the operation of a public utility shall be
granted except to citizens of the Philippines or to
corporations or associations organized under the laws of
the Philippines, at least sixty per centum of whose capital is
owned by such citizens; nor shall such franchise,
certificate, or authorization be exclusive in character or for
a longer period than fifty years. Neither shall any such
franchise or right be granted except under the condition
that it shall be subject to amendment, alteration, or repeal
by the Congress when the common good so requires. The
State shall encourage equity participation in public utilities
by the general public. The participation of foreign investors
in the governing body of any public utility enterprise shall
be limited to their proportionate share in its capital, and all
the executive and managing officers of such corporation or
association must be citizens of the Philippines.

Section 12. The State shall promote the preferential use of

Filipino labor, domestic materials and locally produced
goods, and adopt measures that help make them
competitive.

Section 13. The State shall pursue a trade policy that

serves the general welfare and utilizes all forms and
arrangements of exchange on the basis of equality and
reciprocity.

Section 14. The sustained development of a reservoir of

national talents consisting of Filipino scientists,
entrepreneurs, professionals, managers, high-level
technical manpower and skilled workers and craftsmen in
all fields shall be promoted by the State. The State shall
encourage appropriate technology and regulate its transfer
for the national benefit. The practice of all professions in
the Philippines shall be limited to Filipino citizens, save in
cases prescribed by law.

Section 15. The Congress shall create an agency to

promote the viability and growth of cooperatives as
instruments for social justice and economic development.

Section 16. The Congress shall not, except by general

law, provide for the formation, organization, or regulation of
private corporations. Government-owned or controlled
corporations may be created or established by special
charters in the interest of the common good and subject to
the test of economic viability.

Section 17. In times of national emergency, when the

public interest so requires, the State may, during the
emergency and under reasonable terms prescribed by it,
temporarily take over or direct the operation of any
privately-owned public utility or business affected with
public interest.

Section 18. The State may, in the interest of national

welfare or defense, establish and operate vital industries
and, upon payment of just compensation, transfer to public
ownership utilities and other private enterprises to be
operated by the Government.

Section 19. The State shall regulate or prohibit monopolies

when the public interest so requires. No combinations in
restraint of trade or unfair competition shall be allowed.

Section 20. The Congress shall establish an independent

central monetary authority, the members of whose
governing board must be natural-born Filipino citizens, of
known probity, integrity, and patriotism, the majority of
whom shall come from the private sector. They shall also
be subject to such other qualifications and disabilities as
may be prescribed by law. The authority shall provide
policy direction in the areas of money, banking, and credit.
It shall have supervision over the operations of banks and
exercise such regulatory powers as may be provided by
law over the operations of finance companies and other
institutions performing similar functions.

Until the Congress otherwise provides, the Central Bank of

the Philippines operating under existing laws, shall function
as the central monetary authority.

Section 21. Foreign loans may only be incurred in

accordance with law and the regulation of the monetary
authority. Information on foreign loans obtained or
guaranteed by the Government shall be made available to
the public.

Section 22. Acts which circumvent or negate any of the

provisions of this Article shall be considered inimical to the
national interest and subject to criminal and civil sanctions,
as may be provided by law.

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.
 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.

AGRARIAN AND NATURAL RESOURCES

REFORM

Section 4. The State shall, by law, undertake an

agrarian reform program founded on the right of
farmers and regular farmworkers who are landless,
to own directly or collectively the lands they till
or, in the case of other farmworkers, to receive a
just share of the fruits thereof. To this end, the State
shall encourage and undertake the just distribution
of all agricultural lands, subject to such priorities
and reasonable retention limits as the Congress
may prescribe, taking into account ecological,
developmental, or equity considerations, and
subject to the payment of just compensation. In
determining retention limits, the State shall respect
the right of small landowners. The State shall
further provide incentives for voluntary land-sharing.

Section 5. The State shall recognize the right of

farmers, farmworkers, and landowners, as well as
cooperatives, and other independent farmers’
organizations to participate in the planning,
organization, and management of the program, and
shall provide support to agriculture through
appropriate technology and research, and adequate
financial, production, marketing, and other support
services.

Section 6. The State shall apply the principles of

agrarian reform or stewardship, whenever
applicable in accordance with law, in the disposition
or utilization of other natural resources, including
lands of the public domain under lease or
concession suitable to agriculture, subject to prior
rights, homestead rights of small settlers, and the
rights of indigenous communities to their ancestral
lands.

The State may resettle landless farmers and

farmworkers in its own agricultural estates which
shall be distributed to them in the manner provided
by law.

Section 7. The State shall protect the rights of

subsistence fishermen, especially of local
communities, to the preferential use of the
communal marine and fishing resources, both
inland and offshore. It shall provide support to such
fishermen through appropriate technology and
research, adequate financial, production, and
marketing assistance, and other services. The State
shall also protect, develop, and conserve such
resources. The protection shall extend to offshore
fishing grounds of subsistence fishermen against
foreign intrusion. Fishworkers shall receive a just
share from their labor in the utilization of marine
and fishing resources.

Section 8. The State shall provide incentives to

landowners to invest the proceeds of the agrarian
reform program to promote industrialization,
employment creation, and privatization of public
sector enterprises. Financial instruments used as
payment for their lands shall be honored as equity
in enterprises of their choice.

URBAN LAND REFORM AND HOUSING

Section 9. The State shall, by law, and for the

common good, undertake, in cooperation with the
private sector, a continuing program of urban land
reform and housing which will make available at
affordable cost, decent housing and basic services
to underprivileged and homeless citizens in urban
centers and resettlement areas. It shall also
promote adequate employment opportunities to
such citizens. In the implementation of such
program the State shall respect the rights of small
property owners.

Section 10. Urban or rural poor dwellers shall not

be evicted nor their dwelling demolished, except in
accordance with law and in a just and humane
manner.

No resettlement of urban or rural dwellers shall be

undertaken without adequate consultation with
them and the communities where they are to be
relocated.

HEALTH

Section 11. The State shall adopt an integrated and

comprehensive approach to health development
which shall endeavor to make essential goods,
health and other social services available to all the
people at affordable cost. There shall be priority for
the needs of the underprivileged, sick, elderly,
disabled, women, and children. The State shall
endeavor to provide free medical care to paupers.

Section 12. The State shall establish and maintain

an effective food and drug regulatory system and
undertake appropriate health, manpower
development, and research, responsive to the
country’s health needs and problems.

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.

ROLE AND RIGHTS OF PEOPLE’S

ORGANIZATIONS

Section 15. The State shall respect the role of

independent people’s organizations to enable the
people to pursue and protect, within the democratic
framework, their legitimate and collective interests
and aspirations through peaceful and lawful means.

People’s organizations are bona fide associations

of citizens with demonstrated capacity to promote
the public interest and with identifiable leadership,
membership, and structure.

Section 16. The right of the people and their

organizations to effective and reasonable
participation at all levels of social, political, and
economic decision-making shall not be abridged.
The State shall, by law, facilitate the establishment
of adequate consultation mechanisms.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Section 17. (1) There is hereby created an

independent office called the Commission on
Human Rights.

(2) The Commission shall be composed of a

Chairman and four Members who must be natural-
born citizens of the Philippines and a majority of
whom shall be members of the Bar. The term of
office and other qualifications and disabilities of the
Members of the Commission shall be provided by
law.

(3) Until this Commission is constituted, the existing

Presidential Committee on Human Rights shall
continue to exercise its present functions and
powers.

(4) The approved annual appropriations of the

Commission shall be automatically and regularly
released.

Section 18. The Commission on Human Rights

shall have the following powers and functions:

(1) Investigate, on its own or on complaint by any

party, all forms of human rights violations involving
civil and political rights;

(2) Adopt its operational guidelines and rules of

procedure, and cite for contempt for violations
thereof in accordance with the Rules of Court;

(3) Provide appropriate legal measures for the

protection of human rights of all persons within the
Philippines, as well as Filipinos residing abroad,
and provide for preventive measures and legal aid
services to the underprivileged whose human rights
have been violated or need protection;

(4) Exercise visitorial powers over jails, prisons, or

detention facilities;

(5) Establish a continuing program of research,

education, and information to enhance respect for
the primacy of human rights;

(6) Recommend to Congress effective measures to

promote human rights and to provide for
compensation to victims of violations of human
rights, or their families;

(7) Monitor the Philippine Government’s compliance

with international treaty obligations on human
rights;

(8) Grant immunity from prosecution to any person

whose testimony or whose possession of
documents or other evidence is necessary or
convenient to determine the truth in any
investigation conducted by it or under its authority;

(9) Request the assistance of any department,

bureau, office, or agency in the performance of its
functions;

(10) Appoint its officers and employees in

accordance with law; and

(11) Perform such other duties and functions as

may be provided by law.

Section 19. The Congress may provide for other

cases of violations of human rights that should fall
within the authority of the Commission, taking into
account its recommendations.