Baniqued, Rosemarie P.

BSBA-1

PREAMBLE

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.

Meaning of Preamble

The term preamble is derived from the Latin preambulus or preambulare which means "to walk
before." It is an introduction to the main subject. It is the prologue of the Constitution.

Preamble not essential in a constitution

Technically speaking, the Preamble forms no integral part of our Constitution. Of itself
alone, it cannot be invoked as a source of private right enforceable by the courts or of any
governmental power not expressly granted or at least, clearly implied therefrom.

It is significant to note, however, that a majority of the constitutions of the world contain
a preamble.

Object and value of Preamble

(1) Sets down the origin and purposes of the Constitution. While a preamble is not a
necessary part of a constitution, it is advisable to have one. In the case of the
Constitution of the Philippines, the Preamble which is couched in general terms,
provides the broad outline of, and the spirit behind, the Constitution. It serves two (2)
very important ends:
(a) It tells us who are the authors of the Constitution and for whom it has been
promulgated; and
(b) It states the general purposes which are intended to be achieved by the
Constitution and the government established under it, and certain basic principles
underlying the fundamental charter.
 (2) May serve as an aid in its interpretation. The Preamble has a value for purposes of
construction. The statement of the general purposes may be resorted to as an aid in
determining the meaning of vague or ambiguous provisions of the Constitution proper.
By way of illustration, the government is without power to impose taxes for private
purposes because according to the Preamble it is established for public purpose - the
promotion of the common good and not for private purpose.

Source of Constitution's authority

(1) The Filipino people. The Constitution begins and ends with the words, "We, the
sovereign Filipino people, imploring the aid of Almighty God x x x, do ordain and
promulgate this Constitution." Thus, the Filipino people themselves are the source
from which the Constitution comes and being so, it is the supreme law of the land.

The Preamble retains the use of the term "Filipino people" to signify their oneness
and solidarity. It is different from the term "people of the Philippines" which may
refer to the entire body of inhabitants, a mere "aggrupation" of individuals, including
aliens.

(2) A sovereign people. The Constitution calls the Filipino people "sovereign." The first
person approach consisting of the use of the pronouns "we" and "our" has also been
retained instead of the impersonal third person approach in the Preamble of the 1935
Constitution. The intention is to stress that the Filipino people in ordaining and
promulgating the Constitution do so on their own authority as a sovereign people and
not by virtue of the authority or permission given by a superior foreign power.

National purposes and aims in adopting the Constitution

As set forth in the Preamble, they are:

(1) To build a just and humane society; and
(2) To establish a Government that shall:
(a) embody our ideals and aspirations;
(b) promote the common good;
(c) conserve and develop our patrimony; and
(d) 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.
Changes in the Preamble.

(1) The Preamble, consisting of 75 words, is one of the world's longest preambles. It has 15
words more than that of the 1973 Constitution.

(2) The phrase Almighty God replaced "Divine Providence '' in the 1935 and 1973 Constitutions
which was considered vague and impersonal. Common good is used to refer to all the people
in place of "general welfare" which is not as inclusive as it may be interpreted to refer only to
the welfare of the greater majority and freedom instead of "liberty" because the latter word
does not cover freedom from want, fear and ignorance.

(3) Other amendments are the insertion of the following phrases and words:

(a) to build a just and humane society, to stress that in ordaining and promulgating the
Constitution, the purpose is not only to establish a government but also such a society
where inequalities or inequities in any form do not exist.
(b) the rule of law, the Constitutional Commission apparently having in mind the
country's experience of authoritarian rule under the former regime
(c) aspirations, to stand for the unrealized dreams of the nation as distinguished from
"ideals" which refer to accepted norms and sentiments;
(d) truth, to emphasize the constitutional policy of transparency in the administration of
the government; and
(e) love, as a directive principle of the Preamble together with truth, justice, freedom,
equality and peace. Incidentally, the new Constitution is the only one in the world to
enshrine "love" in its text which can also be read as "human fraternity" or
"brotherhood."

(4) The word independence in the 1935 text of the Preamble was changed to "democracy" in the
1973 Constitution for the reason that the term denotes the idea of a colonial status, and it is
long after 1946 when the Philippines had become legally independent.

(5) The words peace and equality were inserted in the 1973 Constitution in view of the
turbulence, and the waves of protest against "basic economic and social inequalities' ' then
prevailing in the country at the time of the framing of the same.