What are the characteristics of a Philippine constitution?

Answer 1

The Constitution is organized into three parts:

• Preamble: Describes the purpose of the document and government.
• Articles: Establish how the government is structured and how the Constitution can be changed. There are seven articles.
• Amendments: Changes to the Constitution; the first ten are called the Bill of Rights.

Answer 2

Historical constitutions

Constitution of La Liga Filipina

A short lived constitution prepared by Nationalist Jose Rizal for the Organization La Liga Filipina, that dissolved when Dr. Rizal was exiled in Dapitan.

Constitution of Biak-na-Bato (1897)

The Katipunan revolution led to the Tejeros Convention where, at San Francisco de Malabon, Cavite, on March 22, 1897, the first presidential and vice presidential elections in Philippine history were held-although only the Katipuneros (members of the Katipunan) were able to take part, and not the general populace. A later meeting of the revolutionary government established there, held on November 1, 1897 at Biak-na-Bato in the town of San Miguel de Mayumo in Bulacan, established the Republic of Biak-na-Bato. The republic had a constitution drafted by Isabelo Artacho and Félix Ferrer and based on the first Cuban Constitution.[9] It is known as the "Constitución Provisional de la República de Filipinas", and was originally written in and promulgated in the Spanish and Tagalog languages.[10]

Malolos Constitution (1899)

The Malolos Constitution was the first republican constitution in Asia.[11] It declared that sovereignty resides exclusively in the people, stated basic civil rights, separated the church and state, and called for the creation of an Assembly of Representatives to act as the legislative body. It also called for a Presidential form of government with the president elected for a term of four years by a majority of the Assembly.[12] It was titled "Constitución política", and was written in Spanish following the Declaration of Independence from Spain,[13] proclaimed on January 20, 1899, and was enacted and ratified by the Malolos Congress, a Congress held in Malolos, Bulacan.[14][15]

The Preamble reads:

"

"Nosotros los Representantes del Pueblo Filipino, convocados legítimamente para establecer la justicia, proveer a la defensa común, promover el bien general y asegurar los beneficios de la libertad, implorando el auxilió del Soberano Legislador del Universo para alcanzar estos fines, hemos votado, decretado y sancionado la siguiente"

"

(We, the Representatives of the Filipino people, lawfully covened, in order to establish justice, provide for common defense, promote the general welfare, and insure the benefits of liberty, imploring the aid of the Sovereign Legislator of the Universe for the attainment of these ends, have voted, decreed, and sanctioned the following)

Acts of the United States Congress

The Philippines was a United States Territory from December 10, 1898 to March 24, 1934.[16] As such, the Philippines was under the jurisdiction of the federal government of the United States during this period. Two acts of the United States Congress passed during this period can be considered Philippine constitutions in that those acts defined the fundamental political principles, and established the structure, procedures, powers and duties, of the Philippine government.

1. The Philippine Organic Act of 1902, sometimes known as the "Philippine Bill of 1902", was the first organic law for the Philippine Islands enacted by the United States Congress. It provided for the creation of a popularly elected Philippine Assembly, and specified that legislative power would be vested in a bicameral legislature composed of the Philippine Commission (upper house) and the Philippine Assembly (lower house). Its key provisions included a bill of rights for the Filipinos and the appointment of two nonvoting Filipino resident commissioners to represent the Philippines in the United States Congress.

2. The Philippine Autonomy Act of 1916, sometimes known as "Jones Law", modified the structure of the Philippine government by removing the Philippine Commission as the legislative upper house, replacing it with a Senate elected by Filipino voters. This act also explicitly stated that it was and had always been the purpose of the people of the United States to withdraw their sovereignty over the Philippine Islands and to recognize Philippine independence as soon as a stable government can be established therein.

Though not a constitution itself, the Tydings-McDuffie Act of 1934 provided authority and defined mechanisms for the establishment of a formal constitution via a constitutional convention.

Commonwealth and Third Republic (1935)

The 1935 Constitution was written in 1934, approved and adopted by the Commonwealth of the Philippines (1935-1946) and later used by the Third Republic of the Philippines (1946-1972). It was written with an eye to meeting the approval of the United States Government as well, so as to ensure that the U.S. would live up to its promise to grant the Philippines independence and not have a premise to hold onto its "possession" on the grounds that it was too politically immature and hence unready for full, real independence.

The Preamble reads:

"

"The Filipino people, 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 regime of justice, liberty, and democracy, do ordain and promulgate this constitution."

"

The original 1935 Constitution provided for unicameral National Assembly and the President was elected to a six-year term without re-election. It was amended in 1940 to have a bicameral Congress composed of a Senate and House of Representatives, as well the creation of an independent electoral commission. The Constitution now granted the President a four-year term with a maximum of two consecutive terms in office.

A Constitutional Convention was held in 1971 to rewrite the 1935 Constitution. The convention was stained with manifest bribery and corruption. Possibly the most controversial issue was removing the presidential term limit so that Ferdinand E. Marcos could seek election for a third term, which many felt was the true reason for which the convention was called. In any case, the 1935 Constitution was suspended in 1972 with Marcos' proclamation of martial law, the rampant corruption of the constitutional process providing him with one of his major premises for doing so.

Second Republic (1943)

The 1943 Constitution was drafted by a committee appointed by the Philippine Executive Commission, the body established by the Japanese to administer the Philippines in lieu of the Commonwealth of the Philippines which had established a government-in-exile. In mid-1942 Japanese Premier Hideki Tōjō had promised the Filipinos "the honor of independence" which meant that the commission would be supplanted by a formal republic.

The Preparatory Committee for Philippine Independence tasked with drafting a new constitution was composed in large part, of members of the prewar National Assembly and of individuals with experience as delegates to the convention that had drafted the 1935 Constitution. Their draft for the republic to be established under the Japanese Occupation, however, would be limited in duration, provide for indirect, instead of direct, legislative elections, and an even stronger executive branch.

Upon approval of the draft by the Committee, the new charter was ratified in 1943 by an assembly of appointed, provincial representatives of the Kalibapi, the organization established by the Japanese to supplant all previous political parties. Upon ratification by the Kalibapi assembly, the Second Republic was formally proclaimed (1943-1945). José P. Laurel was appointed as President by the National Assembly and inaugurated into office in October 1943. Laurel was highly regarded by the Japanese for having openly criticised the US for the way they ran the Philippines, and because he had a degree from Tokyo International University.

The 1943 Constitution remained in force in Japanese-controlled areas of the Philippines, but was never recognized as legitimate or binding by the governments of the United States or of the Commonwealth of the Philippines and guerrilla organizations loyal to them. In late 1944, President Laurel declared a state of war existed with the United States and the British Empire and proclaimed martial law, essentially ruling by decree. His government in turn went into exile in December, 1944, first to Taiwan and then Japan. After the announcement of Japan's surrender, Laurel formally proclaimed the Second Republic as dissolved.

Until the 1960s, the Second Republic, and its officers, were not viewed as legitimate or as having any standing, with the exception of the Supreme Court whose decisions, limited to reviews of criminal and commercial cases as part of a policy of discretion by Chief Justice José Yulo continued to be part of the official records (this was made easier by the Commonwealth never constituting a Supreme Court, and the formal vacancy in the chief justice position for the Commonwealth with the execution of Chief Justice José Abad Santos by the Japanese). It was only during the Macapagal administration that a partial, political rehabilitation of the Japanese-era republic took place, with the recognition of Laurel as a former president and the addition of his cabinet and other officials to the roster of past government officials. However, the 1943 charter was not taught in schools and the laws of the 1943-44 National Assembly never recognized as valid or relevant.

The Preamble reads:

"

"The Filipino people, imploring the aid of Divine Providence and desiring to lead a free national existence, do hereby proclaim their independence, and in order to establish a government that shall promote the general welfare, conserve and develop the patrimony of the Nation, and contribute to the creation of a world order based on peace, liberty, and moral justice, do ordain this Constitution."

"

The 1943 Constitution provided strong executive powers. The Legislature consisted of a unicameral National Assembly and only those considered as anti-US could stand for election, although in practice most legislators were appointed rather than elected.

The New Society and the Fourth Republic (1973)

The 1973 Constitution, promulgated after Marcos' declaration of martial law, was supposed to introduce a parliamentary-style government. Legislative power was vested in a National Assembly whose members were elected for six-year terms. The President was ideally supposed to be elected as the symbolic and purely ceremonial head of state from the Members of the National Assembly for a six-year term and could be re-elected to an unlimited number of terms. Upon election, the President ceased to be a member of the National Assembly. During his term, the President was not allowed to be a member of a political party or hold any other office. Executive power was meant to be exercised by the Prime Minister who was also elected from the Members of the National Assembly. The Prime Minister was the head of government and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. This constitution was subsequently amended four times (arguably five depending on how one considers Proclamation No. 3 of 1986).

On October 16-17, 1976, a majority of barangay voters (Citizen Assemblies) approved that martial law should be continued and ratified the amendments to the Constitution proposed by President Marcos.[19]

The 1976 amendments were:

· an Interim Batasang Pambansa (IBP) substituting for the Interim National Assembly

· the President would also become the Prime Minister and he would continue to exercise legislative powers until martial law should have been lifted.

The Sixth Amendment authorized the President to legislate:

Whenever in the judgment of the President there exists a grave emergency or a threat or imminence thereof, or whenever the Interim Batasang Pambansa or the regular National Assembly fails or is unable to act adequately on any matter for any reason that in his judgment requires immediate action, he may, in order to meet the exigency, issue the necessary decrees, orders or letters of instructions, which shall form part of the law of the land.

The 1973 Constitution was further amended in 1980 and 1981. In the 1980 amendment, the retirement age of the members of the Judiciary was extended to 70 years. In the 1981 amendments, the false parliamentary system was formally modified into a French-style semi-presidential system:

· executive power was restored to the President;

· direct election of the President was restored;

· an Executive Committee composed of the Prime Minister and not more than fourteen members was created to "assist the President in the exercise of his powers and functions and in the performance of his duties as he may prescribe;" and the Prime Minister was a mere head of the Cabinet.

· Further, the amendments instituted electoral reforms and provided that a natural born citizen of the Philippines who has lost his citizenship may be a transferee of private land for use by him as his residence.

The last amendments in 1984 abolished the Executive Committee and restored the position of Vice-President (which did not exist in the original, unamended 1973 Constitution).

In actual practice, while the 1973 Constitution was ideally supposed to set up a true parliamentary system, the late President Marcos had made use of subterfuge and manipulation in order to keep executive power for himself, rather than devolving executive powers to the Parliament, as headed by the Prime Minister. The end result was that the 1973 Constitution - due to all amendments and subtle manipulations - was merely the abolition of the Senate and a series of cosmetic text-changes where the old American-derived terminologies such House of Representatives became known as the "Batasang Pambansa" (National Assembly), Departments became known as "Ministries", cabinet secretaries became known as "cabinet ministers", and the President's assistant - the Executive Secretary - became known as the "Prime Minister."

Ultimately, Marcos' so-called "Parliamentary System" therefore functioned as an authoritarian-run Presidential System due to the series of amendments and other modifications put in place after the 1973 Constitution was ratified.

1986 "Freedom Constitution"

Following the EDSA People Power Revolution that removed President Ferdinand Marcos from office, the new President, Corazon C. Aquino issued Proclamation No. 3 as a provisional constitution. It adopted certain provisions from the 1973 constitution and granted the President broad powers to reorganise thse government and remove officials from office, and mandated that the president would appoint a commission to draft a new constitution.

Answer 3

a lot of people here in the philppines they dont know about the constitution,but i dont beleive that people are educated without any knowledge of the constitutions, the most important that we study the most of what is the people rigths about the constitution,first we must study the article 3, The bill of rigths,the bill of rigths they emphasize the word forewords, however,the liberty of the peolpe,and the property ca not deprived of any people without the law process.

Answer 4

people land/territory government sovereignty

Answer 5

1. Constitution of government

2. Constitution of liberty

3. Constitution of sovereignty [Social and economic rights]

Answer 6

Commission on election