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to property. Also, a substantial division of the Civil Code is theFamily Code which covers rights related to marriage and familyrelations.In summary, the Philippines can boast of a noteworthy record when itcomes to the passage of laws that guarantee the enjoyment of basicindividual freedoms. It has ratified the major international human rightsinstruments, among them binding instruments. Thus, it has been obligatedto translate the prescribed norms into national laws.In the main, the international norms have been indeed translated into nationallaws, the Constitution included. An exception could be made in the case ofthe right to access to information. While it is enshrined in the PhilippineConstitution, many advocates are still working for the passage of a bill onfreedom of information to make this right fully enjoyed.B. RIGHTS OF PROTECTED GROUPSIndividual PLHIV could also be a member of particular vulnerable grouplike women, children, workers, etc. Members of vulnerable groups, includingthe PLHIV who are potentially prone to abuses, are accorded additionalrights. In essence, these rights include:■ right to freedom from discrimination;■■right to equal access to opportunities; andspecial protection rights (such as provision of protectionmechanisms for abused women or children, definition of specificcrimes against them, etc.)Based on which types of instruments contain them, the rights of protectedgroups can be classified as follows:■Rights set forth by international human rights instruments❖ Rights of women – elaborated by the Convention to EliminateAll Forms of Discrimination against Women❖ Rights of children – elaborated by the Convention on the Rightsof the Child and the United Nations Rules for the Protection ofJuveniles Deprived of their LibertyTHE RIGHTS INTRODUCTION OF PLHIV11