Alvaira, Davy Aleth B.

BME-B3A (1:00-2:00pm)

Philippines Constitution

A Philippines Constitution is a body of rules established to regulate the system of government

within a state. The reason for drafting a codified constitution is usually associated with the time
in which a particular State is formed or associated with a major change that has taken place at
national level. For instance, Italy drew up a new constitution in 1948 and Germany did the same
in 1949 following their defeat in Word War II and also to mark the destruction of their previous
regimes. The United States drafted a codified constitution upon independence from Britain in
1787, and India drafted a constitution after independence from Britain, in 1950.

The Filipino citizens, 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 blessings of independence
under a régime of justice, liberty, and democracy, do ordain and promulgate this Constitution.

It was in accordance with the Philippine Independence Act of 1934. The 1935 Constitution was
ratified by the Filipino people through a national plebiscite, on May 14, 1935 and came into full
force and effect on November 15, 1935 with the inauguration of the Commonwealth of the
Philippines.

During the 1935, the Commonwealth period of the Philippines featured a very strong executive,
a unicameral National Assembly, and a Supreme Court, all composed entirely of Filipinos, as well
as an elected Resident Commissioner to the United States House of Representatives as Puerto
Rico does today.

Philippine independence was eventually achieved on July 4, 1946. The 1935 Constitution, which
featured a political system virtually identical to the American one, became operative. The
system called for a President to be elected at large for a 4-year term (subject to one re-election),
a bicameral Congress, and an independent Judiciary.

From the moment of independence, Filipino politics have been plagued by the twin demons of
corruption and scandal. Notwithstanding, Presidents Ramon Magsaysay 1953-57, Carlos Garcia
1957-61, and Diosdado Macapagal 1961-65, managed to stabilize the country, implement
domestic reforms, diversify the economy, and build Philippine ties not only to the United States,
but also to its Asian neighbours.

Ferdinand Marcos was elected president in 1965 and was re-elected in 1969, the first president
to be so re-elected. Desirous of remaining in power beyond his legal tenure, he declared martial
law in 1972, just before the end of his second and last term, citing a growing communist
insurgency as its justification. He then manipulated an ongoing Constitutional Convention and
caused the drafting of a new constitution, the 1973 Constitution, which allowed him to rule by
decree until 1978 when the presidential system of the 1935 Constitution was replaced with a
parliamentary one. Under this new system, Marcos held on to power and continued to govern
by decree, suppressing democratic institutions and restricting civil freedoms. In 1981, martial
law was officially lifted, but Marcos continued to rule by the expedient of being “re-elected” in a
farce of an election to a new 6-year term. He continued to suppress dissent and thousands of
vocal objectors to his rule either mysteriously disappeared or were incarcerated. Despite
economic decline, corruption allowed Marcos and his wife Imelda to live extravagantly, causing
resentment domestically and criticism internationally.

Aquino began her term by repealing many of the Marcos-era regulations that had repressed the
people for so long. In March, she issued a unilateral proclamation establishing a provisional
constitution. This constitution gave the President broad powers and great authority, but Aquino
promised to use them only to restore democracy under a new constitution. This new
constitution was drafted in 133 days by an appointed Constitutional Commission of 48 members
and ratified by the people in a plebiscite held on February 2, 1987. It was largely modelled on
the American Constitution which had so greatly influenced the 1935 Constitution, but it also
incorporated Roman, Spanish, and Anglo law.

The 1987 Constitution established a representative democracy with power divided among three
separate and independent branches of government: the Executive, a bicameral Legislature, and
the Judiciary. There were three independent constitutional commissions as well: the
Commission on Audit, the Civil Service Commission, and the Commission on Elections.
Integrated into the Constitution was a full Bill of Rights, which guaranteed fundamental civil and
and political rights, and it provided for free, fair, and periodic elections. In comparison with the
weak document that had given Marcos a legal fiction behind which to hide, this Constitution
seemed ideal to many Filipinos emerging from 20 years of political repression and oppression.