MARILYN P.

PEREZ, JD
1. Discuss the concepts and ideas regarding a constitution.
2. Recognize the purposes and classifications of the constitution.
3. Explore the essential qualities and salient parts of a good written
constitution
4. Create a topic diary using comic strip style expressing the learning
acquired from this unit of study.
▪A constitution is defined as the fundamental
law of a nation or state.

▪It establishes the character and basic

principles of the government.

▪SUPREME LAW OF THE LAND

❑ It prescribes the framework of the system or the kind of government
that will exist in the state.
❑ It creates the different departments and specifies their respective
functions and duties.
❑ It is the source of the sovereign powers of a government by
establishing the fixed, first or basic principles on which the
government is founded.
❑ It promotes public welfare, which involves the safety, prosperity,
health, and happiness of the people. The constitution establishes the
rights of the people which the government is obligated to protect. It
guarantees freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom
of religion (People vs. Linsangan, 62 Phil 646 ,December 21, 1935).
FACTS:
1. Ambrosio Linsangan was prosecuted for nonpayment of the cedula or
poll tax.
2. After due trial, he was sentenced to suffer imprisonment for 5 days, and to
pay the costs.
3. The case was tried and decided before the Constitution of the
Philippines took effect but while the appeal was pending, the said
Constitution became effective, and, section 1, clause 12, of Article III
thereof provides that "no person shall be imprisoned for debt or
nonpayment of a poll tax."
4. Linsangan appealed, alleging that the trial court erred in not declaring said
sections of the Revised Administrative Code unconstitutional and void.
ISSUE: Whether or not the trial court erred in not declaring said sections of the
Revised Administrative Code unconstitutional and void.

HELD : YES.
Sec. 2 of Art. XV of the Constitution provides:
“All laws of the Philippine Islands shall continue in force until the
inauguration of the Commonwealth of the Philippines; thereafter, such
laws shall remain operative, unless inconsistent with this Constitution
until amended, altered, modified or repealed by the National Assembly
and all references in such laws to the government or officials of the
Philippine Islands shall be construed, in so far as applicable, to refer to
the government and corresponding officials under this Constitution.”
1. CONSTITUTIONAL LAW; BILL OF RIGHTS; IMPRISONMENT FOR NONPAYMENT OF POLL OR
CEDULA TAX. — Section 1, clause 12, of Article III of the Constitution provides that no person
shall be imprisoned for nonpayment of a poll tax.
2. TAXATION; POLL OR CEDULA TAX; NONPAYMENT. — Section 2718 of the Revised
Administrative Code authorizes imprisonment for nonpayment of a poll or cedula tax.
3. CONSTITUTIONAL LAW; LAWS IN FORCE UPON INAUGURATION OF COMMONWEALTH
GOVERNMENT. — Section 2 of Article XV of the Constitution provides that "All laws of the
Philippine Islands shall continue in force until the inauguration of the Commonwealth of the
Philippines; thereafter, such laws shall remain operative, unless inconsistent with this
Constitution, until amended, altered, modified, or repealed by the National Assembly, . . ."cralaw
virtua1aw library
4. ID.; ID.; CONFLICT BETWEEN CONSTITUTION AND EXISTING LAWS. — It seems clear that
section 2718 of the Revised Administrative Code is inconsistent with section 1, clause 12, of
Article III of the Constitution, in that, while the former authorizes imprisonment for
nonpayment of the poll or cedula tax, the latter forbids it, and consequently the former became
inoperative upon the inauguration of the Commonwealth Government.
5. ID.; ID.; ID. — No judgment of conviction can be based on section 2718 of the Revised
Administrative Code.
A Constitution is classified as:
I.Written and unwritten.
a. A written constitution is one in which most of its provisions are embodied in a
single formal written instrument or instruments.
• It is a work of conscious art and the result of a deliberate effort to lay down a body
of fundamental principles under which government shall be organized and
conducted (Martin, 1960).
• The classic example of a written constitution is the United States Constitution.
2. Unwritten constitution is one which is entirely the product of political evolution,
consisting largely of a mass of customs, usages and judicial decisions together with a
smaller body of statutory enactments of a fundamental character, usually bearing
different dates (Garner, in Cruz, 2002).
• The English Constitution is an example of an unwritten constitution.
II. Cumulative or evolved and conventional or enacted;
• A constitution is cumulative or evolved when it has its origin mainly in custom,
common law principles; decisions of courts.
• It is the product of historical evolution and growth rather than of deliberate and
formal enactment.
• It has no formal starting point, is not struck off at a specific date, and it changes
by slow gradual accretion rather than by formal legal process.
• A conventional or enacted is one, which has been formulated usually by a
constitutional assembly or promulgated by the King (Garner, in Cruz, 2002).
• It is struck-off at a definite time and place.
III. Rigid and flexible
• A rigid constitution is one that can be amended only by a formal and usually
difficult process.
• A flexible is one that can be altered by the same body that makes ordinary laws
of the state (Since, 1938). Examples of a flexible Constitution includes those of
Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, and Spain.
 Q: BASED ON THE CLASSIFICATIONS
MENTIONED, HOW CAN YOU CATEGORIZE THE
PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION?
▪ Written
▪ Enacted
▪ Rigid
▪Broad

▪Brief

▪Definite
• A good written constitution must be broad, brief, and definite.
• It is broad in the sense that it outlines an organization of the
government for the whole state.
• Brief, because its nature requires that only its great outline should be
marked, its important objects designated, and the minor ingredients
which composed those objects be deduced from the nature of the
objects themselves.
• Definite, since any vagueness resulting from the opposing
interpretation of the Constitutional provisions may cause
incalculable harm and chaos to the nation (Martin, 1960; citing
Malcolm, 1936).
 LESSON 2

THE METAMORPHOSIS OF THE

PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION
 The 1897
Constitution of
Biak-na-Bato
➢ The 1897 Constitution of Biak-na-Bato

➢ The 1899 Malolos Constitution

➢ The 1935 Constitution and the Commonwealth Government

➢ The Japanese Occupation and the Second Philippine Republic

➢ The 1973 Constitution

➢ The Freedom Constitution

➢ The 1987 Constitution

THE 1897 CONSTITUTION OF BIAK-NA-BATO
▪ It was the provisionary Constitution of the Philippine Republic during
the Philippine Revolution, and was promulgated by the Philippine
Revolutionary Government on 1 November,1897. The constitution,
borrowed from Cuba, was written by Isabelo Artacho and Félix
Ferrer in Spanish, and later on, translated into Tagalog.
▪ Formation into an independent state with its own government called
the Philippine Republic
▪ The Constitution of Biak-na-Bato was never fully implemented, since
a truce, the Pact of Biak-na-Bato, was signed between the Spanish
and the Philippine Revolutionary Army.
THE 1897 CONSTITUTION OF BIAK-NA-BATO
THE 1897 CONSTITUTION OF BIAK-NA-BATO
Biak-na-Bato Constitution had its own unique features:
• Its preamble reiterated the objective of the Revolution which was "the
separation of the Philippine from the Spanish monarchy and their formation
into an independent state which its own government.“
• The government that was formed was a Supreme Council composed of a
President, a Vice-President, a Secretary of the Interior, a Secretary of
Foreign Relations, a Secretary of War, and a Secretary of the Treasury.
• This Council had sweeping powers of government which included the
power to issue orders and other laws for the security of the State, to impose
and collect taxes, to raise an army, to ratify treaties, and to convene an
Assembly of Representatives."
• The judiciary power was vested in another Supreme Council of Justice,
Articles XXII to XXV were essentially the Bill of Rights accorded in every
Filipino.
• Official Language of the Constitution: Tagalog
THE 1899 MALOLOS CONSTITUTION
 THE 1899 MALOLOS CONSTITUTION (1899-1901)
▪ The Philippine Revolution of 1896

▪ Proclamation of Philippine Independence at Kawit, Cavite on June 12, 1898

▪ Revolutionary congress convened at Barasoain Church, Malolos Bulacan.

▪ Three drafts were submitted, namely the drafts of Pedro Paterno,
Apolinario Mabini and Felipe Calderon
▪ The Calderon Proposal was reported to the Congress and the Congress
approved the proposed Constitution on November 29, 1898.
▪ Aguinaldo promulgated the Constitution and established the Philippine
Republic
▪ Emilio Aguinaldo took his oath of office as the first President of the
Republic
THE 1935 CONSTITUTION AND THE
COMMONWEALTH GOVERNMENT
 THE 1935 CONSTITUTION AND THE
COMMONWEALTH GOVERNMENT
▪ After the Treaty of Paris, the Philippines was subjected to the power of the United
States of America, effectively the new colonizers of the country.
▪ Two acts of the United States Congress were passed that may be considered to
have qualities of constitutionality :
▪ First was the Philippine Organic Act of 1902, the first organic law for the
Philippine Islands that provided for the creation of a popularly elected
Philippine Assembly
▪ The second act that functioned as a constitution was the Philippine
Autonomy Act of 1916, commonly referred to as "Jones Law," which modified
the structure of the Philippine government.
▪By 1934, another law, the Tydings-McDuffie Act, also known as the Philippine
Independence Act, was passed by the United States Congress that provided
authority and defined mechanisms for the establishment of a formal constitution
by a constitutional convention
THE JAPANESE OCCUPATION AND THE SECOND
PHILIPPINE REPUBLIC – 1943 CONSTITUTION
THE JAPANESE OCCUPATION AND THE SECOND
PHILIPPINE REPUBLIC – 1943 CONSTITUTION
▪ The Commonwealth Government was interrupted by the Second Word War and the
Japanese Occupation of the Philippines
▪ Afterward, upon liberation, the Philippines was declared an independent republic
on 4 July 1946
▪ The 1943 Constitution was basically a condensed version of the 1935 Constitution
consisting only of a preamble and 12 articles
▪ The 1943 Constitution was recognized as legitimate and binding only in Japanese-
controlled areas of the Philippines but was ignored by the United States
government and the Philippine Commonwealth government in-exile.
▪ It was abolished eventually along with the Second Republic upon the liberation of
the Philippines by American forces in 1945 and the re- establishment of the
Commonwealth in the Philippines.
THE 1973 CONSTITUTION
▪ In 1965, Ferdinand E. Marcos was elected president, and in 1967
Philippine Congress passed a resolution calling for a constitutional
convention to change the 1985 Constitution. Marcos won the re-
election" (1969), in a bid boosted by campaign overspending and
use of government funds.
▪ Before the convention finished its work, Martial Law was declared.
Marcos cited a growing communist insurgency as reason for the
Martial Law, which was provided for in the 1935 Constitution.
▪ The constitution was supposed to introduce a parliamentary-style
government, where legislative power was vested in a unicameral
National Assembly, with members being elected to a six-year term.
▪ The 1973 Constitution provided for a parliamentary form of government in
which the President was the symbolic head of the state and the Prime
Minister was the head of government. The prime Minister, who was
nominated by the president, acted as the head of the Cabinet.

▪ In 1981, amendments were made to the 1973 Constitution and the President
was restored from a symbolic head of state to its original status as the head
of the state and chief executive of the country. The amended Constitution also
granted the President several powers and functions which were originally
vested in the Prime Minister and the Cabinet.

▪ The 1973 Constitution remained in force until the February 22-25 EDSA
People Power Revolution of 1986 which toppled the Marcos administration. It
was abolished with the adoption of the 1986 Freedom Constitution by the
administration of President Corazon Aquino.
THE FREEDOM CONSTITUTION (1986)
THE FREEDOM CONSTITUTION
▪ On March 24, 1986, President Aquino signed Proclamation No. 3
entitled “Declaring a National Policy to Implements the Reforms
mandated By the People, Protecting their basic rights, Adopting a
Provisional Constitution, and Providing for an Orderly Transition
constitution, later called the “Freedom Constitution
▪ Under the Freedom Constitution, the President continued to exercise
legislative powers until a legislature was convened under a new
constitution. Furthermore, the President was given the power to
appoint the members of a Constitutional Commission tasked to
draft a new charter “truly reflective of the ideals and aspirations of
the Filipino people.”
▪ It basically adopted some provisions of the 1973 Constitution
especially the Bill of Rights.
THE 1987 PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION
THE 1987 PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION
• June 2, 1986 - the Constitutional Commission, headed by former Justice Cecilia
Munoz Palma, commenced its sessions at the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City.
• February 2, 1987 - After a period of nationwide information campaign, a plebiscite
for its ratification was held.
• An overwhelming 17,059,495 voted to ratify the constitution while 5,058,714 voted
against it.
• February 11, 1987 - the New Constitution was proclaimed ratified and took effect.
THE 1987 CONSTITUTION
▪ Among its significant provisions are as follows:
• A presidential system of government restores the bicameral
Congress of the Philippines, composed of a Senate and a House of
Representatives.
• A modified Bill of Rights (Article III) details the rights of every
Filipino citizen. Much emphasis was placed on the writing of this
provision after the violations committed during the Marcos
dictatorship. In addition, the constitution includes the abolition of
death penalty, except when Congress provides otherwise with
regard to “heinous crimes.”
 The 1987 Constitution consists of 18 Articles with a
Preamble.
Article VI - Legislative Article XII - National
Preamble
Department Economy and Patrimony

Article VII - Executive Article XIII - Social Justice and

Article I - National Territory
Department Human Rights

Article XIV - Education,

Article II - Declaration of
Article VIII - Judicial Department Science and Technology and
Principles and State Policies
Arts

Article IX - Constitutional
Article III - Bill of Rights Article XV - The Family
Commission

Article XVI - General

Article IV - Citizenship Article X - Local Government
Provisions

Article XI - Accountability of Article XVII - Amendments

Article V - Suffrage
Public Officers and Revision

Article XVIII - Transitory

Provisions
MEMORIZE!!!
1. Constitution of Government
➢ This portion of the constitution describes the framework of
government and its power; and also defines the electorate.
2. Constitution of Liberty
➢ This part enumerates the fundamental rights of the people
guaranteed under the constitution.
3. Constitution of sovereignty
➢ This part indicates the manner of amending or revising the
constitution.
▪ Representative democracy or a Presidential form of
government acknowledging the civilian authority as
supreme over the military.
▪ To serve and protect the people
▪ Bicameral Congress
▪ Tripartite system of government – coordinate,
coequal and each functions independently,
uncontrolled and uncontrollable by the other.
I. LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT (ART. VI)
▪ A branch of government that has the power to pass, amend,
and repeal laws.
What is Legislative Power?
▪ It is the authority to make laws, alter and repeal.
▪ The legislative power is conferred upon Congress of the
Philippines which shall consist of the Senate and a House of
Representatives, except to the extent reserved to the
people by the provision on initiative and referendum (Sec.
1, Art.VI).
II. EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT (ART. VII)
▪ charged with the execution and enforcement of laws and policies and
the administration of public affairs.
▪ This branch is composed of the following:
a. The President
b. The Vice-President
c. The Cabinet
d. The Local Government
III. THE JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT
▪ This is the branch of government charged with the
interpretation of laws and the administration of
justice. Judicial power is vested in the Supreme
Court and other lower courts established by law.
The judiciary has the duty to settle actual
controversies involving rights which are legally
demandable and enforceable.
▪ Bill of Rights, Article III (Kindly familiarize yourselves with
Art. III)
▪ There are 22 sections under this Article III of the 1987
Constitution otherwise known as The Bill of Rights.
▪ Sovereignty. It is the quality of having independent authority over a
geographic area, such as a territory. Sovereignty is exercised by the State
to exact obedience to its laws upon the citizens.
▪ Garner defines sovereignty “as the power of the State to command
obedience, the power to which, legally speaking, all interests are
practically subject and all will coordinate.”
▪ Sovereignty may be internal or external. Internal sovereignty denotes the
power of the State to control and govern its people, while external
sovereignty denotes freedom of a State from external control;
independence.
▪ By virtue of this sovereignty, that power to amend or revise the 1987
Constitution is thereby vested on the Congress upon a vote of three-
fourths of all its members; or through a constitutional convention.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH!