THE CONSTITUTION

OF THE PHILIPPINE
COMMONWEALTH
THE 1935 PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION
 DEFINITION OF
“COMMONWEALTH”
A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a
political community founded for the common
good. Historically it has sometimes been
synonymous with "republic".
 THE COMMONWEALTH OF THE
PHILIPPINES 
The Commonwealth of the Philippines was the administrative
body that governed the Philippines from 1935 to 1946, aside
from a period of exile in the Second World War from 1942 to
1945 when Japan occupied the country. It replaced the Insular
Government, a United States territorial government, and was
established by the Tydings–McDuffie Act.The Commonwealth
was designed as a transitional administration in preparation for
the country's full achievement of independence.Its foreign affairs
remained managed by the United States.
 The OsRox Mission (1931)

 The OsRox Mission (1931) was a

campaign for self-government and
United States recognition of the
independence of the Philippines led
by former Senate President Sergio
Osmeña and House Speaker Manuel
Roxas.
THE HARE-HAWES-CUTTING ACT (1932)
The Hare–Hawes–Cutting Act was the first US law passed
setting a process and a date for the Philippines to gain
independence from the United States. It was the result of
the OsRox Mission led by Sergio Osmeña and Manuel Roxas.
The law promised Philippine independence after 10 years, but
reserved several military and naval bases for the United States,
as well as imposed tariffs and quotas on Philippine imports.
The Tydings-McDuffie Law (1934)

 President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the new U.S.

president, signed it into law on March 24, 1934. The
Tydings-McDuffie Act (officially the Philippine
Independence Act of the United States Congress; Public
Law 73-127) or more popularly known as the The
Tydings-McDuffie Law provided for the establishment of
the Commonwealth government for a period of ten years
preparatory to the granting of Independence. 
Presidential and Vice Presidential elections of 1935 

Presidential and vice presidential elections of 1935 were held on

September 16, 1935. This was the fourth election since the
enactment of the Tydings–McDuffie Act, a law that paved the way
for a transitory government, as well as the first nationwide at-large
election ever held in the Philippines. Senate President Manuel Luis
Quezon won a lopsided victory against former President Emilio
Aguinaldo. His election victory was largely due to the weak
political machinations of his rivals.
 THE 1935 PHILIPPINE
CONSTITUTION
The 1935 Constitution provided the legal basis of the Commonwealth
Government which was considered a transition government before the granting
of the Philippine independence with American-inspired constitution; the
Philippine government would eventually pattern its government system after
American government.

The draft of the constitution was approved by the convention on February 8,

1935 and ratified by Pres. Roosevelt in Washington D.C on March 25, 1935
Salient features of the 1935 Constitution include the following:
• a bicameral legislature composed of a senate and House of
Representatives
• The President is to be elected to a four-year term together with
the Vice-President without re-election
• rights of suffrage by male citizens of the Philippines who are
twenty-one years of age or over and are able to read and write
• extension of the right of suffrage to women within two years after
the adoption of the constitution.
• It has been said that the 1935 Constitution
was the best-written Philippine charter ever.