Concept of the Right to Life

Concept of the Right to Life

   Life means more than mere physical existence. It includes the right to live, free from "social damages against life and limb, or free from unjustified control."

   The constitutional protection of the right to life does not just mean protection to be alive or to the security of one's limbs against personal harm, but also contemplates the right to life, consistent with dignity and enhanced by the quality of what is mandated a quality or a "decent standard of living".

   The prohibition against deprivation of life extends to those limbs and faculties necessary for the enjoyment of life. It prohibits mutilation of the body by the amputation of an arm or leg, the putting out of an eye, or the destruction of any organ of the body.

Concept of Liberty 

   Liberty means the right to act without interference within the limits of the law. Liberty includes "the right of the citizen to be free to use his faculties in all lawful ways, to live and work where he will; to earn his livelihood by any lawful calling; to pursue any vocation, and for that purpose, to enter into all contracts which may be proper, necessary and essential to his carrying out those purposes to a successful conclusion.  The chief elements of the guarantee are the right to contract, the right to choose one's employment, the right to labor and the right to locomotion.

    It has been said that liberty consists largely of freedom from arbitrary physical restraint.

   In fine, the right to liberty includes the right "to determine one's mode of life with due respect to the rights of others."

Concept of Property 

   The term property refers to everything over which a person may exclusively call his own, whether it be real or personal, and which is capable of pecuniary evaluation. It includes not only ownership or possession, but it also embraces the right of acquisition and control. Under the law, ownership of a person over his property consists of his right -

      a.) To enjoy and to dispose of such property;
      b.) To recover the same from any holder or possessor; and to exclude any person from the enjoyment and disposition of said property;
      c.)  To enclose or fence his land, or construct any works or make any plantation or excavation on its surface or sub-surface;
      d.) To ownership of all or any part of hidden treasure found in his property and to all accessions of the same.

   The right to own or possess property is subject to the police power of the State and to the inherent power of the State to take property for public use upon payment of just compensation.

Concept of Deprivation

   In order that a person may be legally deprived of his property, it is not necessary that the same be physically taken away from him. It is sufficient that its value is destroyed or its capability for enjoyment or its adaptability to some particular use is impaired.

   Within the constitutional protection of the right to property includes vested rights like that of a perfected mining claim; right to work and right to earn a decent living.

   The Constitution considers public office as a public trust, not property. Consequently, the salary attached to a public office is not also considered property. Both office and salary may be abolished at any time by the lawmaking body, except when the law expressly provides otherwise.

   Likewise, a license to operate a cockpit or to sell liquor is not property; both are merely privileges which may be withdrawn at any time when the public interest so requires. So also is a certificate of public convenience granted to a transportation company which confers no property right on the route covered thereby.