Accountability Of Public Officers

Article 13: Accountability Of Public Officers

Section 1. Public office is a public trust. Public officers and employees shall serve with the highest degree of responsibility, integrity, loyalty, and efficiency, and shall remain accountable to the people.

SEC. 2. The President, the Members of the Supreme Court, and the Members of the Constitutional Commissions shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, culpable violation of the Constitution, treason, bribery, other high crimes, or graft and corruption.

SEC. 3. The Batasang Pambansa shall have the exclusive power to initiate, try, and decide all cases of impeachment. Upon the filling of a verified complaint, the Batasang Pambansa may initiate impeachment by a vote of at least one-fifth of all its Members. No official shall be convicted without the concurrence of at least two-thirds of all the Members thereof. When the Batasang Pambansa sits in impeachment cases, its Members shall be on oath or affirmation.

SEC. 4. Judgments in cases of impeachment shall be limited to removal from office and disqualification to hold any office of honor, trust, or profit under the Republic of the Philippines, but the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to prosecution, trial, and punishment, in accordance with law.

SEC. 5. The Batasang Pambansa shall create a special court, to be known as Sandiganbayan, which shall have jurisdiction over criminal and civil cases involving graft and corrupt practices and such other offenses committed by public officers and employees, including those in government-owned or controlled corporations, in relation to their office as may be determined by law.

SEC. 6. The Batasang Pambansa shall create an office of the Ombudsman, to be known as Tanodbayan, which shall receive and investigate complaints relative to public office, including those in government-owned or controlled corporations, make appropriate recommendations, and in case of failure of justice as defined by law, file and prosecute the corresponding criminal, civil, or administrative case before the proper court or body.

Article 14: THE NATIONAL ECONOMY AND THE PATRIMONY OF THE NATION

Section 1. The Batasang Pambansa shall establish a National economic and Development Authority, to be headed by the President, which shall recommend to the Batasang Pambansa, after consultation with the private sector, local government units, and other appropriate public agencies, continuing, coordinated, and fully integrated social and economic plans and programs.

SEC. 2. The State shall regulate or prohibit private monopolies when the public interest so requires. No combination in restraint of trade or unfair competition shall be allowed.

SEC. 3. The Batasang Pambansa shall, upon recommendation of the National Economic and Development Authority, reserve to citizens of the Philippines or to corporations or associations wholly owned, by such citizens, certain traditional areas of investments when the national interest so dictates.

SEC. 4. The Batasang Pambansa shall not, except by general law, provide for the formation; organization, or regulation of private corporations, unless such corporations are.owned or controlled by the Government or any subdivision or instrumentality thereof.

SEC. 5. No franchise, certificate, or any other form of authorization for the operation of a public utility shall be granted except to citizens of the Philippines or to corporations or associations organized under the laws of the Philippines at least 60% of the capital of which is owned by such citizens, nor shall such franchise, certificate, or authorization be exclusive in character or for a longer period than 50 years.

Neither shall any such franchise or right be granted except under the condition that it shall be subject to amendment, alteration, or repeal in by the Batasang Pambansa when the public interest so requires.

The State shall encourage equity participation in public utilities by the general public. The participation of foreign investors in the governing body of any public utility enterprise shall be limited to their proportionate share in the capital thereof.

SEC. 6. The State may, in the interest of national welfare or defense, establish and operate industries and means of transportation and communications, and, upon payment of just compensation, transfer to public ownership utilities and other private enterprises to be operated by the Government.

SEC. 7. In times of national emergency when the public interest so requires, the State may temporarily take over or direct the operation of any privately owned public utility or business affected with public interest.

SEC. 8. All lands of the public domain, waters, minerals, coal, petroleum and other mineral oils, all forces of potential energy, fisheries, wildlife, and other natural resources of the Philippines belong to the State.

With the exception of agricultural, industrial or commercial, residential, and resettlement lands of the.public domain, natural resources shall not be alienated, and no license, concession, or lease for the exploration, development, exploitation, or utilization of any of the natural resources shall be granted for a period exceeding 25 years, renewable for not more than 25 years, except as to water rights for irrigation, water supply, fisheries, or industrial uses other than the development of water power, in which cases, beneficial use may be the measure and the limit of the grant.

SEC. 9. The disposition, exploration, development, of exploitation, or utilization of any of the natural resources of the Philippines shall be limited to citizens of the Philippines, or to corporations or association at least 60% of the capital of which is owned by such citizens.

The Batasang Pambansa, in the national interest, may allow such citizens, corporations, or associations to enter into service contracts for financial, technical, management, or other forms of assistance with any foreign person or entity for the exploitation, development, exploitation, or utilization of any of the natural resources. Existing valid and binding service contracts for financial, the technical, management, or other forms of assistance are hereby recognized as such.

SEC. 10. Lands of the public domain are classified into agricultural, industrial or commercial, residential, resettlement, mineral, timber or forest, and grazing lands, and such other classes as may be provided by law.

SEC. 11. The Batasang Pambansa, taking into account conservation, ecological, and developmental requirements of the natural resources, shall determine by law the size of lands of the public domain which may be developed, held or acquired by, or leased to, any qualified individual, corporation, or association, and the conditions therefor.

No private corporation or association may hold alienable lands of the public domain except by lease not to exceed one thousand hectares in area; nor may any citizen hold such lands by lease in excess of five hundred hectares or acquire by purchase or homestead in excess of twenty-four hectares. No private corporation or association may hold by lease, concession, license, or permit, timber or forest lands and other timber or forest resources in excess of one hundred thousand hectares; however, such area may be increased by the Batasang Pambansa upon recommendation of the National Economic and Development Authority.

SEC. 12. The State shall formulate and implement an agrarian reform program aimed at emancipating the tenant from the bondage of the soil and achieving the goals enunciated in this Constitution.

SEC. 13. The Batasang Pambansa may authorize, upon payment of just compensation, the expropriation of private land to be subdivided into small lots and conveyed at cost to deserving citizens.

SEC. 14. Save in cases of hereditary succession, no private lands shall be transferred or conveyed except to individuals, corporations, or associations qualified to acquire or hold lands of the public domain.

SEC. 15. Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 14 of this Article, a natural-born citizen of the Philippines who has lost his Philippine citizenship may be a transferee of private land, for use by him as his residence, as the Batasang Pambansa shall provide.

SEC. 16. Any provision of paragraph one, Section fourteen, Article Eight and of this Article notwithstanding, the President may enter into international treaties or agreements as the national welfare and interest may require.