"The Filipino people, imploring the aid of Divine Providence and desiring to lead a free national existence, do hereby proclaim their independence, and in order to establish a government that shall promote the general welfare, conserve and develop the patrimony of the Nation, and contribute to the creation of a world order based on peace, liberty, and moral justice, do ordain this Constitution.". Immediately following the 1986 People Power Revolution that ousted Marcos, President Corazon C. Aquino issued Proclamation No. The Convention compose of 48 members appointed by the President. The judiciary branch comprises the Supreme Court and the lower courts. The President is to be elected to a four-year term, together with the Vice-President, with one re-election; the right of suffrage for male citizens of the Philippines who are twenty-one years of age or over and are able to read and write were protected; this protection, later on, extended to the right of suffrage for women two years after the adoption of the constitution. The subject of science and technology was given special attention through the formulation of several provisions on development and research incentives. It also mandates a procedure for overseas and disabled and illiterate Filipinos to vote. Possibly the most controversial issue was removing the presidential term limit so that Ferdinand E. Marcos could seek re-election for a third term, which many felt was the true reason for which the convention was called. They saw through a potential change regarding the protection of the people's interests in the constitutional draft. 2��\���gڱ���llz���0=���8�Ny���&�~9Ne. During his term, the President was not allowed to be a member of a political party or hold any other office. Philippine Government And Constitution By THE 1987 CONSTITUTION. Though also not a constitution itself, the Tydings–McDuffie Act of 1934 provided for autonomy and defined mechanisms for the establishment of a formal constitution via a constitutional convention. [19] It is known as the "Constitución Provisional de la República de Filipinas", and was originally written in and promulgated in the Spanish and Tagalog languages.[20]. 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. <> [22] It was titled "Constitución política", and was written in Spanish following the declaration of independence from Spain,[23] proclaimed on January 20, 1899, and was enacted and ratified by the Malolos Congress, a congress held in Malolos, Bulacan.[24][25]. His government, in turn, went into exile in December 1944, first to Taiwan and then Japan. The executive branch is headed by the president and his appointed cabinet members. ARTICLE II DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES AND STATE POLICIES PRINCIPLES. The Commission elected Cecilia Muñoz-Palma, a former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, as its president. We, the sovereign Filipino people, imploring the aid of Almighty God, in order to build a just and humane society and establish a Government that shall embody our ideals and aspirations, promote the common good, conserve and develop our patrimony, and secure to ourselves and our posterity the blessings of independence and democracy under the rule of law and a regime of truth, justice, freedom, love, equality, and peace, do ordain and promulgate this Constitution. The waters around, between, and connecting the islands of the archipelago, regardless of their breadth and dimensions, form part of the internal waters of the Philippines. Natural-born citizens are those who are citizens from birth without having to perform any act to acquire or perfect Philippine citizenship. The Constitution of Biak-na-Bato was never fully implemented, and was overtaken by the Pact of Biak-na-Bato between the Spanish and the Philippine Revolutionary Army. 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. 3 of 1986, see below). Hearings in the House of Representatives have given a glimpse at some of the proposed changes to the 1987 Constitution. A Constitutional Convention was held in 1971 to rewrite the 1935 Constitution. The Commission finished the final draft on October 12, 1986 and presented it to Aquino on October 15. However, the 1943 Constitution was not taught in schools, and the laws of the 1943–44 National Assembly were never recognized as valid or relevant. CONCEPT OF CONSTITUTION• Constitution -the body of rules and principles in accordance with which the … The legislative power is vested upon the Congress of the Philippines which is bicameral in nature, and consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives as stated by Article VI of the Philippine Constitution. The Constitution of the Philippines (Saligang Batas ng Pilipinas in Filipino) is the supreme law of the Philippines. In Sanidad vs. Comelec, L-44640, October 12, 1976 the Supreme Court ruled that on the basis of absolute necessity both the constituent power (the power to formulate a Constitution or to propose amendments or revision to the Constitution and to ratify such proposal, which is exclusively vested to the National Assembly, the Constitutional Convention, and the electorate) and legislative powers of the legislature may be exercised by the Chief Executive. The Philippines follows a jus sanguinis system where citizenship is mainly acquired through a blood relationship with Filipino citizens. Lino Brocka, a film director and political activist who was a member of the Commission, walked out before the constitution's completion, and two other delegates dissented from the final draft. While the 1973 Constitution ideally provided for a true parliamentary system, in practice, Marcos made use of subterfuge and manipulation in order to keep executive powers for himself, rather than devolving these to the Assembly and the cabinet headed by the Prime Minister. A Constitutional Commission, composed of 48 members, drafted a new constitution and a people in a plebiscite ratified it. The guiding principle on education in general shall be the protection and promotion of the right of all citizens to quality education at all levels as well as taking appropriate steps to make education accessible to all. Moreover, this section also lays down salient provisions such as: Article XV establishes the recognition of the state on the Filipino family as the basic foundation of the nation as it shall reinforce and bolster its solidarity and steadily promote its development. v. Fulgencio (G.R. It follows the pattern in past constitutions, including an appeal to God. Recognition of the rights of women in workplace for the realization of their full potential in providing service to its nation. It also created opportunities for under-represented sectors of community to select their representative through party-list system. Article XII lays down the goals and objectives of the Philippine government in terms of wealth distribution, division of goods and services and to offer job opportunities to elevate the lives of Filipino people. It was proclaimed in force on February 11, 1987. The 1973 Constitution was further amended in 1980 and 1981. Article V mandates various age and residence qualifications to vote and a system of secret ballots and absentee voting. It provided for the creation of a popularly elected Philippine Assembly, and specified that legislative power would be vested in a bicameral legislature composed of the Philippine Commission (upper house) and the Philippine Assembly (lower house). Executive power was meant to be exercised by the Prime Minister who was also elected from among the sitting Assemblymen. The sustained development of a reservoir of national talents consisting of Filipino scientists, entrepreneurs, professionals, managers, high-level technical manpower and skilled workers and craftsmen in all fields … 5 0 obj PREAMBLEWe, the sovereign Filipino people, imploring the aid of Almighty God, in order tobuild a just and humane society, and establish a Government that shall embody ourideals and aspirations, promote the common good, conserve and develop our patrimony,and secure to ourselves … The present Constitution of the Philippines: Approved by the 1986 Constitutional Commission on October 12, 1986, the 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines was presented to President Corazon C. Aquino on October 15, 1986. The constitution provided for three governmental branches, namely the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. A nation’s relationship to its Charter plays a huge part in its evolution as a democratic republican state. The Commonwealth Constitution was ratified to prepare the country for its independence. that the President would become Prime Minister and continue to exercise legislative powers until such time as martial law was lifted. The 1987 constitution 1. A constitution was drafted by then-Secretary of National Security Council Jose Almonte, but was never completed because it was exposed to the media by different non-government organizations. Some essential provisions are: Article III enumerates specific protections against the abuse of state power, most of which are similar to the provisions of the U.S. Constitution. Protection of labor, be it local or overseas in order to promote full employment and equal opportunities for all. the power of the purse,[12] the power of taxation,[13] and the power of eminent domain.[14]. The old American-derived terminology was replaced by names more associated with a parliamentary government: for example, the House of Representatives became known as the "Batasang Pambansâ" (National Assembly), departments became "ministries", and their cabinet secretaries became known as "cabinet ministers", with the President's assistant – the Executive Secretary – now being styled as the "Prime Minister". In the Constitution of 1787, the United States is what its name suggests: a perpetual union of states with a limited federal government. The Philippine Organic Act of 1902, sometimes known as the "Philippine Bill of 1902" or the "Cooper Act", was the first organic law for the Philippine Islands enacted by the United States Congress. The legislative power consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Several issues were of particular contention during the Commission's sessions, including the form of government to adopt, the abolition of the death penalty, the retention of U.S. bases in Clark and Subic, and the integration of economic policies into the constitution. All three methods require ratification by majority vote in a national referendum. The president was elected for a term of four years by a majority of the Assembly. These include the shift to a … This document, described above, supplanted the "Freedom Constitution" upon its ratification in 1987. She decided to draft a new constitution and issued Proclamation No. 1987 CONSTITUTION. members of the Katipunan) were able to take part, and not the general populace. Section 16. The republic had a constitution drafted by Isabelo Artacho and Félix Ferrer and was based on the first Cuban Constitution. The Constitution of the Philippines (Filipino: Saligang Batas ng Pilipinas or Konstitusyon ng Pilipinas, Spanish: Constitución de la República de Filipinas) is the constitution or supreme law of the Republic of the Philippines. It vests upon Congress, among others, the power of investigation and inquiry in aid of legislation,[10] the power to declare the existence of a state of war,[11] There were three independent constitutional commissions as well: the Commission on Audit, the Civil Service Commission, and the Commission on Elections. There are twenty-four senators and the House is composed of district representatives. Section 18. The constitution also paved a way for the establishment of the Office of the Ombudsman, which has a function of promoting and ensuring an ethical and lawful conduct of the government.[3]. It also provides for a Vice President and for the presidential line of succession. Legislative Power – is the power to enact general and specific laws, to alter or repeal them. The Constitution vests the legislative power in the National Assembly. Democracy is not a government, it is a form of government. 161872)", "Oposa et al. However, the plebiscite date of 2 February 1987 is taken as the official date of ratification due to the Supreme Court ruling in the De Leon vs. Esguerra (153 SCRA 602) case on the term of several barangay officials in Brgy. The 1935 Constitution was written, approved and adopted in 1934 by the Commonwealth of the Philippines (1935–1946) and later used by the Third Republic (1946–1972). Two acts of the United States Congress passed during this period can be considered Philippine constitutions in that those acts defined the fundamental political principles and established the structure, procedures, powers and duties of the Philippine government. These Constitutional Commissions have different functions. Ruling by decree during the early months of her tenure as a president installed via the People Power Revolution, President Corazon Aquino was granted three options: restore the 1935 Constitution, retain and make reforms to the 1973 Constitution, or pass a new constitution. The original 1935 Constitution provided for a unicameral National Assembly, and the President was elected to a six-year term without the possibility re-election. We, the sovereign Filipino people, imploring the aid of Almighty God, in order to build a just and humane society and establish a Government that shall embody our ideals and aspirations, promote 3 as a provisional constitution. Provisional Constitution -By its very nature, the Provisional Constitution self-destruct upon the ratification and effectivity of the new constitution on Feb. 2, 1987. Recognition of the role and the rights of people's organizations. Protection of the rights and giving of support to independent Filipino farmers and fishermen among local communities for the utilization of their resources without foreign intrusion, together with the provision and application of Agrarian and Natural Resources Reform for the development of the lives of the people. The national territory comprises the Philippine archipelago, with all the islands and waters embraced therein, and all other territories over which the Philippines has sovereignty or jurisdiction, consisting of its terrestrial, fluvial, and aerial domains, including its territorial sea, the seabed, the subsoil, the insular shelves, and other submarine areas. Adoption and integration of affordable and competent medical care and health services for the welfare of every Filipino people. stream The form of government the framers of the Constitution agreed to create republic Does democracy have a written constitution? Section 5. 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