•
1940 Amendment (Establishment of the
Bicameral Philippine Congress) •
1947 Amendment (Provision of "parity rights" between American and Philippine citizens) •
1976 Amendment (Continuation of Martial Law and substitution of the
Regular Batasang Pambansa with the
Interim Batasang Pambansa) •
1981 Amendment (Delegation of Power to the
President, creation of the executive committee, establishment of a
modified parliamentary system) •
1984 Amendment (Creation of the
Office of the Vice President and abolition of the executive committee)
The 1897 Constitution of Biak-na-Bato The
Katipunan's revolution led to the
Tejeros Convention where, at
San Francisco de Malabón,
Cavite, on March 22, 1897, the first presidential and vice presidential elections in Philippine history were held—although only
Katipuneros (
viz. members of the Katipunan) were able to take part, and not the general populace. A later meeting of the revolutionary government established there, held on November 1, 1897, at
Biak-na-Bato in the town of
San Miguel de Mayumo in
Bulacan, established the
Republic of Biak-na-Bato. The republic had a constitution drafted by Isabelo Artacho and Félix Ferrer and was based on the first
Cuban Constitution. 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. It declared that sovereignty resides exclusively in the people, stated basic civil rights, separated the church and state, and called for the creation of an Assembly of Representatives to act as the legislative body. It also called for a parliamentary republic as the form of government. The president was elected for a term of four years by a majority of the Assembly. It was titled "Constitución política", and was written in Spanish following the declaration of independence from Spain, proclaimed on January 20, 1899, and was enacted and ratified by the
Malolos Congress, a congress held in
Malolos, Bulacan. The Preamble reads: : : (We, the Representatives of the Filipino people, lawfully convened in order to establish justice, provide for common defence, 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:)
Acts of the United States Congress The Philippines was a
United States Territory from December 10, 1898, to March 24, 1934 and therefore was under the jurisdiction of the
Federal Government of the United States. 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.
Philippine Organic Act of 1902 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. 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). Its key provisions included a
bill of rights for the Filipinos and the appointment of two non-voting Filipino
Resident Commissioner of the Philippines to represent the Philippines in the
United States House of Representatives.
Philippine Autonomy Act of 1916 The
Philippine Autonomy Act of 1916, sometimes known as the "Jones Law", modified the structure of the Philippine government by removing the Philippine Commission as the legislative upper house and replacing it with a
Senate elected by Filipino voters, creating the Philippines' first fully elected national legislature. This act also explicitly stated that it was and always had been the purpose of the people of the United States to renounce their sovereignty over the Philippine Islands and to recognize Philippine independence as soon as a stable government can be established therein.
Hare–Hawes–Cutting Act (1932) Though not a constitution itself, the
Hare–Hawes–Cutting Act of 1932 was the precursor the Tydings–McDuffie Act, which laid down the promise of independence to the Philippines after 10 years of transition period and other provisions; however, because of infighting within the Philippine Congress, it was not ratified and only became the basis for the creation of the Tydings–McDuffie Act.
Tydings–McDuffie Act (1934) Though also not a constitution itself, the
Tydings–McDuffie Act of 1934 provided for autonomy, specified requirements for a formal constitution and defined mechanisms for its establishment via a
constitutional convention.
The 1935 Constitution The 1935 Constitution was approved with the
1935 Philippine constitutional plebiscite. It was in effect during the Commonwealth of the Philippines (1935–1946) and later used by the Third Republic (1946–1972). It was written to meet requirements set forth in the Tydings–McDuffie Act to prepare the country for its independence. The Commonwealth constitution was ratified to prepare the country for its independence. This constitution was predominantly influenced by the U.S. constitution, but possesses traces of the Malolos constitution as well as the German, Spanish, and Mexican constitutions, constitutions of several South American countries, and the unwritten constitution of England. It originally provided for a unicameral legislature composed of a president and vice president elected for a six-year term without re-election. It was amended in 1940 to provide for a bicameral legislature composed of a Senate and a House of Representatives. 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 draft of the constitution was approved by the convention on February 8, 1935, and was ratified by President Roosevelt in Washington, D.C., on March 25, 1935. Elections were held on September 16, 1935, and Manuel L. Quezon was elected as the first President of the Commonwealth of the Philippines. The Preamble reads: : The original 1935 Constitution provided for a unicameral National Assembly, and the President was elected to a six-year term without the possibility of re-election. It was
amended in 1940 to have a bicameral Congress composed of a Senate and House of Representatives, to create an independent
electoral commission and to grant the President a four-year term with a maximum of two consecutive terms in office. A
Constitutional Convention was held in 1971 to rewrite the 1935 Constitution. The convention was stained with manifest bribery and corruption. 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. In any case, the 1935 Constitution was suspended in 1972 with Marcos' proclamation of
martial law, the rampant corruption of the constitutional process providing him with one of his major premises for doing so.
The 1943 Constitution to approve the 1943 Constitution. The 1943 Constitution was drafted by a committee appointed by the
Philippine Executive Commission, the body established by the Japanese to administer the Philippines in lieu of the
Commonwealth of the Philippines which had established a
government-in-exile. In mid-1942, Japanese Premier
Hideki Tōjō promised the Filipinos "the honor of independence" which meant that the commission would be supplanted by a formal republic. The
Preparatory Committee for Philippine Independence tasked with drafting a new constitution was composed, in large part, of members of the prewar National Assembly and of individuals with experience as delegates to the convention that had drafted the 1935 Constitution. Their draft for the republic to be established under the Japanese occupation, however, would be limited in duration, provide for indirect, instead of direct, legislative elections, and an even stronger executive branch. Upon the approval of the draft by the committee, the new charter was ratified in 1943 by an assembly of appointed, provincial representatives of the
KALIBAPI, the
fascist political party established by the Japanese to supplant all previous political parties. Upon the ratification by the Kalibapi assembly, the Second Republic was formally proclaimed (1943–1945).
José P. Laurel was elected president by the National Assembly and sworn into office on October 14, 1943. Laurel was highly regarded by the Japanese for having openly criticized the U.S. for the way that they governed the Philippines and because he had a degree from the
Tokyo Imperial University. The 1943 Constitution remained in force in Japanese-controlled areas of the Philippines, but was never recognized as legitimate or binding by the governments of the United States, the Commonwealth of the Philippines, or the guerrilla organizations loyal to them. In late 1944, President Laurel declared war on the United States and the
British Empire and proclaimed
martial law, essentially ruling by decree. His government, in turn, went into exile in December 1944, first to
Taiwan and then Japan. After the announcement of Japan's surrender, Laurel formally dissolved the Second Republic. The Preamble reads: : The 1943 Constitution provided for strong executive powers. The Legislature consisted of a
unicameral National Assembly and only those considered to be anti-US could stand for election, although in practice most legislators were appointed rather than elected. Until the 1960s, the Second Republic and its officers were not viewed as a legitimate Philippine government or as having any standing with the exception of the Second Republic-era Supreme Court, whose decisions, limited to reviews of criminal and commercial cases as part of a policy of discretion by Chief Justice
José Yulo, continued to be part of official records. This was made easier by the Commonwealth government-in-exile never constituting a Supreme Court, and the formal vacancy in the position of Chief Justice for the Commonwealth with the execution of
José Abad Santos by the Japanese. It was only during the Macapagal administration that a partial political rehabilitation of the Japanese-era republic took place, with the official recognition of Laurel as a former president and the addition of his cabinet and other officials to the roster of past government officials. 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.
The 1973 Constitution The 1973 Constitution was promulgated after
Ferdinand Marcos' declaration of martial law and was supposed to introduce a
parliamentary-style government. Legislative power was vested in a
unicameral National Assembly whose members were elected for six-year terms. The president was ideally elected as the symbolic and purely
ceremonial head of state chosen from amongst the Members of the National Assembly for a six-year term and could be re-elected to an unlimited number of terms. Upon election, the president ceased to be a Member of the National Assembly. During his term, the president was not allowed to be a member of a
political party or hold any other office. Executive power was meant to be exercised by the
prime minister, who was also elected from among the sitting Assemblymen. The prime minister was to be the
head of government and
Commander-in-Chief of the
Armed Forces. This constitution was subsequently amended four times (arguably five, depending on how one considers Proclamation No. 3 of 1986, see below). From October 16–17, 1976, a majority of
barangay voters (also called "Citizens' Assemblies") approved that
martial law should be continued and ratified the amendments to the Constitution proposed by President Marcos. The 1976 amendments provided: • for an
Interim Batasang Pambansa (IBP) substituting for the Interim National Assembly; • that the President would become Prime Minister and continue to exercise legislative powers until such time as martial law was lifted. The Sixth Amendment authorized the President to legislate on his own on an "emergency" basis: Whenever in the judgement of the President there exists a grave emergency or a threat or imminence thereof, or whenever the Interim Batasang Pambansa or the regular National Assembly fails or is unable to act adequately on any matter for any reason that in his judgment requires immediate action, he may, in order to meet the exigency, issue the necessary decrees, orders or letters of instructions, which shall form part of the law of the land. The 1973 Constitution was further amended in 1980 and 1981. In the 1980 amendment, the retirement age of the members of the judiciary was extended to 70 years. In the 1981 amendments, the parliamentary system was formally modified into a
French-style
semi-presidential system and provided: • that executive power was restored to the president; • that direct election of the president was restored; • for an executive committee composed of the prime minister and not more than 14 members was created to "assist the President in the exercise of his powers and functions and in the performance of his duties as he may prescribe;" and the prime minister was a mere head of the Cabinet. • for electoral reforms and provided that a natural-born citizen of the Philippines who has lost his citizenship may be a transference of private land for use by him as his residence. The last amendments in 1984 abolished the executive committee and restored the position of
vice-president (which did not exist in the original, unamended 1973 Constitution). 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. The result was that the final form of the 1973 Constitution – after all amendments and subtle manipulations – was merely the abolition of the Senate and a series of cosmetic rewordings. 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 Pambansa" (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". Marcos' purported parliamentary system functioned in practice as an
authoritarian presidential system, with all real power concentrated in the hands of the President but with the premise that such was now constitutional.
The 1986 Freedom Constitution Immediately following the
1986 People Power Revolution that ousted Marcos, President
Corazon C. Aquino issued Proclamation No. 3 as a
provisional constitution. It adopted certain provisions from the 1973 Constitution while abolishing others. It granted the President broad powers to reorganize government and remove officials, as well as mandating the president to appoint a commission to draft a new Constitution. This document, described above, supplanted the "Freedom Constitution" upon its
ratification in 1987. This is the transitional constitution that lasted a year and came before the constitution. It maintained many provisions of the 1973
Constitution, including in rewritten form the presidential right to rule by decree. The commission is composed of 48 members appointed by President Aquino. ==See also==