1899 Malolos Constitution

Emilio Aguinaldo
• He was the mayor of Cavite Viejo or Kawit Cavite (August 1896).
• He is the local leader of the Katipunan.
• Signed an agreement called Pact of Biac-na-Bató with Spanish
governor general (December 1897).
• He made agreements with representatives of the American
consulates and of commodore George Dewey to return to the
Philippines to assist the United States in the war against Spain.
• Aguinaldo returned to the Philippines on May 19, 1898.
• The Filipinos, who declared their independence from Spain on June
12, 1898, proclaimed a provisional republic, of which Aguinaldo was
to become president, and in September, a revolutionary assembly
met and ratified Filipino independence.
History of the Philippine Revolutionary Government

• The Malolos Congress

- July 18, 1898, Emilio Aguinaldo issued a decree asking for the election
of delegates to the revolutionary congress. Five days later, another
decree was being promulgated which declared that Aguinaldo would
appoint representatives of Congress.
- He appointed 50 delegates in all.
- Aguinaldo assembled the revolutionary cogress at Barasoain church in
Malolos, Bulacan on September 15, 1898.
The most important achievements of the
Malolos Congress:
• In September 29, 1898, ratified the declaration of Philippine
independence held at Kawit, Cavite on June 12, 1898.
• Passage of a law that allowed the Philippines to borrow P 20 million
from banks for government expenses.
• Establishment of the Universidad Literatura de Filipinas and other
schools.
• Drafting of the Philippine Constitution.
• Declaring war against the United States on June 12, 1899.
The Malolos Constitution
• A committee headed by Felipe Calderon and aided by Cayetano
Arellano, the constitution was drafted, for the first time, by
representatives of the Filipino people and it is the first republican
constitution in Asia.
• The original title of the first document of the Malolos Constitution is
“The Political Constitution of 1899”
• The constitution has thirty-nine articles divided into fourteen titles,
with eight articles of transitory provision, and a final additional article.
• The final draft of the constitution was presented to Aguinaldo, and
this paved the way to launching the first Philippine Republic.
• It established a democratic, republication government with three
branches: The Executive, the Legislative, and the Judicial branches.
And it called for the Separation of Churches and State.
Highlights of the Malolos/Political
Constitution of 1899
• 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 political
constitution.
• The 27 articles of title IV detail the natural rights and popular
sovereignty of Filipinos, the enumeration of which not imply the
prohibition of any other rights not expressly stated.
• Title III, Article V, also declares that the state recognizes the freedom
and equality of all beliefs, as well as the separation of Church and
State.
• The three form of government, according to Title II, Article 4 is to be
popular, representative, alternative, and responsible, and shall
exercise three distinct powers, namely: legislative, executive, and
judicial.
• The 1899 Malolos Constitution was never enforced due to the
ongoing war. The Philippines was the effectively a territory of the
united states upon the signing of the treaty of Paris between Spain
and the united states, transferring sovereignty of the Philippines on
December 10, 1898.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=IxLLJCyeNdE