Malolos Constitution

Malolos Constitution
The Political Constitution of 1899 (Spanish: Constitución Política de 1899), informally known as the
Malolos Constitution, was the basic law of the First Philippine Republic. It was written by Felipe Calderón
y Roca and Felipe Buencamino as an alternative to a pair of proposals to the Malolos Congress by
Apolinario Mabini and Pedro Paterno.
Influences
The style of the document is patterned after the Spanish Constitution of 1812, which many Latin
American charters from the same period similarly follow.Calderon himself writes in his journal that the
charters of Belgium, Mexico, Brazil, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Guatemala, in addition to using the
French Constitution of 1793, were also studied as these countries shared similar social, political,
ethnological and governance conditions with the Philippine Island.
Preamble
WE, the Representatives of the Filipino people, lawfully convened, in order to establish justice, provide
for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and to secure for ourselves the blessings of
liberty, imploring the aid of the Supreme Legislator of the Universe to help us attain these objectives,
have voted, decreed, and sanctioned the following.
Malolos constitution timeline

September 15, 1898 – drafting of the constitution
September 29, 1898 - ratified the declaration of Philippine independence held at Kawit, Cavite on June
12, 1898
January 21 1899 – promulgation/inauguration of the constitution
Constitutional Ideas
1. Retroversion of sovereignty to the people
-The principle of the retroversion of the sovereignty to the people, which challenged the legitimacy of
the colonial authorities of the Spanish Empire,[10] was the legal principle underlying the Spanish
American wars of independence and Philippine Revolution
2. Civil liberties in the Spanish tradition
-The twenty-seven articles of Title IV detail the natural rights and popular sovereignty of Filipinos. The
list is extensive, encompassing not just civil liberties and negative liberties, but also protections against
self-incrimination and the limitation of criminal procedure.
3. Form of government
-According to Title II, Article 4 the Government of the Republic is to be popular, representative,
alternative and responsible, and shall exercise three distinct powers: namely, the legislative, the
executive, and the judicial.
4. Permanent Commission
-The Permanent Commission is created to make decisions when the National Assembly is in recess. The
National Assembly is empowered to elect seven of its members to constitute the Permanent
Commission, with the obligation that the Commission choose a President and a Secretary on its first
session.
In summary
The Malolos Constitution of 1898-99 reflected the aspirations of educated Filipinos to create a polity as
enlightened as any in the world. That first constitution was modeled on those of France, Belgium, and
some of the South American republics. Powers were divided, but the legislature wassupreme. A bill of
rights guaranteed individual liberties. The church was separated from the state, but this provision was
included only after a long debate and passed only by a single vote. The Malolos Constitution was in
effect only briefly; United States troops soon installed a colonial government, which remained in effect
until the establishment of the Philippine Commonwealth in 1935.
Sources
1.https://www.philippine-history.org/malolos-congress.htm
2.http://www.msc.edu.ph/centennial/constitution.html
3.https://www.coursehero.com/file/25207064/Salient-Features-of-1935-1973-and-1987-Philippine-
Constitutiondoc/
4.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malolos_Constitution
*Malcolm, George (March 1921). "The Malolos Constitution". Political Science Quarterly. 36 (1):
91–103. doi:10.2307/2142663.
*Kalaw, Maximo Manguiat (2007) [1921], The Present Government of the Philippines, Oriental
commercial, ISBN 1-4067-4636-3 (Note: 1. The book cover incorrectly names the author as "Maximo M
Lalaw", 2. Originally published in 1921 by The McCullough Printing Co., Manila)</small;>
* Rodriguez, Rufus Bautista (1997), "The 1899 'Malolos' Constitution", Constitutionalism in the
Philippines: With Complete Texts of the 1987 Constitution and Other Previous Organic Acts and
Constitutions, Rex Bookstore, Inc., ISBN 978-971-23-2193-1, ISBN 971-23-2193-2, ISBN 978-971-23-
2193-1.

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