MODULE: READINGS IN THE PHILIPPINE HISTORY

SOCIAL, POLITICAL, ECONOMIC AND

CHAPTER 9
CULTURAL ISSUES IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY

At the end of this module, learners will be able to:

 To be able to analyze the social, political, economic and

cultural issues in the Philippines using the lens of history.
 To understand several enduring issues in Philippine
society through history.
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I. Concept notes:
a. Difference between social, political, economic and cultural issues
Social issue – problem that influences a considerable number of
individuals within a society.
Political issue – controversies debated within the political system
Economic issue – assertion on the insufficiency of needs in economy
Cultural issue – prevailing or trending cultural belief

This can be discussed as a backgrounder before proceeding to the main topics:

LAW – any rule of action or any system of uniformity
A. Aspects:
1. In strict legal sense, it is promulgated and enforced by the state.
2. In the non-legal sense, it is not promulgated and enforced by the state.

B. Characteristics:
1. It is a rule of conduct.
2. It is obligatory.
3. It is promulgated by the legitimate authority.
4. It is of common observance of benefit.

C. Purposes:
1. For internal order
2. To secure justice
3. To maintain social control

D. Sources:
1. Constitution
2. Legislative department
3. Administrative rules and regulations
4. Judicial decisions
5. Customs
6. Principles of justice and equity
7. Decisions of foreign tribunals
8. Opinions of experts
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b. The Philippine Constitution

CONSTITUTION – set of fundamental principles or established precedents
according to which a state or other organization is governed, thus, the word
itself means to be a part of the whole.

With the particular reference to the Constitution of the Philippines, it may be

defined as that written instrument by which the fundamental powers of the
government are established, limited and defined and by which these powers
are distributed among the branches of the government.

A. Nature:
1. Serves as the supreme or fundamental law
2. Establishes basic framework and underlying principles of government
3. Designed to protect the basic rights of the people

B. Characteristics of a good written constitution:

1. Brief – not too detailed but substantial enough
2. Broad - covers the whole state and rights of the citizens as well as many
future contingencies
3. Definite – definitions and interpretations are definite

C. Evolution:
1. 1897: Constitution of Biak-na-Bato – provisionary Constitution of the
Philippine Republic during the Philippine Revolution. This constitution is
borrowed from Cuba and written by Isabelo Artacho. The organs of the
government under this Constitution are:
a. Supreme Council headed by the president and 4 department secretaries of
interior, foreign affairs, treasury and war.
b. Consejo Supremo de Gracia Y Justicia (Supreme Council of Grace and
Justice)which was given the authority to make decisions and affirms or
disprove sentences rendered by courts.
c. Asamblea de Representantes (Assembly of Representatives) which was to
be convened after the revolution to create a new Constitution.
 MODULE: READINGS IN THE PHILIPPINE HISTORY

2. 1899: Malolos Constitution – titled as “The Political Constitution of

1899”, patterned after the Spanish Constitution and was written in Spanish.
This contains 39 articles divided into 14 titles, with eight articles of
transitory provisions and a final additional article.

The form of government under this Constitution is to be popular,

representative, alternative and responsible, and shall exercise three distinct
powers – legislative, executive and judicial.

The legislative power was vested in a unicameral body called the Assembly
of Representatives. Executive power was vested in the president, and elected
by a constituent assembly of the Assembly of Representatives. There was no
vice president.

3. 1935: The Commonwealth Constitution – crafted to meet the approval of

the United States to live up to its promise to grant independence to the
Philippines.

This Constitution created the Commonwealth of the Philippines, an

administrative body that governed the country from 1935 to 1946. It is a
transitional administration to prepare the country toward its full achievement
of independence. It originally provided for a unicameral National Assembly
with a president and vice president.

4. 1973: Constitutional Authoritarianism – This was enforced during the

Martial Law era. This was supposed to introduce a parliamentary-style of
government. The president was to be elected as the symbolic and ceremonial
head of the state. Executive power was relegated to the Prime Minister.

5. 1986: Freedom Constitution – a transitional Constitution enforced to last

for a while a Constitutional Commission drafted a permanent one, this
maintained many provisions of the old one.

6. 1987: Current Constitution – This established the Philippines as a

“democratic republican state”. The executive branch is headed by the
 MODULE: READINGS IN THE PHILIPPINE HISTORY

president and his cabinet, whom he appoints. The legislative power resides in
the Congress divided into two houses: the Senate and the House of
Representatives. While, the Philippine court system is vested with the power
of the judiciary and is composed of a Supreme Court and lower courts as
created by law.

This Constitution also provided for three methods by which it can be

amended, all requiring ratification by a majority vote in a national
referendum:

a. Constitutional Assembly – proposes amendments to the Constitution

where the Congress votes and decides what to amend as a single body.

b. Constitutional Convention – calls for a vote of two-thirds of all members

of the Congress.

c. People’s Initiative – amendments in Constitution may be proposed by the

people upon a petition of at least 12% of the total number of registered
voters.

**Federalism in the Philippines was supported by President Rodrigo Duterte

in the 2016 presidential elections. This form of government is composed of a
central governing authority and constituent political units sharing
sovereignty. Under this, regions may custom fit solutions to problems
brought about by their distinct geographic, cultural, social and economic
contexts. However, it may create competition among regions as it can be a
challenge in the achievement of peace in the country.

Our current governmental system is that of a unitary system where

administrative powers and resources are concentrated in the national
government.

c. Agrarian reform– rectification of the whole system of agriculture. It

refers to the redistribution of lands, regardless of crops or fruits produced
 MODULE: READINGS IN THE PHILIPPINE HISTORY

to farmers and regular farm workers who are landless, irrespective of

tenurial arrangement and economic status of the beneficiaries.

Distinguished from land reform – Land reform is the physical redistribution

of lands such as the programs under Presidential Decree No. 27. Agrarian
reform means the distribution of lands including the totality of factors and
support services designed to lift the economic status of the beneficiaries.
Thus, agrarian reform is broader than land reform.

1. History/Evolution of Philippine Agrarian Laws

a. Landownership in the Philippines under Spain
b. Landownership in the Philippines under the Americans
c. Post-War Interventions toward Agrarian Reform
d. Agrarian Reform Efforts under Marcos
e. Post-1986 Agrarian Reform
**Read the references for the discussion of these matters. See Candelaria’s
book.

2. The Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (R.A. 6657)

a. Scope: All public and private agricultural lands, including other lands of
the public domain suitable for agriculture.

b. Definition of terms:
(1). Agricultural land- land devoted to agricultural activity and not classified
as mineral, forest, residential, commercial or industrial land.
(2) Agricultural activity- cultivation of the soil, planting of crops, growing of
fruit trees, raising of fish, including the harvesting of such farm products,
and other farm activities and practices performed by a farmer in conjunction
with such farming operations done by persons whether natural or judicial.

3. Exclusion:
a. Parks;
b. Wildlife;
c. Forest reserve;
d. Reforestation;
 MODULE: READINGS IN THE PHILIPPINE HISTORY

e. Fish sanctuaries and breeding grounds;

f. Watersheds and mangroves
g. Private lands;
h. Prawn farms;
i. Fishponds; and
j. Lands actually, directly and exclusively used and found to be necessary for
national defense; school sites and campuses, seeds and seedling research;
church sites and covenants; mosque sites and Islamic centers ; and
communal burial grounds and cemeteries; penal colonies and government
and private research and quarantine centers; and
k. Lands devoted to commercial livestock, poultry and swine raising; and
l. All lands with 18% slope and over which are not developed for agriculture.

4. Factors to consider in implementation:

a. Need to distribute lands to the tillers at the earliest time;
b. Need to enhance agricultural productivity; and
c. Availability of funds and resources to implement and support program.

d. Taxation - power by which the sovereign raises revenue to defray the

necessary expenses of the government. It is merely a way of apportioning
the cost of government among those who in some measure are privileged
to enjoy its benefits and must bear its burdens. It includes, in its broadest
and most general sense, every charge or burden imposed by the sovereign
power upon persons, property, or property rights for the use and support
of the government and to enable it to discharge its appropriate functions,
and in that broad definition there is included a proportionate levy upon
persons or property and all the various other methods and devices by
which revenue is exacted from persons and property for public purposes.
(51 Am. Jur 34-35)

1. History/Evolution of Philippine Taxation Laws

a. Taxation in Spanish Philippines
b. Taxation under the Americans
c. Taxation during the Commonwealth Period
d. Fiscal Policy from 1946 to Prsent
 MODULE: READINGS IN THE PHILIPPINE HISTORY

**Read the references for the discussion of these matters. See

Candelaria’s book.

2. Nature of taxation
Taxation is inherent in nature, being an attribute of sovereignty. As an
incident of sovereignty, the power to tax has been described as
unlimited in its range, acknowledging in its very nature no limits, so
that security against its abuse is to be found only in the responsibility
of the legislature which imposes the tax on the constituency who are to
pay it.

The power of taxation is an essential and inherent attribute of

sovereignty, belonging as a matter of right to every independent
government, without being expressly conferred by the people.

The power to tax is inherent in the State, such power being inherently
legislative, based on the principle that taxes are a grant of the people
who are taxed, and the grant must be made by the immediate
representative of the people, and where the people have laid the
power, there it must remain and be exercised.
The power of taxation is essentially a legislative function. The power
to tax includes the authority to:
(1) Determine the
(a) Nature (kind);
(b) Object (purpose);
(c) Extent (amount of rate);
(d) Coverage (subjects and objects);
(e) Apportionment of the tax (general or limited application);
(f) Sites (place) of the imposition; and
(g) Method of collection;
(2) Grant tax exemptions or condonations; and
(3) Specify or provide for the administrative as well as judicial
remedies that either the government or the taxpayer may avail
themselves in the proper implementation of the tax
measure.
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In other words, the legislature wields the power to define what tax
shall be imposed, why it should be imposed, how much tax shall be
imposed, against whom (or what) it shall be imposed and where it
shall be imposed.

3. Characteristics of taxation:
a. As a principal attribute of sovereignty, the exercise of taxing power
derives its source from the very existence of the state whose social
contract with its citizens obliges it to promote public interest and
common good.

b. The power to tax is so unlimited in force and so searching in

extent, that courts scarcely venture to declare that it is subject to
any restrictions whatever, except such as rest in the discretion of
the authority which exercises it.

c. It is a settled principle that the power of taxation by the state is

plenary. Comprehensive and supreme, the principal check upon its
abuse resting in the responsibility of the members of the legislature
to their constituents.

d. Taxes being the lifeblood of the government that should be

collected without unnecessary hindrance, every precaution must be
taken not to unduly suppress it.

e. The power to tax is sometimes called the power to destroy.

Therefore, it should be exercised with caution to minimize injury to
the proprietary rights of the taxpayer. It must be exercised fairly,
equally and uniformly, lest the tax collector kills the ‘hen that lays
the golden egg.

f. In order to maintain the general public’s trust and confidence in the

government, this power must be used justly and not treacherously.
 MODULE: READINGS IN THE PHILIPPINE HISTORY

g. Tax laws are prospective in operation, unless the language of the

statute clearly provides otherwise.

4. Purposes of taxation:
a. PRIMARY
• Revenue – the purpose of taxation is to provide funds or property with
which the state promotes the general welfare and protection of its
citizens.
• Taxes are for revenue, whereas fees are exactions for purposes of
regulation and inspection, and are for that reason limited in amount to
what is necessary to cover the cost of the services rendered in that
connection. It is the object of the charge, and not the name, that
determines whether a charge is a tax or a fee.

b. SECONDARY
1) Regulation - it has a regulatory purpose as in the case of taxes levied
on excises or privileges like those imposed on tobacco and alcoholic
products, or amusement places, etc.
2) Promotion of General Welfare
3) Reduction of Social Inequality – made possible through the
progressive system of taxation where the objective is to prevent undue
concentration of Wealth in the hands of a few individuals.
4) Encourage Economic Growth – in the realm of tax exemptions and tax
reliefs, the purpose is to grant tax incentives or exemptions in order to
promote the country’s economic growth.
5) Protectionism – in some sectors of the economy, as in the case of
foreign importations, taxes sometimes provide protection to local
industries like protective tariffs and customs duties.

5. Theories and Basis of Taxation

a. Necessity Theory
• Existence of a government is a necessity and cannot continue without
any means to pay for expenses
• For those means, the government has the right to compel all citizens and
property within its limits to contribute.
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b. Benefits-Protection Theory (Symbiotic)

• Reciprocal duties of protection and support between State and
inhabitants. Inhabitants pay taxes and in return receive benefits and
protection from the State.
• Every person who is able to pay must contribute his share in the running
of the government. The Government, for his part, is expected to respond
in the form of tangible and intangible benefits intended to improve the
lives of the people and enhance their moral and material values. This
symbiotic relationship is the rationale of taxation and should dispel the
erroneous notion that is an arbitrary method of exaction by those in the
seat of power.

a. Lifeblood Doctrine
• Taxes are the lifeblood of the nation.
• Without revenue raised from taxation, the government will not
survive, resulting in detriment to society. Without taxes, the
government would be paralyzed for lack of motive power to activate
and operate it.
• Taxes are the lifeblood of the government and there prompt and
certain availability is an imperious need.
• Taxes are the lifeblood of the nation through which the agencies of
the government continue to operate and with which the state effects its
functions for the benefit of its constituents
• Taxes are the lifeblood of government, and their prompt and certain
availability an imperious need. Time out of mind, therefore, the
sovereign has resorted to more drastic means of collection. The
assessment is given the force of a judgment, and if the amount
assessed is not paid when due, administrative officials may seize the
debtor's
Property to satisfy the debt.
MODULE: READINGS IN THE PHILIPPINE HISTORY

Please click the link below for the Course Overview:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuHQvtQSbyQ
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3I1H3a8SP_M
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gocV9xeE9Q

 Candelaria, J.L. et. al. (2018) Readings in Philippine

History. Rex Book Store. Manila.
 Jovellanos, J. (2011). Notes in Philippine History and
Government. Chrizam Printing Press. Dagupan City.
