The International Protection of Social Rights: A Philippine Perspective
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is two-fold: (a) to inquire into the relationship between an international framework of protection for social rights and the domestic mechanism in place in the Philippines; and, (b) to analyze how the Philippine Supreme Court had applied the international framework of protection for social rights to some significant cases.
In the course of addressing the discourse of this paper, the present writer will lay down the constitutional parameters by which the international human rights treaties, norms and principles find application under Philippine law. It will be maintained that the doctrine of incorporation has become instructive in addressing human rights concerns at the domestic level. The attitude of Philippine magistrates on the effective application of this doctrine will be cited using landmark decisions of the Supreme Court.
The writer will proceed to review the responses of the Philippine Government to the list of issues provided by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights as of 18 August 2016 to demonstrate how treaty-based rules protecting social rights serve as fiscalizing tools to effectively monitor compliance by the member-States of the United Nations with human rights commitments, particularly the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. References to the challenges confronting a developing country, like the Philippines, in complying with protection schemes for social rights shall be highlighted.
A portion of the paper will focus on two significant cases which depict the creativity of the Philippine Supreme Court in availing of international social rights protection norms to concrete situations.
It will be concluded that compliance with the international social protection framework on the part of a developing country would require functional synergy among the key implementers of the government. The underlying root causes of poverty and underdevelopment in a country, like the Philippines, must be directly confronted with bolder paradigm of reforms, such as peace processes leading to constitutional change, if necessary.
Received: 12 April 2018
Accepted: 25 June 2018
Published online: 03 August 2018
Downloads
Last update: 08/02/2022
The authors, by submitting their manuscripts to the Estudios Deusto. Revista de Derecho Público, accept the conditions listed below on copyright and undertake to comply with them.
- Authorship: The author must be the sole creator of the work or legally acting on behalf of and with the full agreement of all the authors.
- Copyright, liability and Ethical Guidelines:
- Authors warrant that their manuscript is original; has not been previously copyrighted or published in any form; is not under consideration for publication elsewhere; its submission and publication do not violate the Ethical Guidelines of Estudios Deusto. Revista de Derecho Público and any codes (of conduct), laws or any rights of any third party; and no publication payment by the Publisher (University of Deusto) is required.
- Authors grant to the Publisher the worldwide, sub-licensable, and royalty-free right to exploit the manuscript in all forms and media of expression, now known or developed in the future, for educational and scholarly purposes.
- Authors retain the right to present, display, distribute, develop, and republish their manuscript to progress their scientific career provided the original publication source (Estudios Deusto. Revista de Derecho Público) is properly acknowledged and in a way that does not suggest the Publisher endorses them or their use of the work.
- Authors warrant that no permissions or licences of any kind have been granted or will be granted that might infringe the rights granted to the Publisher.
- Authors are solely liable for the consequences that may arise from third parties’ complaints about the submitted manuscript and its publication in Estudios de Deusto. Revista de Derecho Público.
- Users: Estudios de Deusto. Revista de Derecho Público is an Open Access publication. Its content is free for full and immediate access, reading, search, download, distribution and reuse in any medium or format only for non-commercial purposes and in compliance with any applicable copyright legislation, without prior permission from the Publisher or the author(s). In any case, proper acknowledgement of the original publication source must be made and any changes to the original work must be indicated clearly and in a manner that does not suggest the author’s and or Publisher’s endorsement whatsoever. Any other use of its content in any medium or format, now known or developed in the future, requires prior written permission of the copyright holder.
.jpg)
.jpg)
4.jpg)
4.jpg)
4.jpg)
.jpg)
