ASSIGNMENT READING

1. Analyze social, political, economic and cultural issues in the Philippines.

There are many kinds of issues in our country that fall into different categories and
those issues with regards to our society, politics, economy and culture are still a big
problem that the Philippines and its citizens were facing from decades until now.

Some of the social issues in the Philippines are the poverty and violence that was
clearly manifested in both rural and urban areas where the poor remains poor because of
structural inequalities and political uncertainty. The root cause of violence in the
Philippines is poverty because it generates conflicts arising from the inequalities in human
rights and marginalization. Some of the political issues in the Philippines are the massive
graft and corruption in the government that takes place even before, during or after the
elections because of the buying of votes and also those black propagandas, bureaucracy,
nepotism, plunder and also political dynasty where the line of thought of the politicians
were pretty much the same and because our country is lacking of the strong enabling laws
to restrain it. Also, the defects in the political system, political bickering and political
grandstanding among the leaders of the nation, the political concessions for mutual
rewards and benefits and the military abuses and police brutality that increases protests
amongst violation of human rights. Some of the economic issues in the Philippines are the
high unemployment and stagflation where the prices of goods and services continually
increase, many people do not have jobs and businesses are not very successful. Another
one is the lingering poverty because of the concentrated wealth in the hands of few rich
Filipinos that prevents the majority of the population from sharing in rapid economic
growth and also the lingering government corruption where foreign nations and
businesses hesitate to invest capital in the country because they see the Filipino
government as untrustworthy.

Lastly, some of the cultural issues in the Philippines are the gender conflicts and
inequalities that arises because of the discriminations also in race and status, in language
and religions which also leads to self-loathing and character labelling. The solution to these
is as simple as we wanted it to be but at the same time it is complex for we have to
reeducate ourselves that things can be done when we have our main goal as our common
goal.
 2. Explain the evolution of the Philippine Constitution

The end sought by the revolution in the war that begun on August 24, 1896 has been
the separation of the Philippines from the Spanish monarchy and their formation into an
independent state with its own government called the Philippine Republic. On the first day
of November 1897, the representatives of the people of the Philippine islands forgather in a
meeting at Biac-na-bato for the purpose of the modification of the Republic of the
Philippines Constitution, the 1897 Biac-na-Bato Constitution.

Since the proclamation of the Philippine Independence on the 12 th of June 1898, the
Philippines has had these constitutions. The Malolos Constitution was drafted and adopted
by the First Philippine Republic in 1899 and it lasted from 1899 to 1901. The Philippines
was governed by the laws of the United States of America during the American occupation.
The Philippine Organic Act of 1902, that provided for a Philippine Assembly composed of
Filipino citizens, and the Philippine Autonomy Act of 1916, that included the first
Philippine independence pledge, are the Organic Acts that were passed by the U.S. Congress
for the administration of the Government of the Philippine Islands and these laws served as
the constitutions of the Philippines from 1902 to 1935. The U.S. Congress passed the
Philippine Independence Act in 1934 that mandated the Philippine legislature to call for
election of delegates to draft a constitution for the Philippines. The 1934 constitutional
convention finished the work on the 8 th of February 1935. In accordance to the Philippine
Independence Act of 1934, the constitution was submitted to the U.S. President for the
certification on the 25th day of March 1935.

The 1935 Commonwealth Constitution was officially voted by the Filipino people
through a national plebiscite on the 14th day of May 1935. With the inauguration of the
Commonwealth of the Philippines, it came into an effect and full forced on the 15 th day of
November 1935. The 1935 constitution was amended by the National Assembly of the
Philippines in 1940. The amendment changed the legislature from unicameral assembly to
bicameral congress and the term limit of the Philippine president was also changed from
six years with no reelection to four years with a possibility of being reelected for the
second term. During the World War II, the 1935 Constitution was nullified by the Japanese-
sponsored government and to replace it, they appointed Preparatory Committee on
Philippine Independence. The second republic used the constitution of 1943 with president
Jose P. Laurel. The 1935 Constitution came back into effect in 1945 upon the liberation of
the Philippines. In 1947, the Philippine congress called for its amendment through
Commonwealth Act No. 733. The Parity amendment gave both Filipino and U.S. citizens
equal rights to operate public utilities and develop natural resources in the country on the
11th day of March 1947. The constitution remained the same until the declaration of martial
law on the 23rd day of September 1972.
 On the first day of December 1972, the Constitutional Convention that revised the
1935 Constitution finished their work and submitted it to president Marcos, then in early
January of 1973 he submitted it for ratification. Upon foreseeing that the ratification was
bound to fail, he issued Presidential Decree No. 86 that created citizens’ assemblies to ratify
the newly drafted constitution by the means of a Viva Voce vote in place of secret ballots.
On the 17th day of January 1973, Marcos announced that it had been ratified and effected.
The opposition against the 1973 Constitutional Authoritarianism continued although it had
been ratified in that manner.

President Corazon C. Aquino issued Proclamation No. 3, in 1986 when the

democracy was restored, suspending certain provisions of the 1973 constitution. A
Constitutional Commission tasked with writing a new charter is created to replace the
1973 Constitution when president Aquino issued Proclamation No. 9 a month later. On the
16th day of October 1986, the commission had finished its work. On the 2 nd day of February
1987, the National Plebiscite was held to ratify the new constitution. President Aquino
announced the official results and ratification of the draft constitution by virtue of
Proclamation No. 58 on the 11 th day of February 1987 and The 1987 Constitution After
Martial Law finally came into full force and effect that day with the President, other civilian
officials and members of the Armed Forces swearing allegiance to the new charter.

3. Study the attempts to amend or change the 1987 Constitution

The proposed revision or amendments to the 1987 Constitution includes the first
attempt which was under President Fidel Ramos who argued that the changes in the
constitution, which includes a shift to parliamentary system and lifting of public officials’
term limits, will bring more continuity, accountability and responsibility to the “gridlock”-
prone Philippine version of presidential bicameral system. The process that was supposed
to lead to a national referendum was opposed by some politically active religious groups,
business tycoons, opposition politicians and left-wing organizations. A church-organized
rally brought in an estimated half a million of people to Rizal Park on the 21 st day of
September 1997. When the Supreme Court that is under Chief Justice Andres Narvasa
narrowly dismissed a petition filed by the People’s Initiative for Reform, Modernization and
Action (PIRMA), which sought to amend the constitution through a signature campaign or
People’s Initiative, the advocates suffered a setback on the 23 rd day of September 1997. As
for the reason that the People’s Initiative mode does not have enough enabling law for the
proposed revisions in the 1987 Constitution, the Supreme Court dismissed the petition.

Then, there was a similar attempt to amend or change the 1987 Constitution under
President Joseph Estrada. The CONCORD proposal would amend only the restrictive
economic provisions of the constitution, that according to its proponents were considered
to impede the entry of more foreign investments in the Philippines, not like the
Constitutional Reform under Arroyo and Ramos. Based on diverse arguments such as
national patrimony and that the proposed changes in the constitution would be self-
serving, once again there were objections from religious sectors, opposition politicians and
left-wing organizations.

After that, there were more attempts to amend the 1987 Constitution under
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo which she included the constitutional reform in her
2004 election campaign platform and it was considered high priority. The Consultative
Commission headed by Dr. Jose Abueva was created by Arroyo, by the virtue of Executive
Order No. 453, after winning the 2004 elections. After various consultation with the
different sectors of the society, the task of the Consultative Commission was to propose the
necessary revisions on the 1987 Constitution. They came up with proposals after about a
year that included a shift to unicameral parliamentary form of government, economic
liberalization, further decentralization of national government and more empowerment of
local governments by a transition to a parliamentary federal form of government. It is
opposed by the Makati Business Club (MBC) while the constitutional reform and the
opening up of the economy of the Philippines is supported by the country’s small and
medium businesses, PCCI and ECOP.

In 2005 to 2006, the Sigaw ng Bayan group (Cry of the People) and ULAP
campaigned the political process that would carry on the propose amendments
recommended by the Consultative Commission. It was headed by Atty. Raul Lambino and
the group aimed to gather enough signatures to call for a plebiscite on the proposed
constitutional changes by a People’s Initiative. Once again it was opposed by religious
sectors, politicians and business tycoons for various reasons that it will be only for own
vested interests and benefits. In December 2006, the house speaker Jose de Venecia, Jr.
attempted to push for the process of changing the constitution by conveying the House of
Representatives of the Philippine and the Senate of the Philippines into a Constituent
Assembly by which the 1987 constitution could be amended or revised. Once again the
anti-terrorist change forces that threatened the massive protests on the political process
that could lead to a plebiscite on the constitutional reform issue and it was opposed again.
There was also a Constituent Assembly under Nograles-Pimentel, however nothing came
out from those proposals.

Several proposals were put forth by the different members of Congress under
President Benigno Aquino III. The Senate Resolution No. 10 by Senator Pimentel called for
constitutional reform to convert to a federal republic. There was Belmonte’s joint
resolution on economic provisions and the resolution made it through two readings in the
House of Representatives but has not had a third reading.
 A plebiscite on the proposed replacement of the unitary state with a federal one will
be held in two years as stated by Rodrigo Duterte in May 2016. After winning the elections,
Duterte proposed to revive the proposed form of Nene Pimentel. President Duterte signed
the Executive Order No. 10 in the 7 th day of December 2016, creating a consultative
committee to review the 1987 Constitution. The Consultative Committee unanimously
approved the draft constitution through voting in the 3 rd day of July 2018. On or before the
9th of July 2018 it was submitted to the President. As a response to turncoat behavior, the
proposed federal charter includes an amendment that aims for the prohibition of elected
officials from switching political parties during the first and last two years of their term
was referred to as the “Bayanihan Constitution” by Duterte and the Consultative
Committee.

4. What is Federalism form of government?

Federalism is a mixed or compound mode of government that combines a general or

national government (central or federal) with regional governments (provincial, state and
other sub-unit governments) in a single political system. The Constitution of the United
States established the federal system which is also known as federalism. Under federalism,
each level of government has sovereignty in some areas and shares powers in the other
areas. For example, in Canada, its government established in 1867 is considered federalism
because of the division of powers between the federal parliament and the provinces.

5. What are the policies on Agrarian Reform?

As stated in the Thrust and Policy directions of the Department of Agrarian Reform
(Kagawaran ng Repormang Pansakahan), it includes these six-point agenda which are to
initiate and streamline legal procedures, increase issuance of Certificates of Land
Ownership Award (CLOA), implement programs that will help farmers retain their farms,
use convergence of line departments to give support to the farmers, utilize the family as the
focal point for agrarian reform and accomplish placement and promotion of DAR
employees affected by the Rationalization Plan.