History of Philippine Constitution PDF

History of Philippine Constitution What is a constitution? A constitution is a set of rules that guides our country, state or other political organization. This is like a rulebook for the government and all rules stated in this rulebook must be followed by the government. This document also create...

History of Philippine Constitution What is a constitution? A constitution is a set of rules that guides our country, state or other political organization. This is like a rulebook for the government and all rules stated in this rulebook must be followed by the government. This document also creates the branches, the powers and responsibilities of the government, It also contains the rights of the people. It is illegal for the government to violate these rights if they do they will be punished by the law. The Constitution is also often known as the Supreme Law of the Land. This means that it is the highest law in the country, and the government cannot pass a law which goes against the Constitution. All laws must comply with the principles set out in a constitution. Remember: No one, not even the president can go against the Constitution. Fun fact: Every february is our Constitution day. For every change in the Constitution, the president will release a proclamation to commemorate the date when the new Charter will take effect. This day is called the Constitution day. The latest constitution of the Philippines was ratified on February 2, 1987. This is the reason why we celebrate our Constitution day every second of February. Why is it important for us to have a constitution? 1. First, it's to maintain law and order. Imagine our country without a constitution, it will be in chaos. We Filipinos will have the night of our rights, an anarchy as possible. When you say anarchy, it's a state of society without authorities or a governing body. So, without someone who will lead us, our society will be in total confusion. 2. Second, they impose rules and regulations. The Constitution serves as a guide to the government officials and managing the government it tells them the things that they should do, and the things that they shouldn't do. 3. Third, it protects the rights and freedoms of the citizen. 4. Fourth, it limits the powers of the government. Without the Constitution greedy officials will take advantage and the government will function according to its will, so it is a must for us to have a constitution.  Evolution of the Philippine Constitution 1899 Malolos Constitution down to the latest constitution the 1987 Philippine Constitution among these six constitutions only three effectively governed the country. These are the 1935 Constitution, the 1973 Constitution and the 1987 Philippine Constitution. Malolos Constitution The Philippines was under Spanish rule for 333 years. Most Filipinos thought that it was a hopeless case until the Spanish Filipino agreement came; this agreement was called the pact of biak-na-bato. The Spanish government agreed to grant self-rule to the Philippines in three years, if Aguinaldo would go into exile and surrender his arms. Aguinaldo agreed to this idea and went to Hong kong. However, there is a tiny problem with this agreement, the Filipinos and the Spaniards did not trust each other so they had trust issues. The Spaniards did not pay the agreed amount, likewise the Filipinos did not surrender their arms. As a result, the agreement was a complete failure. This forced Aguinaldo to go back to the Philippines and declare the Philippine independence from Spain on June 12, 1898 at Kawit, Cavite. The Filipinos were happy with the idea of being independent, until the United States made a secret agreement called the Treaty of Paris. The US wanted the Philippines as a colony. so Spain sold the Philippines to the United States. The Filipinos were not happy with the idea of being colonized, this forced Aguinaldo to issue a decree forming a Malolos Congress. A committee who was assigned to make the constitution for the first Philippine Republic, three days after the first Philippine Republic was established. The Malolos Constitution is also called the 1899 Constitution or the first constitution for the first Philippine Republic and the first republican constitution in Asia. Salient features of the 1899 Constitution First is a popular representative government Second a unicameral legislature (only one legislator called the assembly, the assembly had full control over the executive power, the president was elected by the assembly) Third there was already a separation of the church and state Fourth there was already a bill of rights and Last it already had the compulsory and free Basic Education  Note: It was not fully implemented because of the eruption of the Philippine US war, in which the Philippines lost the battle and the speed for American Colonization in the Philippines After the Spanish rule the Americans came to the Philippines. The Filipinos were again colonized for the second time. During the American period, an American inspired Constitution was made, this was the 1935 Constitution, which provided the legal basis of the Commonwealth government for the transition government before granting the Philippine Independence. Salient features of the 1935 Constitution First it had a bicameral legislature ( there are two legislators composed of a Senate and a House of Representative ) Second the president was elected to a four-year term together with the vice president without to re election Third it introduced the rights of suffrage or the right to vote by male citizens of the Philippines who were 21 years of age or over under able to read and write luckily this right was extended to women as well The 1935 Constitution was not the first constitution but it was the first one to be fully implemented. However, the implementation was interrupted because of the Japanese occupation in the Philippines. During the American occupation and the Philippines World War two you broke out, the Japanese invaded the Philippines. for the third time we were colonized again. After the Americans surrendered, the Japanese Republic was established and a new constitution was ratified in 1934 by the Filipino collaborators who were called Kapisanan ng Paglilingkod ng Bagong Pilipinas popularly known as the Cali Bobby. This was now the 1943 Constitution or the constitution of the Japanese sponsored Second Republic of the Philippines. Salient features of the 1943 Constitution first the 1943 Constitution provided for strong executive powers second the legislature was a unicameral National Assembly and only anti-us can run for election Now there was also a problem with this constitution: it was recognized as legitimate and binding only in the Japanese controlled areas of the Philippines, and was completely ignored by the United States government and the Philippine government and exile. This was just a short-lived constitution because the Americans came back and fed us from the Japanese and the 1935 Constitution was restored. After a few years, the Americans finally gave us our independence on July 4, 1946. vice presidents ruled the Philippines using the 1935 Constitution, until President Marcos came into the picture. Ferdinand Marcos was first elected in 1965 and was re-elected in 1969. During his time there was a plan to make a new constitution. Delegates were elected to a Constitutional Convention which began to meet in 1971. In 1972, just before the end of Marcos second term, he declared martial law because of the growing communists, but according to many critics and victims of martial law, he did this to influence the ongoing Constitutional Convention. As a result, the Constitutional Convention wrote the constitution in line with what President Marcos wanted. This was the 1973 Constitution. Salient features of the 1973 Constitution first it established for the first time in Philippine history a parliamentary government with a prime minister and the president Second legislative powers was vested in a unicameral National Assembly elected by the people and Third it legalized all the decrees of proclamation and orders of the President There were various amendments in the 1973 Constitution but the most controversial was the 1976 amendment. Amendments in the 1976 Constitution first the National Assembly was replaced by the interim Batasang Pambansa second the president will also become a prime minister and continue to exercise legislative powers until martial law was lifted Now, Marcos thought that everything was in place until one of his enemies came back to the Philippines. This was Benigno Ninoy Aquino, unfortunately for Ninoy it was not a happy ending for him he was assassinated and this led to a widespread outrage and forced Marcos to hold the snap election, the results were controversial that it forced the Filipino people to a historic uprising known as the EDSA People Power One, where Marcos and his family went into exile and Cory Aquino became the president. Immediately after Cory Aquino became the president he abolished the 1973 constitution and replaced it with the 1986 constitution. The 1986 constitution is also known as the Freedom Constitution. Salient features in the 1986 Freedom Constitution First it was a verbatim copy of the 1973 Constitution minus the provision on Batasang Pambansa because it was completely abolished Second the country was in chaos after Marcos left so Aquino vested in herself both executive and legislative powers, the same powers that President Marcos exercised under the 1973 Constitution Third it was just a transitional Constitution that lasted for a year and the Commission was created to draft a new constitution which was the 1987 Philippine Constitution sometimes known as an anti-Marcos Constitution The 1987 Philippine Constitution revolves around four themes: 1. first up holding national sovereignty 2. second democratic governments and the prevention of another dictatorship 3. third respect for human rights and civil liberties and 4. fourth the promotion of social justice It's not a perfect document but it is the country's highest law, binding all the citizens of the Philippines. The Constitution provided for three governmental powers, namely executive, legislative and the judicial branch. These three work like a basketball game. In a basketball beginning there are players, coaches and of course a referee. The executive is like a coach who leads the team, the legislative branch since it is divided into two houses they act as players of the game trying to score points against each other, and the judicial branch is much like the referee of the game that helps settle disputes. They are there to clarify the rules and make sure that each side is acting fairly. The basketball game wouldn't be complete without the viewers, this is the same with the government, it would not operate without the people. The powers of these three branches are separated from one another, this is what we call separation of powers. It also has a system of checks and imbalances. In this system each branch has the power to check to sustain us to stop the actions by the other projects. This is to prevent any one of them from becoming too powerful.