Spanish colonial period During the Spanish colonization of the Philippines, municipal governments, or
Cabildos were established. One such example was the Cabildo in Manila, established in 1571. While the Philippines was under colonial rule as part of the
Spanish East Indies, the colony had no representation in the
Spanish Cortes. Only in 1809, when the colony was made an integral part of Spain, did it gain representation in the Cortes. While colonies such as the Philippines were selecting their delegates, substitutes were named so that the Cortes could convene. The substitutes, and first delegates for the Philippines were Pedro Pérez de Tagle and José Manuel Couto. Neither had any connection to the colony. By July 1810, Governor General Manuel González de Aguilar received the instruction to hold an election. As only the
Manila Municipal Council qualified to elect a representative, it was tasked to select a delegate. Three of its representatives, the governor-general and the Archbishop of Manila selected Ventura de los Reyes as Manila's delegate to the Cortes. De los Reyes arrived in Cadiz in December 1811. However, with
Napoleon I's defeat in 1814, his brother
Joseph Bonaparte was removed from the Spanish throne, and the Cádiz Constitution was abolished by
Ferdinand VII, who returned to the absolute monarchy, that removed Philippine representation on the Cortes, among other things. Restoration of Philippine representation to the Cortes was one of the grievances by the
Ilustrados, the educated class during the late 19th century.
Revolutionary era The Illustrados' campaign transformed into the
Philippine Revolution that aimed to overthrow Spanish rule. Proclaiming independence on June 12, 1898,
President Emilio Aguinaldo then ordered the convening of a revolutionary congress at
Malolos. The
Malolos Congress, among other things, approved the
Malolos Constitution. With the approval of the
Treaty of Paris, the Spanish
ceded the Philippines to the United States. The revolutionaries, attempting to prevent American conquest, launched the
Philippine–American War, but were defeated when Aguinaldo was captured in 1901.
American colonial period When the
Philippines was under American colonial rule, the legislative body was the
Philippine Commission which existed from 1900 to 1907. The
President of the United States appointed the members of the
Philippine Commission. Furthermore, two Filipinos served as
Resident Commissioners to the
House of Representatives of the United States from 1907 to 1935, then only one from 1935 to 1946. The Resident Commissioners had a voice in the House, but did not have voting rights. The
Philippine Bill of 1902 mandated the creation of a bicameral or a two-chamber
Philippine Legislature with the
Philippine Commission as the Upper House and the
Philippine Assembly as the Lower House. This bicameral legislature was inaugurated in 1907. Through the leadership of then-
Speaker Sergio Osmeña and then-Majority Floor Leader
Manuel L. Quezon, the Rules of the
59th United States Congress were substantially adopted as the Rules of the Philippine Legislature. In 1916, the
Jones Law changed the legislative system. The
Philippine Commission was abolished, and a new bicameral Philippine Legislature consisting of a
House of Representatives and a
Senate was established.
Commonwealth and Second Republic era The legislative system was changed again in 1935. The 1935
Constitution, aside from instituting the
Commonwealth which gave the Filipinos more role in government, established a unicameral
National Assembly. But in 1940, through an amendment to the 1935
Constitution, a bicameral Congress of the Philippines consisting of a
House of Representatives and a
Senate was created. Those elected in 1941 would not serve until 1945, as World War II erupted. The invading Japanese set up the
Second Philippine Republic and convened its own
National Assembly. With the Japanese defeat in 1945, the Commonwealth and its Congress was restored. The same setup continued until the Americans granted independence on July 4, 1946.
Independence era Upon the inauguration of the
Republic of the Philippines on July 4, 1946,
Republic Act No. 6 was enacted providing that on the date of the proclamation of the
Republic of the Philippines, the existing Congress would be known as the
First Congress of the Republic. Successive Congresses were elected until President
Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law on September 23, 1972. Marcos then ruled by decree. As early as 1970, Marcos had convened a constitutional convention to revise the 1935 Constitution; in 1973, the
Constitution was approved. It abolished the bicameral Congress and created a unicameral National Assembly, which would ultimately be known as the
Batasang Pambansa in a
semi-presidential system of government. The Batasang Pambansa first convened in 1978, and elected a
prime minister. Marcos was overthrown after the
People Power Revolution; President
Corazon Aquino then ruled by decree. Later that year she appointed a
constitutional commission that drafted a new constitution. The
Constitution was approved in a plebiscite the next year; it restored the
presidential system of government together with a bicameral Congress of the Philippines. The restored Congress first convened in 1987. ==Seat==