Malolos Constitution 1899

1899: MALOLOS
CONSTITUTION
Malolos Congress 1898
After signing of the truce, the Filipino revolutionary leaders accepted a payment from Spain
and went to exile in Hong Kong.
• May 1, 1898 - upon the defeat of the Spanish to the Americans in the Battle of Manila Bay,
the United States Navy transported Aguinaldo back to the Philippines.
• June 12, 1898 - the newly reformed Philippine revolutionary forces reverted to the
control of Aguinaldo, and the Philippine Declaration of Independence was issued, together
with several decrease that formed the First Philippine Republic.
• September 17, 1898 - the Malolos Congress was elected, which neglected a commission
to draw up a draft constitution, which was composed of WEALTHY AND EDUCATED MEN.
• November 29, 1898 – the document they came up with, approved by the Congress, and
promulgated by Aguinaldo on January 21, 1899, was titled “The Political Constitution of 1899”
and written in Spanish.
• The constitution has 39 articles
divided into 14 titles,
with 8 articles of transitory provisions,
and a final additional article.
• The document was patterned after the Spanish Constitution of 1812, with influences from the
charters of Belgium, Mexico, Brazil, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Guatemala, and the French
Constitution of 1793.
• According to Felipe Calderon, main author of the constitution, these countries were studied
because they shared similar: social, political, ethnological, governance conditions with the
Philippines.
• Prior constitutional projects in the Philippines also influenced the Malolos Constitution,
namely, the Kartilya and the Sanggunian-Hukuman, the charter of laws and morals of the
Katipunan written by Emilio Jacinto in 1896;
• the Biak-na-Bato Constitution of 1897 planned by Isabelo Artacho; Mabini’s Constitutional
Program of the Philippine Republic of 1898; the provisional constitution of Mariano Ponce in
1898 that followed the Spanish constitutions; and the autonomy projects of Paterno in 1898
• General Aguinaldo (seated, center) and
ten (10) of the delegates to the first
assembly that passed the Constitution, in
the Barasoain Church, Malolos.
• Taken December 8, 1929

We, the Representatives of the Filipino
PRIMARY SOURCE: People, lawfully convened, in order to establish
PREAMBLE OF THE justice, provide for common defense, promote
the general welfare and insure the benefits of
POLITICAL liberty, imploring the aid of the Sovereign
CONSTITUTION OF Legislator of the Universe for the attainment of
1899 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 does 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 features of the Spanish government in the Philippines, where the friars were dominant
agents of the state.
• The form of government, according to Title II, Article 4 ithree distinct powers – legislative,
executive, and judicial.
• Executive power was vested in the PRESIDENT, and elected by a constituent assembly of the
Assembly of Representatives and special representatives.
• The legislative power was vested in A UNICAMERAL BODY called the Assembly of
Representatives, members of which are elected for terms of four years.
• Secretaries of the government were given seats in the assembly, which meet annually for a
period of at least three months.
• Bills could be introduced either by the president or by a member of the assembly.
The 1899 Malolos Constitution was never enforced due to the
ongoing WAR. The Philippines was 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.
The church where
the Constitution
was ratified.
Barasoain Church
Malolos, Bulacan

Malolos Constitution 1899

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Malolos Constitution 1899

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1899: MALOLOS

• Taken December 8, 1929

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