WHAT ARE THE LEGAL RIGHTS OF A FILIPINO CITIZEN?

As a Filipino, you must know your rights. This is to protect you from government officials abuses . It is clearly stated in our constitution our rights as a Filipino citizen. 

It is in Article IV of the Philippines Constitution called the Bill of Rights. So what are the Bill of Rights.

1. Right to due process of law and equal protection of the law.

2. Right from arbitrary arrest and unreasonable search and seizures.

3. Privacy of communication of correspondence.

4. Freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

5. Right to peaceful assembly and petition.

6. Freedom of religion.

7. Liberty of abode and travel.

8. Right to secure information from government records.

9. Right to form associations.

10. Right to own property.

11. Inviolability of contracts.

12. Right to a speedy and public trial.

13. Right against self-incrimination and right to counsel.

14. Freedom from torture, threat, or secret detention.

15. Compensation for torture and rehabilitation of victims and their families.

16. Right to bail.

17. Presumption of innocence

18. Writ of habeas corpus.

19. Freedom of innocence.

20. Prohibition against the death penalty and excessive fines.

21. Right to humane and adequate facilities.

22. No imprisonment for failure of debts or poll tax.

23. Right against double jeopardy.

24. Right to vote and to hold office.

25. Prohibition of ex post facto law and bill of attainder.

Interesting and Surprising Facts About Philippine History

The Philippines is one of the countries in the world with the most diverse and unique culture that relatively created a one-of-a-kind history.  Here are some intriguingly unique facts about the Philippines you might want to know.


1.) Some Filipinos may not be aware that some of our Filipino brothers and sisters are descendant of the Aztecs of Mexico and the Mayans of Central America. In 1565, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi brought with him some Aztec and Mayan warriors that eventually settled in the town of Mexico in the province of Pampanga. Traces of Aztec and Mayan influence can still be found in the many chico plantations in the area. This fruit is native only to Mexico.

2.) Lapu-lapu is not only recognized in the Philippines as a hero. He is also recognized internationally. A Street in the South of Market neighborhood of San Francisco, California in the United States is named after him.

3.) There are scores of recognized Filipino heroes but Andres Bonifacio and José Rizal are the only two implied national heroes of the country. At present, no Filipino is officially and explicitly recognized as a national hero of the Philippines by law.

4.) Do you still remember the symbolic names of some of the great Filipino heroes like Andres Bonifacio, Emilio Aguinaldo, Artemio Ricarte and Emilio Jacinto? Just to refresh your memory, Bonifacio's symbolic name was Maypagasa, Aguinaldo was Magdalo, Ricarte was Vibora and Jacinto was Pingkian.

5.) One of the oldest provinces established by the Spaniards is Pampanga and in 1571, Mexico became the capital of Pampanga. The original name of Pampanga was “Masangsang”.   Mexico was named in honor of the place where the first Spanish Governor General Miguel Lopez de Legazpi founded his new life.

6.) Aztecs, Mayans and Toltecs migrated in Mexico, Pampanga as by-product of the Manila Galleon trade between Mexico and the Philippines. The capital of Pampanga was moved to Bacolor after the widespread Kapampangan Revolt of 1660 led by Don Francisco Maniago. Presently, the capital of Pampanga is San Fernando City,

7.) Many Filipinos are not aware that the Philippines became a British colony for a short period of time in the 18th century. Great Britain ended their occupation by sailing away from Manila and Cavite on April 1764. As a result, scores of Indian soldiers known as Sepoys that served for the British deserted the British forces and settled down in the town of Cainta, Rizal. This incident in Philippine history explains the uniquely Indian features of generations of Cainta residents.

8.) Do you know the first ever bank established in the country? The first Philippine bank is the Banco Espanol – Filipino de Isabel II founded on August 1, 1851 which is now known as Bank of the Philippine Islands or BPI. The bank was also granted the power to print a Philippine peso for the first time.

9.) One of the greatest and most intellectual Filipino heroes was Marcelo Del Pilar. Several months before the Philippine revolution, Del Pilar circulated in Manila and neighboring provinces his political works entitled La Patria and Ministerio de la Republica Filipina in preparation for his return to personally lead a revolution. Unfortunately, on July 4, 1896, Marcelo Del Pilar perished of TB or tuberculosis in Barcelona, Spain.

10.) During the Filipino-American war, about 126,000 American soldiers engaged in the conflict and 4,234 Americans died. On the part of the Filipinos, at least one million lost their lives as a direct result of the war with as many as 200,000 who died as a result of the cholera epidemic at the end of the war.

11.) Jose W. Diokno, a former Senator of the Philippines, was 1st placer in the 1945 bar exams and tied with Mr. Jovito Salonga. He was under-age when he took the exam. He also placed number 1 in the 1940 CPA Board exams. This double number 1 feat may never be paralleled.

12.) Cesar L. Villanueva from the Ateneo Law School placed second in the 1981 Bar Exams and second again in the 1982 CPA Board Exams, the closest to Diokno’s achievement.

13.) Two bar examinees topped the bar exams without officially graduating from any Philippine law school. The first was Jose W. Diokno. He was 1st placer in the 1945 bar exams. The second was Carolina C. Griño-Aquino - former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. She was 1st placer in the 1950 bar exams.

14.) Claudio M. Teehanke is Ateneo Law School's only summa cum laude graduate. He placed number one in the 1940 Bar Exams. His son, Manuel Antonio graduated also at the top of his Ateneo Law School class although not as summa cum laude, he also placed first in the 1983 bar exams. Enrique, a cum laude graduate from the UP College of Law is Claudio Teehanke’s nephew. He, like Caudio and Manuel Antonio also placed number one in the 1976 bar exams.

15.) Philippine Law Schools with the most bar topnotchers or 1st placers from 1913 to 2010 are as follows;  University of the Philippines College of Law with forty-six (46) bar topnotchers, Ateneo de Manila Law School with twenty (20) bar topnotchers and San Beda College of Law with seven (7) bar topnotchers.

16.) From a plain housewife, she became the first woman president of the Philippines – Corazon C. Aquino.

17.) Elected as vice-mayor of Quezon City in 1988, Vicente Sotto II, more popularly known as Tito Sotto in the movie industry, he was elected as a one of the country’s senators.

18.) Jejomar Binay, the former City Mayor of Makati – the country’s business center, was catapulted to the second highest political position in the country – Vice President of the Philippine Republic.

19.) Vilma Santos, from movie actress to city mayor of Lipa City, eventually became the provincial governor of the province of Batangas.

20.) The Japanese occupied the Philippines during the Second World War. After their unconditional surrender in 1945 most Japanese deserted the country. But do you know that there are about 200,000 Japanese in the Philippines today?

Beautiful Interesting Facts About India

India never invaded any country in her last 100000 years of history.


When many cultures were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu Valley (Indus Valley Civilization)

The name 'India' is derived from the River Indus, the valleys around which were the home of the early settlers. The Aryan worshippers referred to the river Indus as the Sindhu.


The Persian invaders converted it into Hindu. The name 'Hindustan' combines Sindhu and Hindu and thus refers to the land of the Hindus.

Chess was invented in India.

Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus are studies, which originated in India.

The 'Place Value System' and the 'Decimal System' were developed in India in 100 B.C.

The World's First Granite Temple is the Brihadeswara Temple at Tanjavur, Tamil Nadu. The shikhara of the temple is made from a single 80-tonne piece of granite. This magnificent temple was built in just five years, (between 1004 AD and 1009 AD) during the reign of Rajaraja Chola.

India is the largest democracy in the world, the 7th largest Country in the world, and one of the most ancient civilizations.

The game of Snakes & Ladders was created by the 13th century poet saint Gyandev. It was originally called 'Mokshapat'. The ladders in the game represented virtues and the snakes indicated vices. The game was played with cowrie shells and dices. In time, the game underwent several modifications, but its meaning remained the same, i.e. good deeds take people to heaven and evil to a cycle of re-births.

The world's highest cricket ground is in Chail, Himachal Pradesh. Built in 1893 after leveling a hilltop, this cricket pitch is 2444 meters above sea level.

India has the largest number of Post Offices in the world.

The largest employer in India is the Indian Railways, employing over a million people.

The world's first university was established in Takshila in 700 BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. The University of Nalanda built in the 4th century was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education.

Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to mankind. The Father of Medicine, Charaka, consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago.

India was one of the richest countries till the time of British rule in the early 17th Century. Christopher Columbus, attracted by India's wealth, had come looking for a sea route to India when he discovered America by mistake.

The Art of Navigation & Navigating was born in the river Sindh over 6000 years ago. The very word Navigation is derived from the Sanskrit word 'NAVGATIH'. The word navy is also derived from the Sanskrit word 'Nou'.

Bhaskaracharya rightly calculated the time taken by the earth to orbit the Sun hundreds of years before the astronomer Smart. According to his calculation, the time taken by the Earth to orbit the Sun was 365.258756484 days.

The value of "pi" was first calculated by the Indian Mathematician Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is known as the Pythagorean Theorem. He discovered this in the 6th century, long before the European mathematicians.

Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus also originated in India.Quadratic Equations were used by Sridharacharya in the 11th century. The largest numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas Hindus used numbers as big as 10*53 (i.e. 10 to the power of 53) with specific names as early as 5000 B.C.during the Vedic period.Even today, the largest used number is Terra: 10*12(10 to the power of 12).

Until 1896, India was the only source of diamonds in the world

(Source: Gemological Institute of America).

The Baily Bridge is the highest bridge in the world. It is located in the Ladakh valley between the Dras and Suru rivers in the Himalayan mountains. It was built by the Indian Army in August 1982.

Sushruta is regarded as the Father of Surgery. Over2600 years ago Sushrata & his team conducted complicated surgeries like cataract, artificial limbs, cesareans, fractures, urinary stones, plastic surgery and brain surgeries.

Usage of anaesthesia was well known in ancient Indian medicine. Detailed knowledge of anatomy, embryology, digestion, metabolism,physiology, etiology, genetics and immunity is also found in many ancient Indian texts.

India exports software to 90 countries.

The four religions born in India - Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism, are followed by 25% of the world's population.

Jainism and Buddhism were founded in India in 600 B.C. and 500 B.C. respectively.

Islam is India's and the world's second largest religion.

There are 300,000 active mosques in India, more than in any other country, including the Muslim world.

The oldest European church and synagogue in India are in the city of Cochin. They were built in 1503 and 1568 respectively.

Jews and Christians have lived continuously in India since 200 B.C. and 52 A.D. respectively

The largest religious building in the world is Angkor Wat, a Hindu Temple in Cambodia built at the end of the 11th century.

The Vishnu Temple in the city of Tirupathi built in the 10th century, is the world's largest religious pilgrimage destination. Larger than either Rome or Mecca, an average of 30,000 visitors donate $6 million (US) to the temple everyday.

Sikhism originated in the Holy city of Amritsar in Punjab. Famous for housing the Golden Temple, the city was founded in 1577.

Varanasi, also known as Benaras, was called "the Ancient City" when Lord Buddha visited it in 500 B.C., and is the oldest, continuously inhabited city in the world today.

India provides safety for more than 300,000 refugees originally from Sri Lanka, Tibet, Bhutan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, who escaped to flee religious and political persecution.

His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists, runs his government in exile from Dharmashala in northern India.

Martial Arts were first created in India, and later spread to Asia by Buddhist missionaries.

Yoga has its origins in India and has existed for over 5,000 years.