Readings in Philippine History
Bachelor of Science in Medical Laboratory Science
Evolution Of The Philippine
Constitution
Meaning of Constitution
• “that body of rules and principles
with which the powers of sovereignty are
habitually exercised”. (Cooley)
• The written instrument enacted
by direct action of the people by which
the fundamental powers of the
government are established, limited, and
defined, and by which those powers are
distributed among the several
departments for their safe and useful
exercise for the benefit of the body politic.
( Malcolm and Laurel)
Purpose of the Constitution
1. Serves as the supreme and
fundamental law
2. Establishes a basic
framework and underlying principles
of government.
KINDS OF CONSTITUTION
(1) As to their origin and history;
a. Conventional / enacted – one
which is enacted by a constitution
assembly or granted by a monarch to
his subjects like the constitution of
Japan in 1889, and the Constitutions of
the Philippines are all convetional or
enacted; 1935 Constitution,1973 and
the 1987.
b. Cumulative or evolved- one
which is a product of growth or a long
period of development originating in
customs, traditions, judicial, rather than
from a deliberate and formal enactment.
Example of this is the English
Constitution.
(2) As to their form:
a. Written- one whose precepts are
embodied in one single document or set of
document. One which has been given
definite written form at a particular time,
usually by a specially “constitutional
convection”.
b. Unwritten – consists of rules which
have not been integrated into a single,
concrete form but are scattered in various
sources such as statutes of fundamental
character, judicial decisions, commentaries
of publicists, customs and traditions, and
certain common law principles.
The English constitution is unwritten only in
the sense that it is not codified in a single
document. Part of it is written – Acts of
Parliament and judicial decisions. Indeed,
there is no Constitution that is entirely
written or unwritten.
(3) As to manner of amending them:
a. Rigid or inelastic – One that can
be amended only by a formal and usually
difficult process.
The 1987 Philippine constitution can be
amended or revised only through a required
procedure provided by the constitution.
b. Flexible or elastic – One which
possesses no higher legal authority than
ordinary laws and which may be altered in
the same way as other laws.
Who may propose amendments/
revisions to the Constitution?
• Art. XVII of the 1987
Constitution provides that any
amendment or revision may be
proposed by:
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 1. The congress upon a vote of
three –fourths of all its members
2. A constitutional convention –
the congress with a vote of two-thirds
of all its members may call a
constitutional convention.
3. The people may directly
proposed amendment through
initiative upon a petition of at least
twelve per centum of the total number
of registered voters and three per
centum in each legislative district.
Amendment or revision in the
constitution should be done only once
every five years ( Sec 2, 2nd
sentence,Art. XVII). Ratification
through a plebiscite is needed so that
any amendment will become valid,
such should be held not earlier than
sixty days nor later than ninety days
after the approval of said amendment
or revision.
ESSENTIAL PARTS OF A GOOD
WRITTEN CONSTITUTION
1. Constitution of liberty –
consists of series of
prescriptions setting forth
the fundamental civil and
political rights of the citizens
and imposing limitations on
the powers of government
as a means of securing the
enjoyment of those rights
These are found in:
Articles II – Declaration of State
Policies and Principles
Art. III – Bill of Rights;
Art. IV – Citizenship;
Art.V- Suffrage, and
Art. XIV – Education, Science,
Technology, Arts, Culture and Sports.
2. Constitution of government –
consists of series of provisions
outlining the organization of the
government , enumerating its
powers, laying down certain
rules relative to its
administration, and defining the
electorate. These are found in
the following Articles:
3. Constitution of Sovereignty –
consists of the provisions pointing out
the mode or procedure in accordance
with which formal changes in the
fundamental law may be brought about.
This can be found in
Art. XVII- Amendments and Revisions
A HISTORY OF THE PHILIPPINE
CONSTITUTION
At least seven Philippine
constitution were framed in our
history.
1. The biak – na – bato republic
constitution (1897)
2. The malolos republic constitution
3. The 1935 constitution and the
commonwealth government
4. The japanese occupation and the
second philippine republic (1943
constitution)
5. The 1973 constitution and the marcos
dictatorship
6. the freedom constitution (1986)
7. The 1987 constitution
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THE BIAK – NA – BATO REPUBLIC
CONSTITUTION (1897)
The Philippine revolution
reached a stalemate in 1897 when
the revolutionary forces of General
Aguinaldo fled to the mountains of
Biak - na- Bato in San Miguel de
Mayumo, Bulacan. The Spanish
forces led by Gen. Miguel Primo de
Rivera realized that even though they
could crush the rebels in Bulacan, it
did not mean the revolution would
end for it was already widespread in
the other provinces. The Spaniards
soon sued for a truce with the
revolutionary forces.
In order to consolidate the forces still
fighting in the other provinces,
Aguinaldo met with his leaders to
establish a recognized government. A
revolutionary government had already
been formed in March that year with
Aguinaldo as President in Tejeros,
San Francisco de Malabon (now
General Trias) in Cavite. It was this
government that was now in Biak na
Bato government would be formed.
Two Filipinos, Isabelo Artacho and
Felix Ferrer were tasked to write a
constitution. Both decided to adopt
the provision of the constitution
framed in Jimaguayu, Cuba and from
this, the Constitution of Biak na Bato
was formulated.
The constitution was
promulgated by the Philippine
Revolutionary Government on
November 1, 1897, and became the
provisionary constitution of the
government during the Revolution
against Spain.
In spite of being a copied
constitution, the Biak na Bato
Constitution had its own unique
features: its preamble reiterated the
objective of the Revolution which was
the separation of the Philippines from
the Spanish monarchy and their
formation into an independent state
with its own government. The
government that was formed was a
supreme Council composed of a
President a Vice president, a
secretary of the interior, a secretary
of foreign Relations, a Secretary of
war, and a Secretary of the Treasury.
This council had sweeping powers of
government which included the power
to issue orders and other laws for the
security of the State to impose and
collect taxes, to raise an army, to
ratify treaties, and to convene an
assembly of Representatives. The
official language was Tagalog. The
judiciary power was vested in another
Supreme Council of justice. Article
XXII to XXV were essentially the bill
of Rights accorded to every Filipino.
This constitution was to last
only for two years during which at
certain periods it was superseded by
laws and decrees made by Aguinaldo
THE MALOLOS REPUBLIC
CONSTITUTION
Following the defeat of Spain by the
United States in the Spanish-
American War in 1898, the Filipinos
began their task of creating the
independent nation they valiantly
fought for in 1896. On June 12,1898 ,
Philippine independence was
declared and, for two weeks later,
Aguinaldo ordered the convening of a
Congress in Malolos, Bulacan.
Elections were held for the delegates
in the provinces that were already
free from Spanish forces. For the
other areas where battles against the
Spaniards were still being fought,
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Aguinaldo appointed delegates. The
Malolos Congress had its inaugural
session at Barasoain Church in
Malolos on September 15, 1898
amidst a large celebration and
coverage by both the local and
foreign press. The delegates then
convened congress and elected its
officers. One of its first acts was to
ratify the independence declaration in
kawit.
The congress was originally
conceived by presidential adviser
Apolinario Mabini to be an advisory
body to the President.
But another group led by delegate
Pedro Paterno decided to create a
constitution to form a government that
would be recognized by foreign
powers. Mabini was against this for
he believed that peaceful conditions
should first prevail before a
constitution should be drafted. He
was, however, overruled by Paterno
and his allies.
Discussion for the
constitution began on October 25
after the submission of a draft by
Felipe Calderon. Calderon drew
inspiration from the constitution of
Mexico, Belgium, Guatemala, Costa
Rica, Brazil, and France. One of the
heated discussion focused on the
issue of the union of church and state
where Catholicism would be the state
religion. This proposal was voted on
twice by the congress.
The first was a tie and the second
voting session resulted in the victory
for separation by only one vote. The
constitution was approved by the
Malolos Congress on November 29,
1898 and forwarded to President
Aguinaldo for approval.
The original draft of the
constitution, however emphasized a
popular government which means
supreme power is given to a
legislative body since it is the
representative of the people. This
mean that the president as well as
the judiciary including the Supreme
Court would be selected by the
legislative body which at that time,
was the Malolos Congress.
Mabini objected to this proposal and
the approval of the Constitution was
delayed. The amendments were
made and the document was finally
approved by Aguinaldo on January
21.
The Malolos Constitution was
the first republican constitution in
Asia. Its main features were as
follows:
1. It was based on democratic
traditions in which the government
formed was “popular” representative
and responsible” which three distinct
branches the executive the
legislative, and the judicial.
2. It called for presidential form
of government with the presidential
elected for a term of four years by a
majority of the assembly convened as
a constituent assembly;
3. It recognized the freedom of
religion and the separation of the
church and State;
4. It emphasized and
safeguarded the basic civil rights of
not only Filipinos but foreigners,
through a bill of rights (Article XIX to
XXIII)
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The approval of the constitution and
the creation of the Republic did not
end the strife the congress and
Mabini. Mabini was eventually
replaced as president of the Cabinet
several months later.
The first Philippine Republic
was inaugurated in January 23, 1899
at the Barasoain Church where Emilio
Aguinaldo took his oath of office as
the first President of the Republic.
This was followed by the reading of
the Malolos Constitution and the
taking of the oath of loyalty by the
army.
The Malolos Republic was
the first democratic government of the
country. It had a form a governance
that included the management of
social service, education, the creation
of an army, a monetary system and
diplomatic activities. It even had a
government publication in order in
order to spread to the foreign nations
the ideas of the new republic and to
ask for support for its recognition.
The Republic, however was a
short-lived government. Its demise
began at the start of the Philippine –
American war in February 1899 and
ceased to exist with the capture of
president Aguinaldo in Palanan,
Isabela in March 1901. By that time,
the American had firmly established
themselves as the new colonizers of
the Philippines with a military
government running the country. In
July 1901, they formally established
the first civil government in the
islands.
THE 1935 CONSTITUTION AND
THE COMMONWEALTH
GOVERNMENT
 The Constitutional convention
drafted the 1935 constitution in
accordance with the Tydings –Mc
Duffie Law passed by the United
States Congress. On March 18, 1935,
U.S. Pres. Franklin Roosevelt
certified that the draft conformed to
the Tydings – Mc Duffie Law. On May
14,1935, the people in a plebiscite
overwhelmingly ratified the
1935Constitution.
For over a decade, the
Americans ran the government in the
Philippines with Filipinos given a role
in the legislative function when the
Philippine Assembly was established
in 1907. It was only during the
administration of governor- general
Grancis Burton Harrison (1913-1921)
that the Feminization policy ‘of the
government was put in place.
Filipinos were given a hand in running
the country. Majority of the Philippine
Commission members and civil
servants were replaced by Filipinos.
Soon, the colonial administration
placed much of the country
governance in the hands of Filipinos.
One year later the jones law of 1916
also known as the Philippine
Autonomy Act was passed by the US
Congress.
The Jones law recognized
the government with an American
governor-general, a cabinet and an
all- Filipino legislature composed of
the senate and the House of
Representatives. It also provided both
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the executive and legislative sectors
power over domestic affairs. The new
Philippine Legislative was
inaugurated on October 16, 1916 with
Sergio Osmena as House Speaker
and Manuel Quezon as Senate
President. In addition to this, Harrison
also formed then Council of State as
an advisory body to governor-
general.
Despite the American
concession of letting the Filipinos run
their own government, the prospect of
independence was not erased from
the minds and hearts of the Filipinos.
To address this, the jones Law
provided the presence of two resident
commissioners to the US to sit and
observe the proceedings of the US
Congress. They were eventually
replaced by acommission on
independence or parliamentary
missions to the US to petition for
Philippine independence.
From 1918 to 1932, there
were at least five Philippine
independence mission to the United
State. The efforts paid off with the
creation and approval of the Tydings
– Mcduffie Law by the US congress.
This law was approved on March 24,
1934 and was known as the
Philippine Independence Act. It
provided for the drafting and
guidelines of a constitution for a 10-
year “transitional period” government
before the granting of independence.
This was known as the
Commonwealth Government.
Following the signing of the
tydings –McDuffie Law, the Philippine
began to ready itself for its transition
from a colonial country into a self-
government nation.
On July 10, 1934 an election
was held to vote for the delegates to
write a constitution for the Philippines.
Two hundred two delegates were
elected and the convention was
opened on July 30. The draft of the
constitution was finished by January
31, 1935 and was approved by the
convention on February 8. There as
only one dissenter, Tomas Cabili of
Lanao, who felt that the constitution
did not serve the people of Mindanao.
The Constitution was
approved by US President Franklin
Delano Roosevelt on March 23, 1935
and ratified by the Filipino people in a
plebiscite on May 14, 1935.
The 1935 constitution was
approved of the Philippines served as
the fundamental law of the land from
1935 to 1972. It established the
commonwealth of the Philippines and
provides that upon withdrawal of
American sovereignty in the country
and the declaration of Philippine
independence, the commonwealth
shall be known as the Republic of the
Philippines.
The 1935 Constitution
enumerated the composition, powers
and duties of the three branches of
government (the executive, legislative
and judicial ) and created the General
Auditing Office and laid down the
framework in the established of the
civil service in the country. The other
provisions included a bill of Rights, a
provision for women’s suffrage giving
women the right to vote and to be a
part of Philippine politics for the first
time, the creation of a Philippine
Armed Forces for national defense,
and the development of a national
language.
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 The framing of the 1935
constitution was a momentous event
for the Filipino people. It showed the
Americans that Filipinos had the
capability for self-government with the
creation of the Commonwealth
Government in 1935 that led to the
country’s independence a decade
later.
The 1935 constitution has been
amended three times. Among the
amendments are:
a) That establishing a bicameral
legislature;
b) That allowing the eligibility of
the president and the Vice president for
a second four-year term of office:
c) That creating a separate
commission on elections; and
d) The so-called Parity
Amendment which gave to American
citizen’s equal right with the Filipinos in
the exploitation of our natural resources
and the operation of public utilities.
 Women suffrage was also
acknowledged in this constitution
through a law passed by the National
assembly and ratified through a
plebiscite held on April 30, 1937.
THE JAPANESE OCCUPATION
AND THE SECOND PHILIPPINE
REPUBLIC (1943 CONSTITUTION)
The Commonwealth
Government was interrupted by the
Second World War and the Japanese
Occupation of the Philippines. The
commonwealth under President
Manuel Quezon went into exile in the
United States. As part of their policy
of attraction in their Greater East Asia
Co-Prosperity Sphere program, the
Japanese offered to grant the
Philippines its independence.
Acting on the orders of the
Japanese military, the kapisanan ng
paglilingkod sa Bagong Pilipinas or
KALIBAPI, Filipino political party that
served as the political party during
the Japanese occupation, convened
and elected a Philippine Commission
for Philippine Independence (PCPI) to
write a new constitution. This was
finished and signed on September 4,
1943 in a public ceremony and
ratified by the KALIBAPI a few days
later. On October 14, 1943, as
provided for in the new constitution,
the Second Philippine Republic was
inaugurated with Jose P. Laurel as
President.
The 1943 Constitution was
basically a condensed version of the
1935 constitution consisting only of a
preamble and 12 articles. It was
transitory in nature as it was only
effective during the duration of the
war. It created a Republic with three
offices (executive, legislative, and
judicial) but owning to the war, no
legislature was convened. Instead,
the powers of government were
concentrated with the president. The
Bill of Rights basically enumerated
the citizens duties and obligations
rather than their constitutional rights
and Tagalog was declared the
national language.
The 1943 constitution was
recognized as legitimate and binding
only in Japanese –controlled areas of
the Philippines but was ignored by
the United State government and the
Philippine Commonwealth
government in-exile. It was abolished
eventually along with the Second
Republic upon the liberation of the
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 Philippines by Americans forces in
1945 and the re- establishment of the
commonwealth in the Philippine.
THE 1973 CONSTITUTION AND
THE MARCOS DICTATORSHIP
On June 1, 1971 a constitutional
convention was convened at the
Manila Hotel. Its purpose was to write
a new constitution that would meet
the new challenges confronting the
Philippine Republic that developed
since it was formed in 1946. It was
during the second term of president
Ferdinand Marcos that the convention
opened.
The 1971 Constitutional Convention,
whose members were elected by the
people, drafted the said Constitution.
On January 17,1973, President
Marcos issued Presidential Decree
No. 1102 declaring that the citizens
Assemblies, overwhelmingly
approved the constitutional draft
which became known as the 1973
Constitution.
The 1973 constitution has been
amended four occasions. Among the
important amendments are:
a) Those making the then
incumbent President, the regular
president and the regular Prime
Minister.
b) That granting concurrent law-
making power to the president which
the latter exercised even after the
lifting of martial law in 1981.
c) That establishing a modified
parliamentary form of government;
d) That permitting natural-born
citizens who have lost their citizenship
to be transferees of private land, for
use by them as residence;
e) That allowing the “grant” of
lands of the public domain to qualified
citizens; and
f) That providing for urban land
reform and social housing program
The 1973 Constitution
provided for a parliamentary form of
government in which the president
was the symbolic head of state and
the prime Minister was the head of
government. The Prime Minister, who
was nominated by the President
acted as head of the Cabinet.
Legislative power as vested
in the Batasang Pambansa. The
constitution also provided for the
establishment of the Civil Service
Commission on Elections, and the
Commission on Audit.
The 1973 Constitution
remained in force until the February
22-25 EDSA people Power
Revolution of 1986 which toppled the
Marcos administration. It was
abolished with the adoption of the
1986 Freedom Constitution by the
administration of President Corazon
Aquino.
THE FREEDOM
CONSTITUTION (1986)
On March 24, 1986, president
Aquino signed proclamation No.3
entitled “Declaring a National Policy
to Implement the Reforms Mandated
by the People, Protecting their basic
Rights Adopting a Provisional
Constitution, and Providing for an
Orderly transition to a Government
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under the New Constitution" The
provisional constitution, later called
the “Freedom Constitution” was
Proclaimed, settings aside the 1973
Constitution thereby recognizing the
new Aquino administration as a
temporary revolutionary government
until the framing of a new constitution.
It basically adopted some provisions
of the 1973 Constitution especially
the Bill of Rights.
Under the Freedom Constitution, the
President continues to sexercise
legislative power until a legislature
was convinced under a new
constitution. Furthermore, the
President was given the power to
appoint the members of a
Constitutional Commission tasked to
draft a new Charter: truly reflective of
the ideals and aspiration of the
Filipino people”.
The 1987 Constitution
By the virtue of Sec. 1; Articles 5 of
the Freedom Constitution, President
Aquino issued on April 23, 1986
Proclamation No. 9, constituting a
Constitutional Commission
(CONCOM) charged with the drafting
a new constitution not later than
September 2, 1986. In line with this
issuance, President Aquino, on May
26, 1986, appointed the 50 CONCOM
members representing the various
sectors of society.
On June 2 the ConCom, headed by
the former Justice Cecilia Munoz
Palma, commenced its session at the
Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City.
The ConCom completed their task on
October 12, 1986 and presented the
draft constitution to President Aquino
on October 15. After a period of
nationwide information campaign, a
plebiscite for its ratification was held
on February 2, 1987. An
overwhelming 17,059,495 voted to
ratify the constitution while 5,058,714
voted against it.
On February 11, 1987, the New
Constitution was proclaimed ratified
and in effect. On the same day,
President Aquino, government
officials and the military pledged
allegiance to the New Constitution.
The 1987 Constitution consists of 18
Articles with a preamble. Among its
significant provisions are as follows:
1. A presidential system of
government restores the bicameral
Congress of the Philippines,
composed of a Senate and a House
of Representative.
2. A modified Bill of Rights
(Articles III) details the rights of every
Filipino citizen. Much emphasis was
placed on the writings of this
provision after the violations
committed during the Marcos
dictatorship. In addition, the
constitution includes the abolition of
death penalty, excepts when
congress provides otherwise with
regard of “heinous crimes”
3. The creation of a commission
on Human Rights which, under
Section 18, Article XIII, is tasked to
investigate all forms of human rights
violation involving civil political rights.
In provides appropriate legal
measures for the Philippines, and
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several other power in relation to the
protection of human rights.
4. The recognition of an
Autonomous Region of Muslim
Mindanao of the Cordilleras
5. Limited political autonomy for
local government units like the
provinces, cities, municipalities, and
barangays and instructing the
congress to establish a local
Governments Code.
The complete provision are as
follows:
administered by a presidential system of
government with a bicameral legislature
and an independent judiciary. It has three
branches of government:
1. The executive headed by the
President and Cabinet.
2. The legislative composed of the
Senate headed by the Senate President
and the House of Representative headed
by the Speaker of the House.
3. The Judiciary composed of the
Supreme Court headed by the Chief
Justice, and the lower courts
The House of Representative is
composed of the Congressmen/women
(Officially called Representative) elected
to a three-year term and can be re-
elected, but cannot serve more than three
consecutive terms, Sectoral
representative and members of Party-list
organization who can give “voice” to
significant minorities of society that may
not be adequately represented through
geographical district.
The senate is composed of 24 senators
who are elected and serve for six-year
terms with half the senators elected every
three years.
The Supreme Court is the
Philippines highest judicial court as well
as the court of last resort. The court
consist of 14 associate justices and a
chief justice.

Basic principles underlying the new

constitution

(1) Recognition of the Aid of

Almighty God (see Preamble)
(2) Sovereignty of the people
(3) Renunciation of war as an
instrument of national policy
(4) Supremacy of civilian
authority over the military
(5) Separation of church and
State
The Philippine government is

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(6) Recognition of the
importance of the family as a basic
social institution and of the vital role
of the youth in nation-building
(7) Guarantee of human rights
(8) Government through suffrage
(9) Separation of powers
(10) Independence of the judiciary
(11) Guarantee of local autonomy
(12) High sense of public service
morality and accountability of public
officers
(13) Nationalization of natural
resources and certain private
enterprises affected with public
interest
(14) Non- suability of the state
(15) Rule of the majority; and
(16) Government of laws and not
of men
Who is the Author of the
Constitution?
• The preamble points out to
the Filipino people as the authors of
the Constitution referring on the
phrase “ We, the sovereign Filipino
people…………do ordain and
promulgate this Constitution.”
PREAMBLE
“We, the sovereign Filipino people,
imploring the aid of the Almighty
God, in order to build a just and
humane society and established 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 the
Constitution.”
• The term “preamble” came
from the latin word “ preambulus”
which means “going in front”, or “to
walk before”. It is the introduction to
the main subject. It is the prologue of
the Constitution.
• It is not a source of rights and
obligations, hence; not considered as
part of the constitution.
• The preamble as to purpose
does not only identify the authors of
the Constitution but also lay down the
national purposes and aims in
adopting the Constitution, as
mentioned 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.
- The preamble is consists of
75 words, and one the world’s longest
preamble.
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