Chapter 4
Social,Political,Economic and
Cultural Issues in the
Philippine History
Learning Objectives:
• To analyze social, political,economic and cultural issues
in the Philippines using the lens of history.
• To recognize that the problems of today are
consequences of decision and events that happened in
the past.
• To understand several enduring issues in Philippine
society through history.
• To propose recommendation or solution to present-day
problems based on the understanding of the past and
anticipation of the future through the study of history.
What is Constitution ?
• Constitution is defined as a set of
fundamental principles or establish precedents
according to which a state or other organizations
is governed.
• Constitution serves as the supreme fundamental,
this established the basic framework and
underlying principles of the government.
• The Constitution is important to a state because
it balances the power of the government and the
rights of the people.
Evolution in the Philippine
Constitution
• The Constitution of the Philippines, is the
supreme law of the Republic of the Philippines
has been effect since 1987.
• There were only three other constitutions that
have effectively governed the country: the
1935 Commonwealth Constitution, the 1973
Constitution, and the 1986 Freedom
Constitution.
• However, there were earlier constitutions
attempted by Filipinos in the struggle to
break free from the colonial yoke.
1897: Constitution of Biak-na-Bato
• The Constitution of Biak-na-Bato 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
1897: Constitution of Biak-na-Bato
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
(Supreme Council of Grace and Justice), which was given the
authority to make decisions and affirm or disprove the
sentences rendered by other courts and to dictate rules for
1897: Constitution of Biak-na-Bato
• (3) the Asamblea de Representantes (Assembly
of Representatives), 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.
• 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.
1899: Malolos Constitution
• After the signing of the truce, the Filipino revolutionary
leaders accepted a payment from Spain and went to exile in
Hong Kong.
• Upon the defeat of the Spanish to the Americans in the Battle
of Manila Bay on 1 May 1898, the United States Navy
transported Aguinaldo back to the Philippines.
• The newly reformed Philippine revolutionary forces reverted
to the control of Aguinaldo, and the Philippine Declaration of
Independence was issued on 12 June 1898, together with
several decrees that formed the First Philippine Republic.
1899: Malolos Constitution
• The Malolos Congress was elected, which selected a
commission to draw up a draft constitution on 17
September 1898, which was composed of wealthy
and educated men.
• The document they came up with, approved by the
Congress on 29 November 1898, and promulgated by
Aguinaldo on 21 January 1899, was titled "The
Political Constitution of 1899" and written in Spanish.
1899: Malolos Constitution
• The constitution has 39 articles divided into 14 titles, with
eight articles of transitory provisions, and a final additional
article.
• The document was patterned after the Spanish
Constitution of 1812, with influences from the charters of
Belgium, Mexico, Brazil, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and
Guatemala, and the French Constitution of 1793.
• According to Felipe Calderon, main author of the
constitution, these countries were studied because they
shared similar social, political, ethnological, and
governance conditions with the Philippines.
1899: Malolos Constitution
• Prior constitution Projects in the Philippines also
influenced the Malolos Constitution, namely, the
Kartilya and the Sanggunian- Hukuman, the charter of
laws and morals of the Katipunan written by Emilio
Jacinto in 1896; the Biak-na-bato Constitution of 1897
planned by Isabelo Artacho; Mabini’s Constitutional
Program of the Philippine Republic of 1898; the
provisional constitution of Mariano Ponce in 1898
that followed the Spanish constitutions; and the
autonomy projects of Paterno in 1898
1899: Malolos Constitution
• As a direct challenge to colonial authorities of the
Spanish empire,the sovereignty was retroverted to
the people, a legal principle underlying the
Philippines.
• The people delegated governmental function to civil
servant while they retrained actual sovereignty.
• The 27 articles of Title IV detail the natural rights
and popular sovereignty of Filipinos,the
enumeration of which does not imply the
prohibition of any other rights not expressly stated.
1899: Malolos Constitution
• Title III, Article V also declares that the state recognize
the freedom and equality of all beliefs, as well as the
separation of church and state.
• These are direct reaction to features of the Spanish
government in the Philippines where friars were
dominant agents of the state.
• The form of government, according to the title II,
Article IV is to be popular representative, alternative
and responsible, and shall exercise three distinct
powers;Legislative, Executive and Judicial.
1899: Malolos Constitution
• The legislative power was vested in a unicameral
body called the Assembly of Representatives,
members of which are elected for terms of four
years.
• Secretaries of government were given seats in the
assembly,which meet annually for a period of at
least three months.
• Bills could be introduced either by the president or
by a member of yhe the assembly.
1899: Malolos Constitution
• The 1899 Malolos Constitution was never
enforced due to the ongoing war.
• The Philippines was effectively territory of
the united states upon the signing of the
Treaty of Paris between spain and the united
states, transferring of Philippines on
December 1,1898
