SOCIAL, POLITICAL,

ECONOMIC, AND
CULTURAL ISSUES IN
PHILIPPINE HISTORY
Lesson 4
 Evolution of the
Philippine Constitution
Constitution
✓ A set of fundamental rules that determine how a
country or state is run.
✓ A set of fundamental principles of established
precedents according to which a state or other
organization is governed.
✓ The word itself means to be part of a whole, the
coming together of distinct entities into one
group, with the same principles and ideals.
The Constitution of the
Philippines, the supreme law of
the Republic of the Philippines, has
been in effect since 1987.

✓ 1935 Commonwealth Constitution

✓ 1973 Constitution
✓ 1986 Freedom Constitution
There were earlier constitutions developed by
Filipinos in the struggle to break free from the
colonial yoke.

✓ 1897 Constitution of Biak-na-Bato

✓ 1899 Malolos Constitution
✓ 1935 Commonwealth Constitution
✓ 1973 Constitutional Authoritarianism
✓ 1987 Constitution After Martial Law
Constitution of
Biak-na-Bato
1897
The Biak-na-Bato Constitution provided
for the establishment of a Supreme council
that would serve as the highest governing
body of the Republic.

It also outlined certain basic human rights,

such as freedom of religion, freedom of the
press, and the right to education.
The peace agreement was known
as the Pact of Biyak-na-Bato
which was signed by Pedro
Paterno representing the
revolutionists and Governor-
General Fernando Primo de
Rivera, the Spanish
government.
Pedro Paterno became the
mediator between the Filipinos
and the Spaniards, through
Governor-General Fernando
Primo de Rivera. He wanted to
put an end to this dragging and
destructive conflict; he negotiated
with Aguinaldo and Primo de
Rivera on condition that he
thought that would be satisfactory
and acceptable to both parties.
The constitution, borrowed from Cuba, was written
by Isabelo Artacho and Felix Ferrer in Spanish, later
on, translated into Tagalog.

The organs of the government under the

Constitution: The Supreme Council, The
Consejo Supremo de Gracia Y Justicia
(Supreme Council of Grace and Justice), and The
Asamblea de Representates (Assembly of
Representatives).
 The Supreme Council
This were vested with the power of the Republic;
headed by the president and four department
secretaries-interior, foreign affairs, treasury, and war.
 The Supreme Council of Grace and Justice
They were given authority to make decisions and
affirm or disprove the sentences rendered by other
courts and to dictate rules for the administration of
justice.
 The Assembly of Representatives
They were to be convened after the revolution to
create a new Constitution and to elect a new Council
of Government and Representatives of the people.
It may be inferred that the failure of the Pact
was that certain provisions were not faithfully
followed by both parties. The reforms, which
were the primary reasons for the continuous
struggle of the rebels, had not been granted.
 PRIMARY SOURCE:
Preamble of the Biak-na-Bato Constitution
 Malolos
Constitution
1899
The newly reformed Philippine revolutionary forces
reverted to the control of Aguinaldo, and the
Philippine Declaration of Independence was issued
on June 12, 1898.

The Malolos Congress was elected, which selected a

commission to draw up a draft constitution on
September 17, 1898, which was composed of wealth
and educated men.
Pedro Paterno was elected president of the Congress.
It was attended by army officers, troopers in gala
uniforms, dignitaries, foreign and local
correspondents and prominent members of the
community to bear witness to the historic event.

The other officers were Benito Legarda (Vice

President), Gregorio Araneta (First Secretary), and
Pablo Ocampo (Second Secretary).
The document they came up with, approved by the
Congress on November 29, 1898, and promulgated
by Aguinaldo on January 21, 1899. It was titled “The
Political Constitution of 1899” and was written in
Spanish.

The most significant act of the Congress was the

ratification on September 29, 1898 of the Philippine
Independence proclaimed at Kawit on June 12.
The Committee to draft the Constitution was
constituted and headed by Felipe G. Calderon and
other members who belong to the Filipino
intelligentia who possessed intellectual and moral
integrity.
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.
The Constitution declared
that the form of government
shall exercise three distinct
powers:

✓ Executive
✓ Legislative
✓ Judicial
According to Felipe Calderon, main author of the
constitution, these countries were studied because
they shared similar social, political, ethnological, and
governance conditions with the Philippines.

The Malolos Constitution was approved by a

majority vote of the members of Congress and then
forwarded to President Aguinaldo for approval on
November 29, 1898.
The Constitution is the first document ever produced
by the people’s representatives, anchored on sound
democratic philosophy and traditions.

It also provided an article on the Bill of Rights that

enumerated the individual rights and privileges of
the citizen.
The 1899 Malolos Constitution was the symbol of
unity, freedom, equality, justice and the customs and
traditions that reflect the character of the Filipino
people.

However, it was never enforced due to the ongoing

war. The Philippines was effectively a territory of the
US upon the signing of the Treaty of Paris between
Spain and the US.
 PRIMARY SOURCE:
Preamble of the Malolos Constitution
Commonwealth
Constitution
1935
Two acts of the United States Congress were
passed that may be considered to have
qualities of constitutionality:

✓ Philippine Organic Act of 1902

✓ Philippine Autonomy Act of 1916 (Jones
Law)
 Philippine Organic Act of 1902

The United States Congress enacted the

Philippine Organic Act, authored by Rep. Henry
Allen Cooper (R-Wisconsin).
The first organic law for the Philippine Islands
that provided for the creation of a popularly
elected Philippine Assembly.
 Philippine Organic Act of 1902

The law established the Insular Government of the

Philippine Islands and served as its basic law. It also
established a bicameral legislature, composed of the
Philippine Commission, which serves as the upper
house, and the Philippine Assembly, a lower house
composed of elected Filipino members. It marked the
beginning of a civilian American government with
Filipino participation in the country.
 Philippine Autonomy Act of 1916
Jones Law

The first American formal and official

commitment to grant independence to the
Philippines.
This became a virtual constitutional compact
between the American and the Filipino people.
 Philippine Autonomy Act of 1916
Jones Law

Modified the structure of the Philippine

government through the removal of the Philippine
Commission, replacing it with a Senate that served
as the upper house and its members elected by the
Filipino voters.
 Philippine Autonomy Act of 1916
Jones Law
Jones Law recognized the following Bill of Rights:

▪ Right to due process of law

▪ Right to equal protection of the laws
▪ Right to equal unreasonable searches and seizures
▪ Right against arrest without warrant
▪ Right to eminent domain
▪ Right of the accused to be heard
 Philippine Autonomy Act of 1916
Jones Law
Jones Law recognized the following Bill of Rights:

▪ Right to counsel
▪ Right against double jeopardy
▪ Right against self-incrimination
▪ Right to bail
▪ Right against impairment of obligation of contracts
▪ Right to petition for the writ of habeas corpus
 Philippine Autonomy Act of 1916
Jones Law
Jones Law recognized the following Bill of Rights:

▪ Right against ex post facto laws

▪ Right against bill of attainder
▪ Right against the law of primogeniture
▪ Right against slavery
▪ Right to freedom of speech
▪ Right to freedom of religion
In 1932, with the efforts of the
Filipino independence mission
led by Sergio Osmeña and
Manuel Roxas, the US
Congress passed the Hare-
Hawes-Cutting Act with the
promise of granting Filipinos’
independence. The bill was
opposed by then Senate
President Manuel L. Quezon
and thus, rejected by the
Philippine senate.
 The Hare-Hawes Cutting Act

The bill called for the immediate establishment of

a Filipino Constitutional Convention, subject to
the approval of the President of the US, to
formulate a Constitution for the Commonwealth.
This provided for a 10-year transition period, at the
end of which the United States would grant and
recognize the independence of the Philippines.
 The Hare-Hawes Cutting Act

The bill was passed by Congress in December 1932,

vetoed by President Herbert Hoover, and repassed
over the presidential veto on January 17, 1933;
and thus, the H-H-C Bill became a law.
On October 17, 1932, the Philippine Legislature,
controlled by Senate President Manuel Quezon,
rejected the H-H-C Law.
 The Philippine Independence Act
Tydings-McDuffie Law

Quezon went to the United States in early

December 1933 and following a series of
conferences with President Franklin D. Roosevelt
and various congressional leaders in Washington,
he was able to win the members of the US Congress
to his side.
 The Philippine Independence Act
Tydings-McDuffie Law

A new independence act sponsored by Senator

Millard E. Tydings and Representative John
McDuffie was passed into law and signed by
President Roosevelt on March 24, 1934.
It was a revised copy of the rejected H-H-C Law of
1933.
 The Philippine Independence Act
Tydings-McDuffie Law

With the passage of this law and its subsequent

ratification by the Philippine Legislature, Manuel
Quezon won a triumphant victory over his
opponents and virtually retained supreme
leadership over the Nacionalista Party and the
government.
 Manuel L. Quezon

The first Filipino to head a

government of the entire
Philippines and is
considered the second
president of the
Philippines after Emilio
Aguinaldo (1899–1901).
 Commonwealth Act No. 184

Established the Institute of National Language.

The Institute conducted studies on the Philippine
language and dialects all over the archipelago.
It is recommended to the President that the
Tagalog language be used as the basis of
National Language of the Philippines.
 Commonwealth Act No. 570

On June 7, 1940, the President approved this act

declaring the National Language (Tagalog) one
of the official languages in the Philippines.
 PRIMARY SOURCE:
Preamble of the Commonwealth Constitution
 Philippine
Constitution
1973
 Ferdinand E. Marcos

He failed to get his party’s

(Liberal) nomination for
president; he then ran as the
Nationalist Party candidate
for president against
Diosdado Macapagal.
 Ferdinand E. Marcos

He was inaugurated as
president on December 30,
1965.
In 1967, the Philippine
Congress passed a resolution
calling for a constitutional
convention to change the 1935
Constitution.
The convention began
formally on June 1, 1971 with
former President Carlos
Garcia being elected as
convention president.
Unfortunately, he died, and
was succeeded by another
former president, Diosdado
Macapagal.
Prelude to the Declaration of Martial Law
 Suspension of the writ of
Habeas Corpus

President Marcos issued Proclamation

No. 880, suspending the privilege of
the writ of habeas corpus “in order to
maintain peace and order, secure the
safety of the people, and preserve the
authority of the State.”
Martial Law was declared
(September 21, 1972) by virtue of
Proclamation No. 1081. Marcos
cited a growing communist insurgency
as reason for the Martial Law. Some
delegates of the ongoing constitutional
convention were jailed, and others
went into hiding or were voluntary
exiled.
 “to save the Republic and
reform our society”

“We will eliminate the threat of a

violent overthrow of our Republic
and at the same time, we must now
reform the social, economic, and
political institutions in our
country”
Immediately upon signing the
proclamation, thousands of anti-Marcos
politicians, student activists, columnists,
newspaper men who were critical to his
administration, were arrested and herded
into military stockades.
Senator Benigno Senator Jose
Aquino Diokno
With Marcos as dictator, the
direction of the convention turned,
with accounts that the president
himself dictated some provisions of
the constitutions, manipulating the
document to be able to hold on to
power for as long as he could.
On November 29, 1972, the convention approved its
proposed constitution (1973 Constitution or Authoritarian
Constitution).

President Marcos issued Presidential Decree No. 73 setting

the date of the plebiscite to ratify or reject the proposed
constitution on November 30, 1973, but it was postponed.
Instead, Citizen Assemblies were held.

Marcos announced the end of martial law in January 17,

1981 (Proclamation No. 2045). He won the election in
June 1981.
The reforms he conceived and instituted for his
New Society was anchored on seven areas with the
acronym PLEDGES:

P – Peace and Order

L – Land Reform
E – Economic Development
D – Development of Moral Values
G – Government Reforms
E – Educational Reforms
S – Social Services
✓ They allow the continuation of Martial
Law.
✓ The president become the Prime Minister
and continue to exercise legislative
powers.
✓ The retirement age of members of the
judiciary was extended to 70 years.
 PRIMARY SOURCE:
Preamble of the 1973 Constitution
Constitution After
Martial Law
1987
The assassination of former
Senator Benigno S. Aquino Sr.,
the leading opposition leader and
a staunch critic of the Marcos
government returned from a
three-year exile in the United
States.

The government’s claim that he

was the victim of a lone
communist gunman Rolando
Galman was unconvincing.
 Corazon C. Aquino

Installed as the new Philippine

president on February 25, 1986

She first lost the election to

Marcos, but people believed
Marcos rigged the elections, and
due to his mass corruption, he
lost the support of the US and
the people.
On February 25, 1986, both
Aquino and Marcos were
inaugurated as President by
their respective supporters.
Soon, Defense Minister Juan
Ponce Enrile (the architect of
Marcos’ martial law), and Lieut.
General Fidel Ramos, the deputy
chief of the armed forces, broke
away from the government
claiming that Aquino was the
true winner.
President Cory’s government has three options
regarding the constitution:

✓ Revert to the 1935 Constitution

✓ Retain the 1973 Constitution and be granted
the power to make reforms
✓ Start anew and break from the “vestiges of a
disgraced dictatorship”
President Aquino saw the need for reorganizing
the government upon her assumption in office.

In March 1986, she proclaimed a transitional

constitution to last for a year while a
Constitutional Commission drafted a permanent
constitution. This is called the Freedom
Constitution.
A constitutional convention was created and they
drew up a permanent constitution, largely restoring
the set-up abolished by Marcos in 1972, but with new
ways to keep the president in check.

The Constitution begins with a preamble and 18 self-

contained articles. It established the Philippines as a
“democratic republican State” where “sovereignty
resides in the people and all government authority
emanates from them”.
It contains 18 articles, 306 sections and more than
20,000 words.

It includes safeguards that will prevent a new

dictatorship. For example, certain checks on the
power of the President to declare Martial Law have
been included.

The constitution recognized people power.

 It allocates
governmental
powers among the
executive, legislative,
and judicial branches
of the government.
The Executive branch is
headed by the president and his
cabinet. The president is the
head of the state and the chief
executive, but this power is
limited by significant checks
from the two other co-equal
branches, especially during
times of emergency.
In case of national emergency,
the president may still declare
martial law, but no longer than
a period of 60 days.

The president and the vice

president are elected at large by
a direct vote, serving a single 6-
year term.
The Legislative power resides
in a Congress divided into two
Houses: the Senate (upper
house) and the House of
Representatives (lower house).
The 24 senators are elected at
large by popular vote and can
serve no more than two
consecutive 6-year terms.
The House is composed of
district representatives
representing a particular
geographic area and makes up
around 80% of the total number
of representatives. There are
253 legislative districts in the
Philippines that elect their
representatives to serve 3-year
terms.
The 1987 Constitution created
a party-list system to provide
spaces for the participation of
under-represented community
sectors or groups.

Part-list representatives may

fill up not more than 20% of
the seats in the House.
The Philippine Court system is
vested with the power of the
judiciary and is composed of a
Supreme Court and lower
courts as created by law.

The Supreme Court is a 15-

member court appointed by the
president without the need to be
confirmed by Congress.
The Supreme Court
Justices may hear, on appeal,
any cases dealing with the
constitutionality of any law,
treaty, or decree of the
government, cases where
questions of jurisdiction or
judicial error are concerned, or
cases where the penalty is
sufficiently grave.
The Constitution also
established three independent
Constitutional Commissions,
namely:

✓ Civil Service Commission

✓ Commission on Elections
✓ Commission on Audit
To further promote the
ethical and lawful conduct of
the government, the Office
of the Ombudsman was
created to investigate
complaints that pertain to
public corruption, unlawful
behavior of public officials,
and other public
misconduct.
Only the House of
Representatives can
initiate the impeachment of
the president, members of
the Supreme Court, and
other constitutionally
protected public officials
such as the Ombudsman.
The Senate will then try the
impeachment case.
 PRIMARY SOURCE:
Preamble of the 1987 Constitution