Atty. Gregorio B. Austral, CPA
Social justice and human dignity
Shelter is one of the basic needs of every Filipino. Is the government duty bound to provide shelter to all Filipino families especially the poor? We reflect on the question of whether it is the government’s constitutional duty to provide housing units for the less fortunate of our brethren.
Our Constitution takes Congress to task in giving 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 (Sec. 1, Article 13). It adds under Section 2 on the article on Social Justice and Human Rights that the promotion of social justice shall include the commitment to create economic opportunities based on freedom of initiative and self-reliance.
Although our Constitution shows compassion for the poor when it emphasizes the right of all the people to human dignity, and mandates the reduction of social, economic and political inequalities, it clarifies that the promotion of social justice entails the creation of economic opportunities anchored on a person’s initiative and self-reliance.
In a landmark case on agrarian reform, Mr. Justice Isagani Cruz has eloquently described social justice in this wise: Social justice – or any justice for that matter – is for the deserving, whether he be a millionaire in his mansion or a pauper in his hovel. It is true that, in case of reasonable doubt, we are called upon to tilt the balance in favor of the poor, to whom the Constitution fittingly extends its sympathy and compassion. But never is it justified to prefer the poor simply because they are poor, or to reject the rich simply because they are rich, for justice must always be served, for poor and rich alike, according to the mandate of the law.
Being poor, therefore, does not give an unbridled license to rob another of his property or to do injustice even to rich people. Social justice is justice for all. Although the Constitution treats the poor with a bleeding heart, social justice is only for the deserving poor, not for those who live their lives with despicable indolence or those who violate the law but seek refuge on their unfortunate state of being poor.