1987 CONSTITUTION

PREAMBLE

We, the sovereign Filipino people, imploring the aid of Almighty God, in order to build a just and humane society and establish a Government that shall embody our ideals and aspirations, promote the common good, conserve and develop our patrimony, and secure to ourselves and our posterity the blessings of independence and democracy under the rule of law and a regime of truth, justice, freedom, love, equality, and peace, do ordain and promulgate this Constitution. ARTICLE I National Territory

The national territory comprises the Philippine archipelago, with all the islands and waters embraced therein, and all other territories over which the Philippines has sovereignty or jurisdiction, consisting of its terrestrial, fluvial, and aerial domains, including its territorial sea, the seabed, the subsoil, the insular shelves, and other submarine areas. The waters around, between, and connecting the islands of the archipelago, regardless of their breadth and dimensions, form part of the internal waters of the Philippines. ARTICLE II Declaration of Principles and State Policies Principles

SECTION 1. The Philippines is a democratic and republican State. Sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them. SECTION 2. The Philippines renounces war as an instrument of national policy, adopts the generally accepted principles of international law as part of the law of the land and adheres to the policy of peace, equality, justice, freedom, cooperation, and amity with all nations. SECTION 3. Civilian authority is, at all times, supreme over the military. The Armed Forces of the Philippines is the protector of the people and the State. Its goal is to secure the sovereignty of the State and the integrity of the national territory. SECTION 4. The prime duty of the Government is to serve and protect the people. The Government may call upon the people to defend the State and, in the fulfillment thereof, all citizens may be required, under conditions provided by law, to render personal military or civil

service. SECTION 5. The maintenance of peace and order, the protection of life, liberty, and property, and the promotion of the general welfare are essential for the enjoyment by all the people of the blessings of democracy. SECTION 6. The separation of Church and State shall be inviolable. State Policies

SECTION 7. The State shall pursue an independent foreign policy. In its relations with other states the paramount consideration shall be national sovereignty, territorial integrity, national interest, and the right to self-determination. SECTION 8. The Philippines , consistent with the national interest, adopts and pursues a policy of freedom from nuclear weapons in its territory. SECTION 9. The State shall promote a just and dynamic social order that will ensure the prosperity and independence of the nation and free the people from poverty through policies that provide adequate social services, promote full employment, a rising standard of living, and an improved quality of life for all. SECTION 10. The State shall promote social justice in all phases of national development. SECTION 11. The State values the dignity of every human person and guarantees full respect for human rights. Cdpr SECTION 12. The State recognizes the sanctity of family life and shall protect and strengthen the family as a basic autonomous social institution. It shall equally protect the life of the mother and the life of the unborn from conception. The natural and primary right and duty of parents in the rearing of the youth for civic efficiency and the development of moral character shall receive the support of the Government. SECTION 13. The State recognizes the vital role of the youth in national building and shall promote and protect their physical, moral, spiritual, intellectual, and social well-being. It shall inculcate in the youth patriotism and nationalism, and encourage their involvement in public and civic affairs. SECTION 14. The State recognizes the role of women in nation-building, and shall ensure the fundamental equality before the law of women and men. SECTION 15. The State shall protect and promote the right to health of the people and instill health consciousness among them. SECTION 16. The State shall protect and advance the right of the people to a balanced and healthful ecology in accord with the rhythm and harmony of nature.

SECTION 17. The State shall give priority to education, science and technology, arts, culture, and sports to foster patriotism and nationalism, accelerate social progress, and promote total human liberation and development. SECTION 18. The State affirms labor as a primary social economic force. It shall protect the rights of workers and promote their welfare. SECTION 19. The State shall develop a self-reliant and independent national economy effectively controlled by Filipinos. SECTION 20. The State recognizes the indispensable role of the private sector, encourages private enterprise, and provides incentives to needed investments. SECTION 21. The State shall promote comprehensive rural development and agrarian reform. SECTION 22. The State recognizes and promotes the rights of indigenous cultural communities within the framework of national unity and development. SECTION 23. The State shall encourage non-governmental, community-based, or sectoral organizations that promote the welfare of the nation. SECTION 24. The State recognizes the vital role of communication and information in nationbuilding. SECTION 25. The State shall ensure the autonomy of local governments. SECTION 26. The State shall guarantee equal access to opportunities for public service, and prohibit political dynasties as may be defined by law. SECTION 27. The State shall maintain honesty and integrity in the public service and take positive and effective measures against graft and corruption. SECTION 28. Subject to reasonable conditions prescribed by law, the State adopts and implements a policy of full public disclosure of all its transactions involving public interest.

Introduction
The Constitution of the Philippines (Filipino: Saligang Batas ng Pilipinas) is the supreme law of the Philippines. The Constitution currently in effect was enacted in 1987, during the administration of President Corazon Aquino, and is popularly known as the "1987 Constitution".Philippine constitutional law experts recognize three other previous constitutions as having effectively governed the country the 1935 Commonwealth Constitution, the 1973 Constitution, and the 1986 Freedom Constitution. Constitutions for the Philippines were also drafted and adopted during the short-lived governments of Presidents Emilio Aguinaldo (1898) and Jos P. Laurel (1943).

Background of the 1987 Constitution

In 1986, following the People Power Revolution which ousted Ferdinand Marcos as president, and following on her own inauguration, Corazon Aquino issued Proclamation No. 3, declaring a national policy to implement the reforms mandated by the people, protecting their basic rights, adopting a provisional constitution, and providing for an orderly translation to a government under a new constitution. President Aquino later issued Proclamation No. 9, creating a Constitutional Commission (popularly abbreviated "Con Com" in the Philippines) to frame a new constitution to replace the 1973 Constitution which took effect during the Marcos martial law regime. Aquino appointed 50 members to the Commission. The members of the Commission were drawn from varied backgrounds, including several former congressmen, a former Supreme Court Chief Justice (Roberto Concepcion), a Catholic bishop (Teodoro Bacani) and film director (Lino Brocka). Aquino also deliberately appointed 5 members, including former Labor Minister Blas Ople, who had been allied with Marcos until the latter's ouster. After the Commission had convened, it elected as its president Cecilia Muoz-Palma, who had emerged as a leading figure in the anti-Marcos opposition following her retirement as the first female Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. The Commission finished the draft charter within four months after it was convened. Several issues were heatedly debated during the sessions, including on the form of government to adopt, the abolition of the death penalty, the continued retention of the Clark and Subic American military bases, and the integration of economic policies into the Constitution. Brocka would walk out of the Commission before its completion, and two other delegates would dissent from the final draft. The ConCom completed their task on October 12, 1986 and presented the draft constitution to President Aquino on October 15, 1986. After a period of nationwide information campaign, a plebiscite for its ratification was held on February 2, 1987. More than three-fourth of all votes cast, 76.37% (or 17,059,495 voters) favored ratification as against 22.65% (or 5,058,714 voters) who voted against ratification. On February 11, 1987, the new constitution was proclaimed ratified and took effect. On that same day, Aquino, the other government officials, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines pledged allegiance to the Constitution.

Significant features of the 1987 Constitution

The Constitution establishes the Philippines as a "democratic and republican State", where "sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them". (Section 1, Article II) Consistent with the doctrine of separation of powers, the powers of the national government are exercised in main by three branches the executive branch headed by the President, the legislative branch composed of Congress and the judicial branch with the Supreme Court occupying the highest tier of the judiciary. The President and the members of Congress are directly elected by the people, while the members of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President from a list formed by the Judicial and Bar Council. As with the American system of government, it is Congress which enacts the laws, subject to the veto power of the President which may nonetheless be overturned by a two-thirds vote of Congress (Section 27(1), Article VI). The President has the constitutional duty to ensure the faithful execution of the laws (Section 17, Article VII), while the courts are expressly granted the power of judicial review (Section 1, Article VIII), including the power to nullify or interpret laws. The President is also recognized as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces (Section 18, Article VII). The Constitution also establishes limited political autonomy to the local government units that act as the municipal governments for provinces, cities, municipalities, and barangays. (Section 1, Article X) Local governments are generally considered as falling under the executive branch, yet local legislation requires enactment by duly elected local legislative bodies. The Constitution (Section 3, Article X) mandated that the Congress would enact a Local Government Code. The Congress duly enacted Republic Act No. 7160, The Local Government Code of 1991, which became effective on 1 January 1992. The Supreme Court has noted that the Bill of Rights "occupies a position of primacy in the fundamental law". The Bill of Rights, contained in Article III, enumerates the specific protections against State power. Many of these guarantees are similar to those provided in the American constitution and other democratic constitutions, including the due process and equal protection clause, the right against unwarranted searches and seizures, the right to free speech and the free exercise of religion, the right against self-incrimination, and the right to habeas corpus. The scope and limitations to these rights have largely been determined by Philippine Supreme Court decisions. Outside of the Bill of Rights, the Constitution also contains several other provisions enumerating various state policies including, i.e., the affirmation of labor "as a primary social economic force" (Section 14, Article II); the equal protection of "the life of the mother and the life of the unborn from conception" (Section 12, Article II); the "Filipino family as the foundation of the nation" (Article XV, Section 1); the recognition of Filipino as "the national language of the Philippines" (Section 6, Article XVI), and even a requirement that "all educational institutions shall undertake regular sports activities throughout the country in cooperation with athletic clubs and other sectors." (Section 19.1, Article XIV) Whether these provisions may, by themselves, be the source of enforceable rights without accompanying legislation has been the subject of considerable debate in the legal sphere and within the Supreme Court. The Court, for example, has ruled that a provision requiring that the State "guarantee equal access to opportunities to public service" could not be enforced without accompanying legislation, and thus could not bar the disallowance of so-called "nuisance candidates" in presidential elections. But in another case, the Court held that a provision requiring that the State "protect and advance the right of the people to a balanced and healthful ecology" did not require implementing legislation to become the source of operative rights.

Technological University of the Philippines

Ayala Blvd., Ermita Manila

Group Report in SS4 (Philippine History)

Historical Background & Training of Constitution, Preamble Art.1&2 1987

Submitted by: Group 4

Alexander Aris L. Agustin Sydnie Monique M. Garcia John Marvin A. Ledesma Melchor P. Meneses Roxanne D. Padilla Princesss Myleen M. Pascual

Submitted to:
Bernadette B. Dela Rosa