The constitution is defined as a set of fundamental
principles or established precedents according to
which a state or other organization is governed, thus,
the word itself means to be a part of a whole , the
coming together of distinct entities into one group,
with the same principles and ideals. These principles
define the nature and extent of government.
The Constitution of the Philippines, the supreme law
of the Republic of the Philippines, has been an effect
since 1987.
3 Constitutions that effectively
governed the country:
• The 1936 Commonwealth
Constitution
• The 1973 Constitution
• The 1986 Freedom Constitution
1897:
CONSTITUTION OF THE
BIAK-NA-BATO
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE
BIAK-NA-BATO
Was the provisionary Constitution of
the Philippine Republic during the
Philippines Revolution.
Was promulgated by the Philippine
Revolutionary Government on
November 1, 1897
The constitution, borrowed from
Cuba was written by Isabelo
Artacho and Felix Ferrer in
Spanish, and later on translated
into Tagalog.
THE ORGANS OF THE
GOVERNMENT UNDER THE
CONSTITUTION:
1. The Supreme Council
2. Consejo Supremo de Garcia Y
Justicia (Supreme Council of
Grace and Justice)
3. Asemblea de Representantes
(Assembly of Representatives)
The Constitution of Biak-na-Bato
was never fully implemented,
since a truce, the Pact of Biak-
na-Bato, was signed between the
Spanish and the Philippine
Revolutionary Army.
PRIMARY SOURCE:
Preamble of the Biak-na-Bato
Constitution
The separation of the Philippines from the Spanish
monarchy and their formation into an independent
state with its own government called the Philippine
Republic has been the end sought by the Revolution
in the existing war, begun on the 24th of August, 1896;
and, therefore, in its name and by the power
delegated by the Filipino people, interpreting faithfully
their desires and ambitions, we the representatives of
the Revolution, in a meeting at Biak-na-Bato,
N0vember 1, 1897, unanimously adopted the
following articles for the constitution of the state.
1899:
MALOLOS
CONSTITUTION
1899: MALOLOS CONSTITUTION
After the signing of the truce,
the Filipino revolutionary leaders
accepted a payment from Spain
and went to exile in Hong Kong.
MAY 1, 1898
The defeat of the Spanish to the
Americans in the battle of Manila
Bay.
Aguinaldo was transported back
in the Philippines by the United
States Navy.
JUNE 12, 1898
The Philippine Declaration of
Independence was issued
together with several decrees that
formed the First Philippine
Republic
SEPTEMBER 17, 1898
The Malolos Congress was
elected, which selected 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 was approved by the
Congress .
JANUARY 21, 1899
The document was promulgated
by Aguinaldo and was titled ‘The
Political Constitution of 1899’ and
written in Spanish.
The Constitution has 39 articles
divided into 14 titles, with eight
articles of transitory provisions, and a
final additional article.
The document was patterned after
the Spanish Constitution of 1812,
which influences from the charters of
Belguim, Mexico, Brazil, Nicaragua,
Costa Rica, and Guatemala, and the
French Constitution of 1793.
FELIPE CALDERON
Main author of the constitution.
According to him, these countries
were studied because they shared
similar social, political, ethnological,
and 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
Consstitution 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.
PRIMARY SOURCE:
PREAMBLE OF THE POLITICAL
CONSTITUTION OF 1899
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 constitution.
As a direct challenge to colonial
authorities of the Spanish empire,
the sovereignty was retroverted to
the people, a legal principle
underlying the Philippine Revolution.
The 27 articles of Title IV detail the
natural rights and popular sovereignty of
the 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.
According to Title II, Article 4, the
form of government is to be popular,
representative, alternative, and
responsible, and shall exercise 3
distinct powers:
1. Legislative
2. Executive
3. Judicial
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 10 December 1898.
1935:
THE COMMONWEALTH
CONSTITUTION
It is worth mentioning that after
the Treaty of Paris, the Philippines
was subject to the power of the
United States of America,
effectively the new colonizers of
the country. From 1898 to 1901,
the Philippines would be placed
under a military government until a
civil government would be put into
place.
TWO ACTS OF THE UNITED STATES
CONGRESS WERE PASSED THAT
MAY BE CONSIDERED TO HAVE
QUALITIES OF
CONSTITUTIONALITY:
1. Philippine Organic Act of 1902
2. Philippine Autonomy Act of 1916
1932
The efforts of the Filipino Independence
mission led by Sergio Osmenia and Manuel
Roxas, the United States 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 consequently, rejected by the
Philippine Senate.
1934
Another law, the Tydings-McDuffie Act,
also known as the Philippine Independence
Act, was passed by the United States
Congress that provided authority and
defined mechanism for the establishment of
a formal constitution by a constitutional
convention. The members of the
convention were elected and held their first
meeting on 30 July 1934, with Claro M.
Recto unanimously elected as President.
The Constitution was crafted to
meet the approval of the United
States government, and to ensure
that the United States would live
up to its promise to grant
independence to the Philippines.
PRIMARY SOURCE:
PREAMBLE OF THE 1935
COMMONWEALTH
The Filipino people, imploring the aid of Divine
Providence, in order to establish a government
that shall embody their ideals, conserve and
develop the patrimony of the nation, promote the
general welfare, and secure to themselves and
their posterity the blessing of independence
under a regime of justice, liberty, and democracy,
do ordain and promulgate this constitution.
The constitution created the Commonwealth of the
Philippines, an administrative body that governed the
Philippines from 1935 to 1946. It is transitional
administration to prepare the country toward its full
achievement of independence. It originally provided
for a unicameral National assembly with a president
and vice president elected to a six-year term without
re-election.
It was amended in 1940 to have a bicameral
Congress composed of Senate and a House of
Representatives, as well as the creation of an
independent electoral commission, and limited the
term of office of the president and vice president to
four years, with one re-election.
Rights to suffrage were originally afforded to
male citizens of the Philippines who are
twenty-one years of age or over and are able
to read and write; this was later on extended
to women within two years after the adoption
of the constitution.
The dominant influence in the constitution
was American, it also bears traces of the
Malolos Constitution , the German, Spanish,
and Mexican constitutions, constitutions of
several South American countries, and the
unwritten English Constitution.
The draft of the constitution was approved by
the constitutional convention on 8 February
1935, and ratified by then U.S President
Franklin B. Roosevelt on 25 March 1935.
Elections were held in September 1935 and
Manuel L. Quezon was elected President of
the Commonwealth.
The Commonwealth was briefly interrupted
by the events of the World War II, with the
Japanese occupying the Philippines.
Afterward, upon liberation, the Philippines
was declared and independent republic on 4
July 1946.
