THE 1987 CONSTITUTION OF

THE REPUBLIC OF THE

TRANSITORY PROVISIONS

Section 1. The first elections of Members of the Congress under this Constitution shall be held
on the second Monday of May, 1987.

The first local elections shall be held on a date to be determined by the President, which may be
simultaneous with the election of the Members of the Congress. It shall include the election of all
Members of the city or municipal councils in the Metropolitan Manila area.

Section 2. The Senators, Members of the House of Representatives, and the local officials first
elected under this Constitution shall serve until noon of June 30, 1992.

Of the Senators elected in the elections in 1992, the first twelve obtaining the highest number of
votes shall serve for six years and the remaining twelve for three years.

Section 3. All existing laws, decrees, executive orders, proclamations, letters of instructions, and
other executive issuances not inconsistent with this Constitution shall remain operative until
amended, repealed, or revoked.

Section 4. All existing treaties or international agreements which have not been ratified shall not
be renewed or extended without the concurrence of at least two-thirds of all the Members of the
Senate.
Section 5. The six-year term of the incumbent President and Vice-President elected in the
February 7, 1986 election is, for purposes of synchronization of elections, hereby extended to
noon of June 30, 1992.

The first regular elections for the President and Vice-President under this Constitution shall be
held on the second Monday of May, 1992.

Section 6. The incumbent President shall continue to exercise legislative powers until the first
Congress is convened.

Section 7. Until a law is passed, the President may fill by appointment from a list of nominees by
the respective sectors, the seats reserved for sectoral representation in paragraph (2), Section 5 of
Article VI of this Constitution.

Section 8. Until otherwise provided by the Congress, the President may constitute the
Metropolitan Manila Authority to be composed of the heads of all local government units
comprising the Metropolitan Manila area.

Section 9. A sub-province shall continue to exist and operate until it is converted into a regular
province or until its component municipalities are reverted to the mother province.

Section 10. All courts existing at the time of the ratification of this Constitution shall continue to
exercise their jurisdiction, until otherwise provided by law. The provisions of the existing Rules
of Court, judiciary acts, and procedural laws not inconsistent with this Constitution shall remain
operative unless amended or repealed by the Supreme Court or the Congress.

Section 11. The incumbent Members of the Judiciary shall continue in office until they reach the
age of seventy years or become incapacitated to discharge the duties of their office or are
removed for cause.

Section 12. The Supreme Court shall, within one year after the ratification of this Constitution,
adopt a systematic plan to expedite the decision or resolution of cases or matters pending in the
Supreme Court or the lower courts prior to the effectivity of this Constitution. A similar plan
shall be adopted for all special courts and quasi-judicial bodies.

Section 13. The legal effect of the lapse, before the ratification of this Constitution, of the
applicable period for the decision or resolution of the cases or matters submitted for adjudication
by the courts, shall be determined by the Supreme Court as soon as practicable.

Section 14. The provisions of paragraphs (3) and (4), Section 15 of Article VIII of this
Constitution shall apply to cases or matters filed before the ratification of this Constitution, when
the applicable period lapses after such ratification.

Section 15. The incumbent Members of the Civil Service Commission, the Commission on
Elections, and the Commission on Audit shall continue in office for one year after the ratification
of this Constitution, unless they are sooner removed for cause or become incapacitated to
discharge the duties of their office or appointed to a new term thereunder. In no case shall any
Member serve longer than seven years including service before the ratification of this
Constitution.

Section 16. Career civil service employees separated from the service not for cause but as a
result of the reorganization pursuant to Proclamation No. 3 dated March 25, 1986 and the
reorganization following the ratification of this Constitution shall be entitled to appropriate
separation pay and to retirement and other benefits accruing to them under the laws of general
application in force at the time of their separation. In lieu thereof, at the option of the employees,
they may be considered for employment in the Government or in any of its subdivisions,
instrumentalities, or agencies, including government-owned or controlled corporations and their
subsidiaries. This provision also applies to career officers whose resignation, tendered in line
with the existing policy, had been accepted.

Section 17. Until the Congress provides otherwise, the President shall receive an annual salary of
three hundred thousand pesos; the Vice-President, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the
House of Representatives, and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, two hundred forty
thousand pesos each; the Senators, the Members of the House of Representatives, the Associate
Justices of the Supreme Court, and the Chairmen of the Constitutional Commissions, two
hundred four thousand pesos each; and the Members of the Constitutional Commissions, one
hundred eighty thousand pesos each.

Section 18. At the earliest possible time, the Government shall increase the salary scales of the
other officials and employees of the National Government.

Section 19. All properties, records, equipment, buildings, facilities, and other assets of any office
or body abolished or reorganized under Proclamation No. 3 dated March 25, 1986 or this
Constitution shall be transferred to the office or body to which its powers, functions, and
responsibilities substantially pertain.

Section 20. The first Congress shall give priority to the determination of the period for the full
implementation of free public secondary education.

Section 21. The Congress shall provide efficacious procedures and adequate remedies for the
reversion to the State of all lands of the public domain and real rights connected therewith which
were acquired in violation of the Constitution or the public land laws, or through corrupt
practices. No transfer or disposition of such lands or real rights shall be allowed until after the
lapse of one year from the ratification of this Constitution.

Section 22. At the earliest possible time, the Government shall expropriate idle or abandoned
agricultural lands as may be defined by law, for distribution to the beneficiaries of the agrarian
reform program.

Section 23. Advertising entities affected by paragraph (2), Section 11 of Article XVI of this
Constitution shall have five years from its ratification to comply on a graduated and
proportionate basis with the minimum Filipino ownership requirement therein.

Section 24. Private armies and other armed groups not recognized by duly constituted authority
shall be dismantled. All paramilitary forces including Civilian Home Defense Forces not
consistent with the citizen armed force established in this Constitution, shall be dissolved or,
where appropriate, converted into the regular force.

Section 25. After the expiration in 1991 of the Agreement between the Republic of the
Philippines and the United States of America concerning military bases, foreign military bases,
troops, or facilities shall not be allowed in the Philippines except under a treaty duly concurred in
by the Senate and, when the Congress so requires, ratified by a majority of the votes cast by the
people in a national referendum held for that purpose, and recognized as a treaty by the other
contracting State.

Section 26. The authority to issue sequestration or freeze orders under Proclamation No. 3 dated
March 25, 1986 in relation to the recovery of ill-gotten wealth shall remain operative for not
more than eighteen months after the ratification of this Constitution. However, in the national
interest, as certified by the President, the Congress may extend such period.

A sequestration or freeze order shall be issued only upon showing of a prima facie case. The
order and the list of the sequestered or frozen properties shall forthwith be registered with the
proper court. For orders issued before the ratification of this Constitution, the corresponding
judicial action or proceeding shall be filed within six months from its ratification. For those
issued after such ratification, the judicial action or proceeding shall be commenced within six
months from the issuance thereof.

The sequestration or freeze order is deemed automatically lifted if no judicial action or

Section 27. This Constitution shall take effect immediately upon its ratification by a majority of
the votes cast in a plebiscite held for the purpose and shall supersede all previous Constitutions.

The foregoing proposed Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines was approved by the
Constitutional Commission of 1986 on the twelfth day of October, Nineteen hundred and eighty-
six, and accordingly signed on the fifteenth day of October, Nineteen hundred and eighty-six at
the Plenary Hall, National Government Center, Quezon City, by the Commissioners whose
signatures are hereunder affixed.

Adopted: