6/7/2020
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RESUMPTION OF SESSION
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THE PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Bengzon). Commissioner Bernas is recognized
The session is resumed.
FR. BERNAS. The proposal is amended to read:
The liberty of abode and of changing the same within the limits prescribed
by law, shall not be impaired except upon lawful order of the court. NEITHER
SHALL THE RIGHT TO TRAVEL BE IMPAIRED EXCEPT IN THE INTEREST OF
NATIONAL SECURITY, PUBLIC SAFETY, OR PUBLIC HEALTH AS MAYBE
PROVIDED BY LAW.
THE PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Bengzon). The Committee has accepted the
amendment, as amended. Is there any objection? (Silence) The Chair hears
none; the amendment, as amended, is approved.[85]
It is clear from the foregoing that the liberty of abode may only be impaired by a lawful
order of the court and, on the one hand, the right to travel may only be impaired by a
law that concerns national security, public safety or public health. Therefore, when the
exigencies of times call for a limitation on the right to travel, the Congress must
respond to the need by explicitly providing for the restriction in a law. This is in
deference to the primacy of the right to travel, being a constitutionally-protected right
and not simply a statutory right, that it can only be curtailed by a legislative
enactment.
Thus, in Philippine Association of Service Exporters, Inc. vs. Hon. Franklin M. Drilon,[86]
the Court upheld the validity of the Department Order No. 1, Series of 1988, issued by
the Department of Labor and Employment, which temporarily suspended the
deployment of domestic and household workers abroad. The measure was taken in
response to escalating number of female workers abroad who were subjected to
exploitative working conditions, with some even reported physical and personal abuse.
The Court held that Department Order No. 1 is a valid implementation of the Labor
Code, particularly, the policy to "afford protection to labor." Public safety considerations
justified the restraint on the right to travel.
Further, in Leave Division, Office of the Administrative Services (OAS) - Office of the
Court Administrator (OCA) vs. Wilma Salvacion P. Heusdens,[87] the Court enumerated
the statutes which specifically provide for the impairment of the right to travel, viz.:
Some of these statutory limitations [to the right to travel] are the following:
elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/64165
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