LESSON 1: THE PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION fundamental character, and usually bearing different dates (Garner,

DEFINITION OF CONSTITUTION 2002).

 It is a body of fundamental principles or established precedents  Example: English Constitution
according to which a state or other organization is acknowledged to CUMULATIVE OR EVOLVED
be governed.  When it has its origin has mainly in custom, common law principles;
 It establishes the character and basic principles of the government. which are the decisions of the courts.
 It is described as the "highest expression of the law."  It is the product of historical evolution and growth rather than of
CONSTITUTION OF INDIA deliberate and formal enactment.
 It is the longest-written constitution of any sovereign country in the  It has no formal starting point, is not struct off at a specific date, and
world. it changes by slow gradual accretion rather than by formal legal
 It contains 444 articles in 22 parts, 12 schedules and 118 process.
amendments, with 146, 585 words in its English-language version. CONVENTIONAL OR ENACTED
CONSTITUTION OF MONACO  It is one, which has been formulated usually by constitutional
It is the shortest written constitution, containing 10 chapters with 97 assembly or promulgated by the King. Unlike CUMULATIVE this is
articles, and a total of 3,814 words. struck-off at a definite time and place.
PURPOSES OF A CONSTITUTION: RIGID
1. It prescribes the framework of the system or the kind of government  It is one that can be amended only by a formal and usual difficult
that will exist in the state. process.
2. It creates the different departments and specifies their respective  Ex. Philippines and United States
functions and duties FLEXIBLE
3. It is the source of sovereign powers of a government by establishing  It is one that can be altered by the same body that makes ordinary
the fixed, first or basic principle on which the government is law of the state.
founded.  Ex. Great Britain, Hungary, Italy and Spain.
4. It promotes public welfare, which involves the safety, prosperity, ESSENTIAL QUALITIES OF A GOOD WRITTEN CONSTITUTION:
health, and happiness of the people. 1. Broad
CLASSIFICATION OF A CONSTITUTION 2. Brief
1. Written and unwritten 3. Definite
2. Cumulative or evolved and Conventional or enacted PARTS OF THE PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION
3. Rigid and flexible 1. Constitution of Government
WRITTEN CONSTITUTION 2. Constitution of Liberty
 One in which most of its provisions are embodied in a single formal 3. Constitution of Sovereignty
written instruments or instruments. LESSON 2: THE METAMORPHOSIS OF THE PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION
 Also a work of conscious art and the result of a deliberate effort to THE 1897 CONSTITUTION OF BIΑΚ-ΝΑ-ΒΑΤΟ
lay down a body of fundamental principles  Emilio Aguinaldo established his head quarters in Biak na Bato in San
 One of its examples is the UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION. Miguel de Mayumo, Bulacan.
UNWRITTEN CONSTITUTION  It was based on Cuba's Constitution, drafted by Filipinos Felix Ferrer
 It is one which is entirely the product of political evolution, and Isabelo Artacho.
consisting largely of a mass of customs, usages and judicial decisions  It was signed on November 1, 1827.
together with a smaller body of statutory enactment of a THE CONSTITUTION PROVIDED A SUPREME COUNCIL
PRESIDENT: EMILIO AGUINALDO
VICE PRESIDENT: MARIANO TRIAS