5.2 Constitutional and Legislative Basis (a) 1987 Constitution Recognition of the Government’s obligation to provide housing for the underprivileged is found in the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines. Article 13, section 9 provides that: The State shall, by law, and for the common good, undertake, in cooperation with the private sector, a continuing program of urban land reform and housing which will make available at affordable cost, decent housing and basic services to under-privileged and homeless citizens in urban centers and resettlement areas. It shall also promote adequate employment opportunities to such citizens. In the implementation of such program the State shall respect the rights of small property owners. Section 10 subsequently defines the right not to be evicted without legal process: Urban or rural poor dwellers shall not be evicted nor their dwelling demolished, except in accordance with law and in a just and humane manner. No resettlement of urban or rural dwellers shall be undertaken without adequate consultation with them and the communities where they are to be relocated Importantly, in relation to the domestic application of international legal standards on eviction and resettlement, article 2, section 2 also notes that the Philippines ‘adopts the generally accepted principles of international law as part of the law of the land and adheres to the policy of peace, equality, justice, freedom, cooperation, and amity with all nations’. This suggests that generally accepted rules of international human rights law can be imported directly into the Philippines and, as a consequence, can be raised directly by aggrieved parties before domestic courts. (b) The Urban Developm ent and Housing Act (UDHA) Republic Act No. 7279, otherwise known as the Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992 (or UDHA), provides the legislative authority for government to forcibly evict individuals and communities in limited circumstances. It also establishes a variety of safeguards for those adversely affected by eviction and resettlement, as well as an umbrella framework for the development of public housing projects. A series of implementing rules and regulations have been promulgated pursuant to the UDHA, which provide further explanatory detail of the various obligations created by the Act. 5.3 Protections Leading up to and During Evictions Section 28 of the UDHA prescribes the circumstances in which evictions and demolitions may take place and the protections that must be accorded to those affected. The preambular paragraph explicitly discourages the practice of eviction and demolition – consistent with the general understanding of international law that 33