LEGAL RESEARCH

EVOLUTION OF PHILIPPINE LAWS

THE PRE-SPANISH GOVERNMENT (pre 1521)

Prior to the arrival of the Spaniards, the Philippines was composed of
settlements or villages, each called barangay, named after balangay, a Malayan word
meaning “boat”. Every barangay was virtually a state, for it possessed the four basic
elements of statehood. At times, however, some barangays joined together as
“confederations” mainly for the purpose of mutual protection against common
enemies. Each barangay was ruled by a Chief called Datu in some places, and Rajah,
Sultan or Hadji in others. He was its chief executive, law giver, chief judge, and military
head.
The early Filipinos had both written and unwritten laws. The written laws were
promulgated by the Datus. The two known written codes in the Pre-Spanish Era are
the “Maragtas Code” which was said to have been written about 1250 A.D by Datu
Sumakwel of Panay, and the “Kalantiaw Code” written in 1433 A.D by Datu Kalantiaw,
also of Panay.1
However, the Maragtas Code is said to be written by a Cebuano, and not by
several Datus from Borneo. It is said that the original manuscript containing the code
had been given by its author to Fray Roman Andres, the owner hid under an assumed
named of one of Fr. Oripiano Rodriguez of, OSA, of Cebu. Here are the rules of the
Code2:
1.) Great penalty shall be imposed on laziness. Land shall be cultivated and
planted;
2.) A lazy person shall be arrested and sold as a slave to work in the fields;
3.) When a slave becomes industrious and an able worker, the purchase money
shall be returned to his purchaser and the slave shall be freed to fill his own land;
4.) When a man, after gaining his freedom, again becomes lazy and improvident
he shall be rearrested and thrown into the deepest forest to keep him from
associating with his own people;
5.) Theft and reaping plants grown and cultivated by others shall be severely
punished and the person found guilty shall have his fingers cut;
6.) Marriage to as many as three women may be permitted in the beginning in
order to increase the population. Afterwards only those who can support many
wives and children may be permitted more than one wife;
7.) Poor persons shall not have more than two children. Children of the poor in
excess of two in number, shall be killed or thrown to swift river;
8.) The authorities shall arrest a man who dishonors a woman, runs away and
does not marry her;
9.) If the man is not found, the illegitimate child shall be killed and they shall both
be buried in one grave; and,
10.) Parents shall no longer take of their children who beget illegitimate children.
The Code of Rajah Kalantiaw was a supposed legal code in the epic
history Maragtas that is said to have been written in 1433 by Datu Kalantiaw, a chief
on the island of Negros in the Philippines. The code is now believed by many historians
to have been a hoax and that it had actually been written in 1913 by Jose E. Marco as
1https://www.slideshare.net/jhengrayn/political-development-of-the-philippine-government

2https://www.philstar.com/the-freeman/cebu-entertainment/2018/04/11/1804877/code-maragtas-bala-od-maragtas

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a part of his historical fiction Las antiguas leyendas de la Isla de Negros (English: The
Ancient Legends of the Island of Negros), which he attributed to a priest named Jose
Maria Pavon.3
In his book, Struggle for Freedom (2008), Cecilio Duka provides a full
reproduction of the code for the reader's "critical examination” to decide on its
veracity and accuracy".4

Article I
Ye shall not kill, neither shall ye steal nor shall ye hurt the aged, lest ye incur
the danger of death. All those who this order shall infringe shall be tied to a
stone and drowned in a river or in boiling water.
Article II
Ye shall punctually meet your debt with your headman. He who fulfills not, for
the first time shall be lashed a hundredfold, and If the obligation is great, his
hand shall be dipped threefold in boiling water. On conviction, he shall be
flogged to death.
Article III
Obey ye: no one shall have wives that are too young, nor shall they be more
than what he can take care of, nor spend much luxury. He who fulfils not, obeys
not, shall be condemned to swim three hours and, for the second time, shall
be scourged with spines to death.
Article IV
Observe and obey ye: Let not the peace of the graves be disturbed; due respect
must be accorded them on passing by caves and trees where they are. He who
observes not shall die by bites of ants or shall be flogged with spines till death.
Article V
Obey ye: Exchange in food must be carried out faithfully. He who complies not
shall be lashed for an hour. He who repeats the act shall, for a day be exposed
to the ants.
Article VI
Ye shall revere respectable places, trees of known value, and other sites. He
shall pay a month's work, in gold or money, whoever fails to do this; and if twice
committed, he shall be declared a slave.
Article VII
They shall die who kill trees of venerable aspect; who at night shoot with
arrows the aged men and the women; he who enters the house of the headman
without permission; he who kills a fish or shark or striped crocodile.
Article VIII
They shall be slaves for a given time who steal away the women of the
headmen; he who possesses dogs that bite the headmen; he who burns
another man's sown field.
Article IX
They shall be slaves for a given time, who sing in their night errands, kill manual
birds, tear documents belonging to the headmen; who are evil-minded liars;
who play with the dead.

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3https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_of_Kalantiaw

4Duka 2008, pp. 25–27, citing Agoncillo 1990.

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Article X
It shall be the obligation of every mother to show her daughter secretly the
things that are lacivious, and prepare them for womanhood; men shall not be
cruel to their wives, nor should they punish them when they catch them in the
act of adultery. He who disobeys shall be torn to pieces and thrown to the
caymans.
Article XI
They shall be burned, who by force or cunning have mocked at and eluded
punishment, or who have killed two young boys, or shall try to steal the women
of the old men (agurangs).
Article XII
They shall be drowned, all slaves who assault their superiors or their lords and
masters; all those who abuse their luxury; those who kill their anitos by
breaking them or throwing them away.
Article XIII
They shall be exposed to the ants for half a day, who kill a black cat during the
new moon or steal things belonging to the headmen.
Article XIV
They shall be slaves for life, who having beautiful daughters shall deny them to
the sons of the headman, or shall hide them in bad faith.
Article XV
Concerning their beliefs and superstitions: they shall be scourged, who eat bad
meat of respected insects or herbs that are supposed to be good; who hurt or
kill the young manual bird and the white monkey.
Article XVI
Their fingers shall be cut off, who break wooden or clay idols in
their olangangs and places of oblation; he who breaks Tagalan's daggers for
hog killing, or breaks drinking vases.
Article XVII
They shall be killed, who profane places where sacred objects of
their diwatas or headmen are buried. He who gives way to the call of nature at
such places shall be burned.
Article XVIII
Those who do not cause these rules to be observed, if they are headmen, shall
be stoned and crushed to death, and if they are old men, shall be placed in
rivers to be eaten by sharks and crocodiles.

THE SPANISH REGIME (1521-1898)

The arrival of Ferdinand Magellan in the Philippines on 16 March 1521
presaged a new era in the history of Philippine Law.
The most prominent of these laws and codes were the Fuero Juzgo, Fuero Real,
Las Siete Partidas, Las Leyes de Toros, Nueva Recopilacion de Las Leyes de Indias, which
contained all the laws then in force in the Spanish colonies and the Novisima
Recopilacion, which comprised all the laws from the fifteenth century up to1805.
At the end of Spanish rule in the Philippines, the following codes and special
laws were in force in the country5:
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5https://prezi.com/jpketnhhsmqj/origin-of-philippine-laws/

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 The Codigo Penal de 1870 which was extended to the islands in 1887;
 The Ley Provisional para la Aplicaciones de las;
 Disposiciones del Codigo Penal en las Islas Filipinas in 1888; and,
 The Ley de Enjuiciamiento Criminal (Code of Criminal Procedure of
1872.)

THE PHILIPPINE REPUBLIC OF 1898

The Philippine Republic more commonly known as the First Philippine

Republic or the Malolos Republic, was a nascent revolutionary government in
the Philippines. It was formally established with the proclamation of the Malolos
Constitution on January 21, 1899, in Malolos, Bulacan6 and endured until the capture
of President Emilio Aguinaldo by the American forces on March 23, 1901,
in Palanan, Isabela, which effectively dissolved the First Republic.
The First Philippine Republic was established after the Philippine Revolution against
the Spanish Empire (1896-1897) and the Spanish–American War between Spain and
the United States (1898). Following the American victory at the Battle of Manila Bay,
Aguinaldo returned to the Philippines, issued the Philippine Declaration of
Independence on June 12, 1898, and established a revolutionary Philippine
government. In December 1898, Spain sold the Philippines to the United States in
the 1898 Treaty of Paris, making the United States formally the Philippines colonial
power. The Malolos Constitution establishing the First Philippine Republic was
proclaimed the following month. The Philippine–American War began in February
1899, which the Philippine Republic lost.
The Philippine Republic was the first constitutional republic in Asia.7 Although there
were several Asian republics predating the First Philippine Republic for example,
the Mahajanapadas of ancient India, the Novgorod Republic, the Lanfang Republic,
the Republic of Formosa or the Republic of Ezo, the Republic at Malolos was the first
to frame a comprehensive constitution duly approved by a partially elected congress.

THE JAPANESE OCCUPATION

On 08 December 1941, the Philippines was invaded by Japanese forces and was
occupied until 1944. During the three (3) year military rule, a 1943 Constitution was
drafted and ratified by a special national convention of the Kapisanan sa Paglilingkod
ng Bagong Pilipinas (KALIBAPI), which led to the establishment of the short-lived
Japanese-sponsored republic headed by President Jose P. Laurel.

THE PHILIPPINE REPUBLIC (1946-1972)

The Third Republic of the Philippines was inaugurated on July 4, 1946. It marked
the culmination of the peaceful campaign for Philippine Independence—the two
landmarks of which were the enactment of the Jones Law in 1916 (in which the U.S.
Congress pledged independence for the Philippines once Filipinos have proven their
capability for self-government) and the Philippine Independence Act of 1934
(popularly known as Tydings-McDuffie) which put in place a ten-year transition period
during which the Philippines had Commonwealth status. The Third Republic also
marked the recognition by the global community of nations, of the nationhood of the
Philippines—a process that began when the Commonwealth of the Philippines joined

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6LaDinastía (Barcelona). 29/11/1898, page 3. as returned in search results at the National Library of Spain.
7Guevara, Sulpico, ed. (2005). The Laws of the First Philippine Republic (the laws of Malolos) 1898–1899. Ann Arbor, Michigan:
University of Michigan Library (published 1972). pp. cc=philamer, rgn=full%20text, idno=aab1246.0001.001,
didno=aab1246.0001.001, view=image, seq=00000122 104–119. Retrieved 2008-03-26.. (English translation by Sulpicio
Guevara)

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the Anti-Axis Alliance known as the United Nations on June 14, 1942, receiving
recognition as an Allied nation even before independence. Thus, the inauguration of
the Third Republic marked the fulfillment of the long struggle for independence that
began with the Philippine Revolution on August 23, 1896 (recent scholarship suggests,
on August 24) and which was formalized on June 12, 1898 with the Proclamation of
Philippine Independence at Kawit, Cavite.

From 1946 to 1961, Independence Day was celebrated on July 4. On May 12,
1962, President Diosdado Macapagal issued Proclamation No. 28, s. 1962, which
declared June 12 as Independence Day. In 1964, Congress passed Republic Act No.
4166, which formally designated June 12 of every year as the date on which we
celebrate Philippine independence. July 4 in turn has been observed as Republic Day
since then.

THE MARTIAL LAW PERIOD ( 1972-1986)

Proclamation of Martial Law: On September 21, 1972, President Ferdinand E.

Marcos placed the Philippines under Martial Law. The declaration issued under
Proclamation 1081 suspended the civil rights and imposed military authority in the
country. Marcos defended the declaration stressing the need for extra powers to quell
the rising wave of violence allegedly caused by communists. The emergency rule was
also intended to eradicate the roots of rebellion and promote a rapid trend for national
development. The autocrat assured the country of the legality of Martial Law
emphasizing the need for control over civil disobedience that displays lawlessness.
Marcos explained citing the provisions from the Philippine Constitution that Martial
Law is a strategic approach to legally defend the Constitution and protect the welfare
of the Filipino people from the dangerous threats posed by Muslim rebel groups and
Christian vigilantes that places national security at risk during the time. Marcos
explained that martial law was not a military takeover but was then the only option to
resolve the country’s dilemma on rebellion that stages national chaos threatening the
peace and order of the country. The emergency rule, according to Marcos’s plan, was
to lead the country into what he calls a “New Society”.

CONTINUATION OF THE REPUBLIC

The deterioration of the political and economic condition in the Philippines

triggered the decline of support on Marcos’ plans. More and more Filipinos took arms
to dislodge the regime. Urban poor communities in the country’s capital were
organized by the Philippine Ecumenical Council for Community and were soon
conducting protest masses and prayer rallies. These efforts including the exposure of
numerous human rights violations pushed Marcos to hold an election in 1978 and 1981
in an aim to stabilize the country’s chaotic condition. Marcos, in both events, won the
election; however, his extended term as President of the Republic of the Philippines
elicited an extensive opposition against his regime. Social unrest reached its height
after former Senator Benigno Aquino was murdered. The incident sent thousands of
Filipinos to the streets calling for Marcos’ removal from post. Turning again to his
electoral strategy, Marcos held a snap election in 1986 but what he hoped will satisfy
the masses only increased their determination to end his rule that seated Corazon
Aquino, widow of Benigno Aquino, as President of the Philippines ousting Marcos
fromMalacañang Palace and ending the twenty-one years of tyrant rule.

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