BASICS OF CONSTITUTION

Constitution
 is defined as the Supreme Law of the land. De Leon
defined it as “body of rules and principles in
accordance with which the powers of sovereignty are
regularly exercised” with which covers the unwritten
and written constitutions.

Codified list of provision that identifies the

limitations of the power of Government and
enumerates its responsibilities to the people.
Example: The nation, compared to a three-storey building
has constitutions as its foundation, and such it has to be
strong and should stand the test of time.
The Philippine from the onset of American period
, the present had 4 constitutions framed by its
people. These are the following:

1. Malolos Constitution during the revolutionary

Government under Emilio Aguinaldo
2. 1935 Constitution (Commonwealth Constitution)
3. 1973 Constitutions under Marcos administration
4. 1987 Constitutions during the presidency of Corazon
Aquino
 NATURE OF CONSTITUTIONS
1. Serve as a fundamental law
 a constitution is the charter creating the government. It has the
status of a supreme or fundamental law as it speaks for the
entire people from whom it derives its claim to obedience.

2. Establishes basic framework and underlying principles of the

government
 the purpose of the constitution is to prescribe the permanent
framework of the system of government and to assign to the
different departments their respective powers and duties and
to establish certain basic principles on which the government
is founded. It is primarily designed to preserve and protect the
rights of individuals against arbitrary actions of those in
authority. Likewise, it limits the actions of every individual
citizens
 Purposes of Constitution
1. To define the organization of government.
2. To determine distribution of governmental
powers.
3. To define the rights of individual citizens.
4. To hold the state together
 Kinds of constitution
1. Origin and history
a. Conventional or enacted- one which is enacted by a
constituent assembly.
b. Cumulative or evolved- product of the development
originating in customs, traditions and judicial decisions.

2. Form
a. Written - has been given a definite form at a particular time,
usually by Constitutional Convention.
b. Unwritten - product of political evolution, consisting of
customs, traditions and judicial decisions
3. Manner of amending
a. Rigid or inelastic- cannot be amended or altered.
b. Flexible or elastic- can be altered in the same way as other
laws.
 The Preamble
Preamble is derived from the Latin word “preambulare”
which means “to walk before.” It is the prologue of the
constitution and it introduces the main subject.

Objectives and Importance of Preamble

1. It sets down origin and purposes.

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 interpretation.

 HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF CONSTITUTION
IN THE PHILIPPINES

Background of 1899 Malolos Constitution

The path to total independence was not smooth for the

Filipinos. When the Spaniards finally surrendered after a “mock
battle” on August 18, 1898, which was agreed upon between the
Americans through Admiral George Dewey and Major General
Wesley Meritt, and the Spaniards through General Fermin Jaudenes,
arranged by a Belgian consul, Edouard Andre, the Americans
closed the gates of the city to the Filipinos, after the latter fought
side by side with them. This was treachery on the parts of the
Americans. That early, there were already signs of friction between
the two races. This friction would finally result in open hostility
between them.
 Nevertheless, Emilio Aguinaldo kept his faith that
the Americans came as liberators and eventually the
Philippines would become a totally independent nation.

May 19, 1898 after leaving the country on a

voluntary exile to Hong-kong as part of the agreement
under the Pact of Biac-na-Bato, Aguinaldo established his
Dictatorial Government on May 24, 1898 which he said
would only be a temporary government and to last until
the establishment of a republic.
On June 12, 1898, Aguinaldo proclaimation of the
Philippine Independence in Kawit Cavite where the
Philippines flag was unfurled and the Philippine National
Anthem was Played. Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista read the
Act of the Declaration of Independence which he himself
had written.
 Eleven days after the proclamation of Philippine
Independence in Kawit, Cavite of Aguinaldo, upon the advice of
Apolinario Mabini who had become his adviser, issued a decree
changing the Dictatorial Government to Revolutionary Governement.
The Dictatorial Government lasted for thirty days

The Revolutionary Government as decreed by Aguinaldo had

a strong executive branch with four department heads aiding the
President, namely:
o Foreign affairs, navy and commerce;
o War and public works
o Police and internal order, justice, education and hygiene;
o Finance, agriculture and manufacturing industries

It declared that the President as the personification of the Filipino

people and was inviolable while in office, with an indefinite term
dependent upon the triumph of the revolution; however, under
extraordinary circumstances he might feel obliged to offer his
resignation to Congress and the latter to elect whomever it
considered as most fit.
Framing of the 1899 Malolos Constitution

Joaquin Gonzales and Felipe Calderon drafted the

rules for the drafting of the constitution. They adopted the
rules of the Spanish cortes doing s little variations.
Comprising the Committee to draft the Malolos
Constitution were Pedro Paterno, Felipe Buencamino, and
Felipe Calderon. Mabini submitted his draft of the
Constitution called the Constitutional Programme of the
Philippine Republic; Paterno submitted as well. Calderon
sensed that Mabini’s plan was unpopular to the delegates
while that of Paternoo was backed by majority of the
delegates. He chose Paterno’s plan. It was he employed
and he has his own plan and wanted not to displease
Paterno who was the President of Congress. aHe was able
to eliminate the Paterno plan without the latter sensing
his scheme.
 In preparing his plan, Calderon drew inspiration from
the constitution of the following countries: Begium, Mexico,
Guatemala, Costa Rica, Brazil, and France. Assisting him in
preparing the draft plan for the Malolos Constitution was
Cayetano Arellano.
On January 21, 1899, the Malolos Constitution was
approve and Emilio Aguinaldo by virtue of his position and
power as President of the Revolutionary Government of the
Philippines and Captain General and Commander-in-Chief
of the army, commanded all authorities, “civil as well as
military of whatever class or rank, to keep it and cause it to
be kept, complied with and executed in all its parts, because
it is the sovereign will of the Filipino people.
The Malolos Constitution was submitted by Pedro A.
Paterno with Pablo Tecson and Pablo Ocampo, secretaries of
the congress. It has a preamble, 101 articles, and an
additional article.
 The Malolos Constitution is the first republican constitution in
Asia. It features the following:

a. sovereignty resides exclusively in the people;

b. stated basic civil rights;
c. separated the church and state; and
d. called for the creation of an Assembly of Representatives to act as
the legislative body.

Malolos Congress
The 1899 Malolos Constitution
 It also called for a parliamentary republic as the
form of government. The president was elected for a term
of four years by a majority of the Assembly. It was titled
"Constitución política" (political constitution), and was
written in Spanish following the declaration of
independence from Spain, proclaimed on January 21, 1899,
and was enacted and ratified by the Malolos Congress, a
Congress held in Barasoain, Malolos, Bulacan.

Preamble
We, the Representatives of the Filipino people, lawfully
convened, in order to establish justice, provide for common defense,
promote the general welfare, and insure the benefits of liberty,
imploring the aid of the Sovereign Legislator of the Universe for the
attainment of these ends, have voted, decreed, and sanctioned the
following of Political constitutions of the Republic.
 1935 Constitution
The 1935 Constitution was written in 1934, approved and
adopted by the Commonwealth of the Philippines (1935–1946) and
later utilized by the Third Republic (1946–1972). It was written with an
objective to meet the approval of the United States Government, to
ensure that the U.S. would live up to its promise to grant the Philippines
full autonomy and not have a premise to hold onto its possession on the
grounds that it was too politically immature and hence unready for full,
real independence.
When the Philippine Independence Act (Tydings McDuffie Act)
was passed by the US Congress in 1934, it called for the election of 202
delegates of the 1935 Constitutional Convention. The election was held
on July 10, 1934. It elected 202 delegates with Claro M. Recto as
President. They considered as the cream of Filipino intelligentsia –
lawyers, legislators, cabinet men, educators, scholars, writers,
physicians, farmers, businessmen labor leaders, and religious
ministers. There were rich Hacienderos and finaciers , but moat of the
delegates came from the middle clas.
 The 1934 Constitutional Convention finished the draft of the
constitution on February 8, 1935. The Constitution was consequently
submitted to the President of the United States for certification on
March 25, 1935. The 1935 Constitution was ratified by the Filipino
people through a plebiscite on May 14, 1935 and came into effect and
full force on November 15, 1935 with the inauguration of the Philippine
Commonwealth. Among its provisions was that it would remain the
constitution of the Republic of the Philippines once independence was
granted on July 4, 1946.

It originally provided for unicameral National Assembly and

the President was elected to a six-year term without re-election. That
provision 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.
 Preamble

The Filipino people, imploring the aid of

Divine Providence, in order to establish a
government that shall em-body their ideals,
conserve and develop the patrimony of the nation,
promote the general welfare, and secure to
themselves and their posterity the blessings of
independence under a régime of justice, liberty,
and democracy, do ordain and promulgate this
Constitution.
 The 1973 Constitution
A Constitutional Convention was held in 1971 to
revise 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.

Ferdinand Marcos
The 1973 Philippine Constitutions had the following salient features:

 Establishment of a parliamentary government with the Prime

Minister as the head of government, exercising both executive
and legislative powers, and the President as ceremonial head of
state only;

 Legislative power vested in a unicameral National Assembly

composed of assemblymen elected by the people which would
be composed of the President, the Vice President, members of the
old congress willing to serve, and all the ConCom delegates
voting for the transitory provision and they would enjoy all the
rights and privileges of regular assembly members;

 Emphasize the duties, obligations, and the rights of citizens;

voting for qualified voters was made compulsory; illiterates
granted the right of suffrage and the voting age for the youth
lowered to 18 year-old;
  Terminated the parity right amendment granting the American
citizens and corporations the same rights as Filipinos in owning
property and exploiting the country’s natural resources;

 Under the transitory provision of this Constitution, all decrees,

proclamations, and orders of President Marcos were legalized and
his term was extended.

The 1973 Constitution, ratified after the declaration of martial

law of President Ferdinand Marcos, was supposed to introduce a
parliamentary-style government. Legislative power was vested in a
unicameral National Assembly whose members were elected for six-
year terms. The President was ideally elected as the symbolic and
purely ceremonial head of state chosen from amongst the Members of
the National Assembly for a six-year term and could be re-elected to
an unlimited number of terms. Upon election, the President ceased to
be a Member of the National Assembly. During his term, the President
was not allowed to be a member of a political party or hold any other
office.
 Executive power was meant to be exercised by the
Prime Minister who was also elected from amongst the
sitting member of the National Assembly. The Prime
Minister was to be the head of government and
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. This
constitution was subsequently amended four times.

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.

The 1976 amendments include:

an Interim Batasang Pambansa (IBP) substituting for
the Interim National Assembly
 Preamble
We, the sovereign Filipino people, imploring the
aid of Divine Providence, in order to establish a
government that shall embody our ideals, promote the
general welfare, conserve and develop the patrimony of
our Nation, and secure to ourselves and our posterity the
blessings of democracy under a regime of justice, peace,
liberty, and equality, do ordain and promulgate this
Constitution.
 The 1987 Constitution
Immediately following the 1986 People Power Revolution that
ousted Marcos, President Corazon C. Aquino issued Proclamation No.
3 as a provisional constitution called “Freedom Constitution”. It
adopted certain provisions from the 1973 Constitution while
abolishing others. It granted the President broad powers to
reorganize government and remove officials, as well as mandating
the president to appoint a commission to draft a new, more formal
Constitution.
A constitutional commission to
draft a new constitution was created
after and members of which were all
appointed by President Aquino. The
Chairman of the commission was
Justice Cecilia Munoz- Palma.

Cecilia Munoz Palma hands the draft of the 1987 Constitution

to President Corazon Aquino
 Prior to the Adoption of the 1987 Constitutions, on
October 12, 1986, the draft of the proposed Constitution
was voted upon. Forty-five members voted in its favor
against two. Originally, there were forty-eight members of
the ConCom. However, Lino Brocka never returned to the
Concom sessions after walking out together with four other
commissioners during August 23, 1986 when the role of
multinationals in the economy was discussed. The other
Commissioners who walked out with him were Jose Suarez,
Wilfredo Vvillacorta, Jaime Tadeo, Ponciano Bennagen and
Minda Luz Quesada. Tthese four returned during August
28, 1986 session and continued as members of the
ConCom.

The two who voted against the proposed

Constitutions were Jose Suarez, a lawyer and Jaime Tadeo, a
peasant leader.
 The constitutions was signed by the members of the
ConCom on October 15, 1986 and was presented to
President Aquino on the same date. Thereafter, it was
submitted for ratification of the Filipino people in
plebiscite on February 2, 1987. These ratified it by a vote of
16, 622, 111 (76.30%) against 4, 953, 375 (22.74%). The total
number of votes cast was 21, 785, 216 votes.

President Aquino issued Proclamation No. 58

proclaiming the Constitutions on February 11, 1987. The
supreme court, however , ruled that the date of the
Proclamation was February 2, 1987 when people ratified it,
which was inconformity with Article XVII of the
Constitution which states that the Constitutions shall take
effect immediately upon the ratifications by a majority of
the votes and shall supersedes all previous constitutions.
 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.
Thank You !