U. Social Justice and Human Rights

Social Justice and Human Rights

Social justice informs the protection of workers, agrarian reform beneficiaries, and senior citizens. In SSS v. Ubaña, G.R. No. 200114, 24 August 2015, the Court stressed equal pay for equal work and held that public entities should not evade obligations through service contracts. ¹ In Department of Agrarian Reform v. Itliong, G.R. No. 235086, 6 July 2022, the Court applied the agrarian reform law to land it held covered, while ruling that heirs who had waived retention rights could receive proceeds but could no longer exercise the retention option. ² In Estoconing v. People, G.R. No. 231298, 21 November 2022, the Court recognized that businesses may recoup a portion of mandatory senior citizen discounts through tax deductions or credits, but held that a tax-exempt cooperative could not use a tax deduction for that purpose. ³

Human rights protection also requires effective remedies. In Bautista v. Dannug-Salucon, G.R. No. 221862, 23 January 2018, the Court required public authorities responding to an amparo petition to investigate with extraordinary diligence and held that higher-ranking officials cannot deflect that responsibility. ⁴