The 1899 Malolos Constitution Constitution of the Philippines (1935) The 1973 Constitution Constitution of the Philippines (1987)

 The Malolos Constitution was the first The 1935 Constitution was written in The 1973 Constitution, promulgated after Background of the 1987 Constitution.
republican constitution in Asia. 1934, approved and adopted by the Marcos' declaration of martial law, but
Commonwealth of the Philippines (1935– having been in the planning process for On March 25, 1986, following the People
 It declared that sovereignty resides 1946) and later used by the Third years before this, was supposed to Power Revolution which ousted
exclusively in the people, stated basic Republic (1946–1972). It was written with introduce a parliamentary-style Ferdinand E. Marcos as President, and
civil rights, separated the church and an eye to meeting the approval of the government. Legislative power was following on her own inauguration,
state, and called for the creation of an United States Government as well, so as vested in a unicameral National Assembly Corazon C. Aquino issued Proclamation 3,
Assembly of Representatives to act as to ensure that the U.S. would live up to whose members were elected for six-year declaring a national policy to implement
the legislative body. its promise to grant the Philippines terms. The President was ideally elected the reforms mandated by the people,
independence and not have a premise to as the symbolic and purely ceremonial protecting their basic rights, adopting a
 It also called for a parliamentary hold onto its possession on the grounds head of state chosen from amongst the provisional constitution, and providing for
republic as the form of government. that it was too politically immature and Members of the National Assembly for a an orderly transition to a government
hence unready for full, real six-year term and could be re-elected to under a new constitution. On April 23,
 The president was elected for a term independence. an unlimited number of terms. Upon President Aquino issued Proclamation №
of four years by a majority of the election, the President ceased to be a 9, creating a Constitutional Commission
Assembly. The Preamble reads: Member of the National Assembly. (popularly known as the "ConCom") to
          The Filipino people, imploring the
During his term, the President was not frame a new charter to supersede the
 It was titled "Constitución política", aid of Divine Providence, in order to allowed to be a member of a political Marcos-era 1973 Constitution. Aquino
and was written in Spanish following establish a government that shall embody party or hold any other office. appointed 50 members to the
the declaration of independence from their ideals, conserve and develop the Executive power was meant to be Commission; the members were drawn
Spain, proclaimed on January 20, patrimony of the nation, promote the exercised by the Prime Minister who was from varied backgrounds, including
1899, and was enacted and ratified by general welfare, and secure to also elected from amongst the sitting several former congressmen, former
the Malolos Congress, a Congress themselves and their posterity the Assemblymen. The Prime Minister was to Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberto
held in Malolos, Bulacan. blessings of independence under a be the head of government and Concepción, Roman Catholic bishop
regime of justice, liberty, and democracy,
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Teodoro Bacani, and film director Lino
do ordain and promulgate this Forces. This constitution was Brocka. Aquino also deliberately
constitution. subsequently amended four times appointed five members, including
(arguably five, depending on how one former Labour Minister Blas Ople, who
The original 1935 Constitution provided considers Proclamation № 3 of 1986, see had been allied with Marcos until the
for unicameral National Assembly and the below). latter's ouster. After the Commission had
President was elected to a six-year term
without re-election. It was amended in
1940 to have a bicameral Congress
composed of a Senate and House of
Representatives, as well the creation of
an independent electoral commission.
The Constitution now granted the
President a four-year term with a
maximum of two consecutive terms in
office.
A Constitutional Convention was held in
1971 to rewrite the 1935 Constitution.
The convention was stained with
manifest bribery and corruption. Possibly
the most controversial issue was
removing the presidential term limit so
that Ferdinand E. Marcos could seek
election for a third term, which many felt
was the true reason for which the
convention was called. In any case, the
1935 Constitution was suspended in 1972
with Marcos' proclamation of martial law,
the rampant corruption of the
constitutional process providing him with
one of his major premises for doing so.
From 16–17 October 1976, a majority of
barangay voters (also called "Citizen
Assemblies") approved that martial law
should be continued and ratified the
amendments to the Constitution
proposed by President Marcos.
convened, it elected Cecilia Muñoz-Palma
as its president. Muñoz-Palma had
emerged as a leading figure in the anti-
Marcos opposition movement following
her retirement as the first female
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.
The Commission finished the draft charter
within four months after convening.
Several issues were heatedly debated
during the sessions, including on the form
of government to adopt, the abolition of
the death penalty, the continued
retention of the Clark and Subic American
military bases, and the integration of
economic policies into the Constitution.
Brocka would walk out of the Commission
before its completion, and two other
delegates would dissent from the final
draft. The ConCom completed their task
on October 12, 1986 and presented the
draft constitution to President Aquino on
October 15, 1986.
The Constitution is divided into a
Preamble and 18 parts called Articles.
Preamble
The Preamble introduces the
Constitution, identifies the author and
the purposes of the fundamental law and
aids the authorities in the interpretation
of the Constitution since it lays down the
visions of the government. The Preamble
reads:

We, the sovereign Filipino people,

imploring the aid of Almighty God, in
order to build a just and humane society
and establish a Government that shall
embody our ideals and aspirations,
promote the common good, conserve
and develop our patrimony, and secure to
ourselves and our posterity the blessings
of independence and democracy under
the rule of law and a regime of truth,
justice, freedom, love, equality, and
peace, do ordain and promulgate this
Constitution.

a)      Article I – National Territory

b)      Article I specifies that the
Philippines is an archipelago and that the
Philippines territory consists of the
islands and waters embraced therein, all
other territories which the Philippines has
sovereignty or jurisdiction, and the
terrestrial, fluvial and aerial domains
including the territorial sea, the seabed,
the subsoil, the insular shelves and other
submarine areas. It also specifies that the
waters around, between, and connecting
the islands of the archipelago, regardless
of their breadth and dimensions form
part of the internal waters of the
Philippines.
c)      Article II – Declaration of Principles
and State Policies
d)     Article II sets down basic social and
political creed of the country, particularly
the implementation of the constitution
and sets fort the objectives of the
government. Some of its provisions are
e)      Philippines is a Democratic and
Republican State (Section 1)
f)       Renunciation of War (Section 2)
g)      Supremacy of Civilian Authority
(Section 3)
h)      Prime duty of the government
(Section 4)
i)        Defense of the State and Services to
be rendered by the Citizens (Section 4)
j)        Separation of church and state
(Section 6)
k)      Independent Philippine Foreign
Policy (Section 7)
l)        Freedom from Nuclear Weapon
(Section 8)
m)    Just and Dynamic Social order and
Social Justice (Section 9 and 10)
n)      Family as the Basic Autonomous
Unit (Section 12)
o)      Role of the Youth and Women in
Nation-Building (Section 13 and 14)
p)      The affirmation of labor "as a
primary social economic force" (Section
14)
q)      Autonomy of local governments
(Section 25)
r)       Prohibition of Political dynasty and
adoption of measures against graft and
corruption (Section 26 and 27)
s)       Article III – Bill of Rights
t)       Article III, known as the Bill of
Rights, enumerates the specific
protections against State power. Many of
these guarantees are similar to those
provided in the United States
Constitution, including the:
u)      The right to due process and equal
protection (Section 1)
v)      The right against searches and
seizures without a warrant (See Fourth
Amendment to the United States
Constitution) (Section 2)
The right to privacy (Section 3)
The right to free speech and expression,
free press, freedom of assembly and the
right to petition (Section 4)
The free exercise of religion (Section 5)
The right of abode and right to travel
(Section 6)
The right to information on matters of
public concern (Section 7)
The right to form associations (Section 8)
Protection against impairment of
contractual obligations (Section 10)
The right to free access to courts (Section
11)
The right to be informed of his right to
remain silent and to have competent and
independent counsel (Section 12)
The right to bail & against excessive bail
(Section 13)
The rights of the accused (Section 14)
The right to habeas corpus. (Section 15)
The right to speedy disposition of cases
(Section 16)
The right against self-incrimination
(Section 17)
The right to political beliefs and
aspirations. (Section 18)
The prohibition against cruel, degrading
or inhuman punishment (Section 19)
Protection against imprisonment for
debts (Section 20)
The right against double jeopardy
(Section 21)
Prohibition of ex post facto laws and bills
of attainder. (Section 22)
The scope and limitations to these rights
have largely been determined by
Philippine Supreme Court decisions.
Article IV – Citizenship
Article IV enumerates the citizenship of
Fiipinos. There are two kinds of citizens:
Natural-born citizens who are citizens
from birth and have the right to vote and
right to run for public office and
Naturalized citizens, who are immigrants
who acquire, voluntarily or by operation
of law, the citizenship of the Philippines
Article V – Suffrage
Article V specifies the qualification and
right to vote by citizen. It also
enumerates the system and secrecy of
the ballot and absentee voting, and
procedure to the disabled and the
illiterates to vote.
Article VI – The Legislative Department
Article VI enumerates the composition,
qualification, and term of office and
function of the Congress of the
Philippines composed of the Senate of
the Philippines and the House of
Representatives of the Philippines. It also
specifies the organization, procedure,
election and leadership of officials and
process of making law. Some of the
power of Congress include the power of
investigation or inquiry in aid of
legislation (Section 21); the power to
declare the existence of a State of war
(Section 26); fiscal power (Section 25);
the inherent power or police power
(Section 1); power of taxation (Section
28); and the power of eminent domain
(Section 9)
Article VII – Executive Department
The Philippines is a presidential system of
government. The executive power is
vested to the President, assisted by Vice
president and heads of executive
departments. The Article VII explains the
qualification, term of office, election,
power and functions of Philippine
President and the officials within the
executive branch. It also specifies the
presidential line of succession.
Article VIII – Judicial Department
The power of interpretation and
application of the law was entrusted to
the Judicial branch. The Supreme Court of
the Philippines is the highest court and
has a jurisdiction over the lower courts
that are part of the judicial branch. Article
VIII enumerates the qualification, tenure,
power and functions of courts within the
Judicial Branch, including the organization
of Judicial and Bar Council.
Article IX – Constitutional Commission
Article IX enumerates the qualification,
tenure, power and functions and
composition of three Constitutional
Commissions: Civil Service Commission of
the Philippines, Commission on Election
or COMELEC, and the Commission on
Audit of the Philippines.
Article X – Local Government
The Constitution establishes limited
political autonomy to the local
government units of Philippine provinces,
Philippine cities, Philippine municipalities,
and barangays. Local governments are
generally considered as falling under the
executive branch, yet local legislation
requires enactment by duly elected local
legislative bodies. The Constitution
mandated that the Congress would enact
a Local Government Code.
Article XI – Accountability of Public
Officers
Article XI explains that the positions
entrusted by the people to the
government officials are public in nature.
Government positions should be taken
care of at all times. It specifies the
processes and grounds for impeachment
of the public officials. It also creates and
describe the Office of the Ombudsman of
the Philippines.
Article XII – National Economy and
Patrimony
Article XIII – Social Justice and Human
Rights
Article XIV – Education, Science and
Technology, Arts, Culture and Sports
Article XV – The Family
Article XVI – General Provisions
Article XVII – Amendments or Revisions
Article XVIII – Transitory Provisions

The Constitution also contains several

other provisions enumerating various
state policies including, i.e., the
affirmation of labor "as a primary social
economic force" (Section 14, Article II);
the equal protection of "the life of the
mother and the life of the unborn from
conception" (Section 12, Article II); the
"Filipino family as the foundation of the
nation" (Article XV, Section 1); the
recognition of Filipino as "the national
language of the Philippines" (Section 6,
Article XVI), and even a requirement that
"all educational institutions shall
undertake regular sports activities
throughout the country in cooperation
with athletic clubs and other sectors."
(Section 19.1, Article XIV) Whether these
provisions may, by themselves, be the
source of enforceable rights without
accompanying legislation has been the
subject of considerable debate in the
legal sphere and within the Supreme
Court. The Court, for example, has ruled
that a provision requiring that the State
"guarantee equal access to opportunities
to public service" could not be enforced
without accompanying legislation, and
thus could not bar the disallowance of so-
called "nuisance candidates" in
presidential elections.But in another case,
the Court held that a provision requiring
that the State "protect and advance the
right of the people to a balanced and
healthful ecology" did not require
implementing legislation to become the
source of operative rights.