The document summarizes the history of Philippine constitutions, beginning with the 1897 Constitution of Biak-na-Bato and 1899 Malolos Constitution during the Philippine Revolution. It then discusses the key acts and agreements that established frameworks for Philippine self-governance under U.S. sovereignty, culminating in the 1935 Constitution which established the Commonwealth of the Philippines and paved the way for full independence. Key events included the Jones Law of 1916, Tydings-McDuffie Act of 1934, and the 1934 Constitutional Convention which drafted the 1935 Constitution.

1. THE PHILIPPINE
CONSTITUTION
MODULE 10

2. What is Constitution?
 the fundamental law of a nation or state
 whether written or unwritten is recognized as the supreme law
of the land as it serves as the basis for the legitimacy of
any governmental acts necessary for its existence
 a codified law that determines the powers and duties of a
government and it embodies certain rights of the people
 establishes the character and basic principles of the
government
 the fundamental rules and principles by which an
organization is managed
 same principles that make clear the rights of the individual and
creates limitations to government power
 the highest expression of the law

5. 1897: Constitution of Biak-na-Bato
1899: Malolos Constitution

6. 1897: Constitution of Biak-na-Bato
• was the provisionary Constitution of the
Philippine Republic during the Philippine
Revolution
• was promulgated by the Philippine
Revolutionary development on November 1,
1897
• was borrowed from Cuba
• written by Isabelo Artacho and Felix Ferrer in
Spanish, and later on, translated into Tagalog

7. The organs of the government under
the Constitution were:
1. The Supreme Council which was vested with the power of
the republic, headed by the president and four department
secretaries: the interior, foreign affairs, treasury, and war;
2. The Consejo Supremo de Gracia Y Justicia, which was
given the authority to make decisions and affirm or disprove
the sentences rendered by other courts and to dictate rules for
the administration of justice;
3. The Asamblea de Representative, which was to be
convened after the revolution to create a new Constitution and
to elect a new Council of Government and Representatives of
the People.

8. 1899: Malolos Constitution
• the first Philippine
Constitution – the first
republican constitution in
Asia
• was drafted and adopted
by the First Philippine
Republic, which lasted
from 1899 to 1901

9. 1. Philippine Organic Act of 1902, which provided for a
Philippine Assembly composed of Filipino citizens.
2. Philippine Autonomy Act of 1916 (Jones Law of 1916) ,
which included the first pledge of Philippine
Independence; announcing the intention of the United
States government to “withdraw their sovereignty over
the Philippine Islands as soon as a stable government
can be established therein.”
3. Philippine Independence Act that mandated the
Philippine Legislature to call for an election of
delegates to a Constitutional Convention to draft a
Constitution for the Philippines.

10. The 1934 Constitutional Convention was submitted to the
President of the United States for certification on March 25, 1935. It
was in accordance with the Philippine Independence Act of 1934.

11. The 1934 Constitutional Convention was submitted
to the President of the United States for certification on March
25, 1935. 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.
In 1940, the 1935 Constitution was amended by the
National Assembly of the Philippines. The legislature was
changed from a unicameral assembly to a bicameral congress.
The amendment also changed the term limit of the President of
the Philippines from six years with no reelection to four years
with a possibility of being reelected for a second term.

14. The Constitution of the Philippine
Commonwealth
• Treaty of Paris (1898), officially ended the period of
Spanish colonization in the Philippines and granted
possession of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the
Philippines to the United States. It also required that the
United States pay $20 million USD in recompense to
the Spanish government.

15. • Spooner Amendment, a congressional amendment to the
Army Appropriations Act of 1901 that called for the end of the
U.S military government in the Philippines. By the terms of
the Treaty of Paris (December 1898), sovereignty over the
Philippine Islands had passed from Spain to the United
States.
• William Howard Taft,
 is an executive and administrator
 became the first civilian governor of the
Philippines, concentrating in the economic
development of the islands

16. • Jones Law of 1916, a creation of an all-Filipino legislature
composed of the Philippine Senate and House of Representatives.
However, the position of Chief Executive – the Governor-General –
and what was considered the most important cabinet portfolio –
Public Instruction – were reserved for American officials appointed
by the President of the United States. Half of the Philippine
Supreme Court was reserved for Americans as well.
• First Philippine Assembly
 composed of educated Filipinos
from illustrious clans such as
Sergio Osmeña and Manuel L.
Quezon who revived the issue of
immediate independence for the
Filipinos and this was expressed
by sending political missions to
the US Congress

17. • In 1931, the OsRox Mission (which stands for “Osmeña and
Roxas”) successfully lobbied for the enactment of the Hare-
Hawes-Cutting Act, which was passed over President Herbert
Hoover’s veto in 1932. However, it was rejected by the Philippine
Legislature.
• 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. This is the result of the OsRox Mission.
• Tydings-McDuffie Act, the act that gave the Philippines greater
autonomy and provided for the creation of a bicameral national
legislature modeled after the U.S Congress. It also provide the
complete independence of the Philippine Islands, to prove for the
adoption of a constitution and a form of government for the
Philippine island, and for other purposes.

18. • Tydings-McDuffie Act was authored by Se. Millard Tydings and
Rep. John McDuffie. This act was slightly an amended version of
the Hare-Hawes-Cutting Bill signed by President Franklin
Roosevelt on March 24, 1934.
Salient Features of Tydings-McDuffie Act:
 Provides a presidential system of government with 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.

19. • 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.
• Elections were held in September 1935 where Manuel L. Quezon
was elected as the president of the Commonwealth 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 1935 Constitution was the best-written Philippine charter
• The Commonwealth was briefly interrupted by the events of the
World War II, with the Japanese occupying the Philippines.
• Afterward, upon liberation, the Philippine was declared an
independent republic on July 4, 1946.