De Jesus, Mark William B.

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Constitutional Provisions related to Labor

Section 9, Article 2 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, Article 2 The State shall promote social justice in all phases of national development.
Section 11, Article 2 The State values the dignity of every human person and guarantees full
respect for human rights.
Section 13, Article 2 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 20, Article 2 The State recognizes the indispensable role of the private sector, encourages
private enterprise, and provides incentives to needed investments.
Section 14, Article 2 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, Article 2 The State affirms labor as a primary social economic force. It shall protect
the rights of workers and promote their welfare.
Section 1, Article 3 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, Article 3 The promotion of social justice shall include the commitment to create
economic opportunities based on freedom of initiative and self-reliance.
Section 4, Article 3 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 8, Article 3 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 12, Article 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.
De Jesus, Mark William B.
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Section 3, Article 13 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
on investments, and to expansion and growth.
Section 7 Article 13 The State shall protect the rights of subsistence fishermen, especially of local
communities, to the preferential use of local 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.

What are labor laws for and why do they exist?

Based on the provisions of the Constitution, we may deduce that labor laws exist for the purpose
of executing the intent and the policy as a nation that we value labor as much as one which is of
utmost importance in the building of our society. However, the Constitution does not limit the
scope of the law in labor only to those laborers rather, it’s a dynamic relationship between the
laborer and employer.
Ultimately, the aim of labor laws is Social Justice. To build a self-reliant, sustainable, and
responsible working community.
De Jesus, Mark William B.
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Following the provisions of the constitution, we can infer that there are three parties in labor: The
State, the employer, and the laborer. The State’s purpose is to promote social justice in all phases
of national development, promote just and dynamic social order, recognize the youth in nation-
building, encourage private enterprise to put up investments and industries, protect the rights of
the workers and their welfare, ensure that the basic rights of the Filipino laborers are unhindered,
and to maintain the principle of shared responsibility between the workers and employers.
The employers and the laborers on the other hand should have a balanced relationship where the
laborers are protected from abuse of the employers prohibiting them from exercising their basic
rights and where the employers are ensured that their industries are respected such that they may
operate to their full earning potential within the bounds of law without unlawful interference. It is
important to note that it is the constitution which recognized the fact that employers have the right
to reasonable returns and that there is no inclination to either parties as to who is of better
importance.