According to the Filipino Constitution, the Philippine Constitution is intended to establish a just
and humane society based on the principles and aspirations of the Filipino people. The
constitution also provides national sovereignty over the whole Philippine archipelago. The
constitution serves as the foundation for all laws that have been enacted or are presently being
enacted. If a law breaches any provision of the constitution, it is null and void and has no force
or effect.
The 1935 Constitution, also known as the Constitution of the Commonwealth of the Philippines,
was drafted under the conditions of Public Law 73-127, also known as the Tydings-McDuffie
Act, and served as the foundation for an autonomous Philippine government from 1946 to 1973.
It served as the legal framework for the Commonwealth Government, which served as a
transitional government before awarding Philippine independence with an American-inspired
constitution. The Philippine government will eventually model its government organization after
the American administration.
The bicameral legislature, consisting of a senate and a House of Representatives, is one of the
most notable elements of the 1935 Constitution. According to the constitution, the President and
Vice-President are to be chosen for four-year terms without re-election. Candidates for the
abovementioned office must be male nationals of the Philippines who are twenty-one years of
age or older and able to read and write. Furthermore, it is established in the constitution that all
citizens may be obliged by legislation to do personal military or civic duty. Furthermore, in terms
of lawmaking, Congress is responsible for enacting enabling legislation to ensure that the spirit
of the constitution is upheld in the country and, at times, to alter or change the constitution.
The Constitution was drafted by the Constitutional Commission of 1934, which was led by Claro
M. Recto. Recto was appointed by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Roosevelt served as a
judge and Associate Justice of the Philippine Supreme Court. Recto was chosen president of
the assembly that drafted the Philippine Constitution (1934-1935), and he personally handed the
Commonwealth Constitution to President Roosevelt for his approval and signature.
Recto was re-elected to the Senate in 1941, 1949, and 1955. Recto, in this sense, resumed the
legacy of the radical dissenter struggling against feudal backwardness, priestly fascist
authoritarianism, and neocolonial mindset and imperialism. He worked to reawaken Filipinos'
awareness of the glory of their revolutionary heritage, emphasizing the need to reshape the
character of national life by asserting their solidarity as a sovereign, free people.
The authors of the Commonwealth Constitution were not totally free to establish any sort of
government they desired because their work had to be authorized by President Roosevelt,
which is why they produced a text that was heavily modeled on the United States Constitution.
In actuality, the 1935 constitution differed from the US document in only two significant ways.
The first difference was that the government was unitary rather than federal, and local
governments were largely overseen by the president. The president might also declare an
emergency and briefly exercise near-dictatorial power. The 1935 Constitution was then
superseded in 1973, following the proclamation of martial law, by a new charter, the 1973
Constitution.
Overall, the 1935 Constitution was one of the reasons the Philippines gained independence
from the American administration. It opens the door for Filipinos to achieve freedom and liberty.
Furthermore, it provided the Philippines with twenty-six years of stable, constitutional
government at a time when a number of other Asian countries were succumbing to military
dictatorship or communist upheaval. Though many Filipinos grew to consider that the
constitution was merely a democratic political shroud for a deeply oligarchic society, it
nonetheless grants the Philippines autonomy. Furthermore, the constitution is vital because it
safeguards citizens' individual freedom. Furthermore, the constitution places government power
in the hands of the people. Furthermore, it contributes to the formation of a good society and a
country.
1. What does the document/artifact say?
The 1935 Constitution served as the legal foundation for the Commonwealth
Government, which was considered a transition government prior to the granting of
Philippine independence with an American-inspired constitution; the Philippine
government would eventually model its government system after the American
government. The Filipino people, beseeching Divine Providence, do ordain and
promulgate this Constitution in order to establish a government that will embody their
ideals, conserve and develop the nation's patrimony, promote the general welfare, and
secure to themselves and their posterity the blessings of independence under a régime
of justice, liberty, and democracy. The Philippines comprise all of the territory ceded to
the United States by the Treaty of Paris concluded between the United States and
Spain on the tenth day of December, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, the limits of
which are set out in Article III of said treaty, as well as all of the islands embraced in the
Treaty of Washington concluded between the United States and Spain on the seventh
day of November, nineteen hundred, and in the Treaty of Washington concluded
between the United States and Spain on the seventh The Philippines is a democratic
republic. The people are sovereign, and all government authority flows from them. No
one shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property. Those who were citizens of the
Philippine Islands at the time of the adoption of this Constitution. The 1935 Constitution,
which included a political system nearly comparable to that of the United States, went
into effect. The system called for an at-large presidential election for a four-year term
(with one re-election), a bicameral Congress, and an independent judiciary. The
Constitution, whether written or unwritten, is acknowledged as the supreme law of the
land, serving as the foundation for the validity of all governmental acts required for its
existence. It is a codified law that establishes a government's powers and duties and
expresses specific people's rights.
2. What was the provenance or source of the document?
When evaluating the document's credibility, some factors must be considered. One is
the document's historical inspection to see if there have been any updates or revisions
to the document, another is the document's authorization or the raw copy itself, and an
online source, which may be subject to reliability issues due to the document that is
being used. The statement for this activity is linked to an online source.
The historical research of the document from the time of its creation contributes to a
significant factor in the document's provenance, as modifications may play a part in
incriminating the manuscript's initial form. Keeping in mind that the alteration of such
important historical files as the 1935 constitution has almost certainly been subjected to
falsification and irony, it's reasonable to believe that this document's inquiry into history
by alteration is impossible, to say very little about the regular amendments that the
congress has rendered for the document's authorization and approval. A valuable essay
should not be created because it serves as one of the pillars of our historical republic. A
unambiguous connection to the original copy of the document's manuscript defines
credibility without a doubt. The reason for citing the "congress" as one of the traditional
sources of the text is that they played a vital role in its growth, regardless of the
knowledge media it was made through, such as the web or the internet.
As we examine the constitution's provenance, we should go back to 1934, when the
said constitution was subjected to evaluation, which was originally passed as a
resolution by the US Congress under the administration of former President Manuel L.
Quezon, referring to the constitution's qualification in 1935. And it has been historically
determined that the "1935 Constitution" was enacted in the year 1935.
3. Who authored it?
The Constitutional Commission of 1934, led by Claro M. Recto, drafted the 1935
Philippine Constitution. Claro M. Recto presided over the constitution with 202 elected
Filipino delegates who resolved that the constitution to be prepared would encompass
not only the transitional Commonwealth, but also the Republic. Claro Mayo Recto Jr.
was a Filipino lawmaker, jurist, poet, and one of his generation's most prominent
statesmen. ClaroM. Recto was a Philippine nationalist activist and the president of the
1934 constitutional conference. He was a vocal supporter of Philippine political and
social sovereignty.
Claro M. Recto was born on February 8, 1890, in Tiaong, Tayabas. In 1914, he earned a
bachelor of arts degree from the Ateneo de Manila and a master of laws degree from
the University of Santo Tomas. He was the legal adviser of the Philippine Senate from
1916 to 1919. In 1919, he was elected to represent Batangas' third congressional
district and served as House minority floor leader. In 1922 and 1925, he was re-elected.
Recto traveled to the United States as part of a legislative independence mission in
1924. The Supreme Court admitted him to the bar in the same year. A constitutional
convention was conducted in 1934 in compliance with the stipulations of the
Tydings-McDuffie Act, which mandated the creation of a constitution as part of the
process leading to Philippine independence. Recto was elected convention president.
Recto's sagacity and intellectual acumen were largely responsible for the convention's
success in framing and approving a constitution on Feb. 8, 1935, that would truly reflect
the Filipinos Capability to frame laws and principles that would govern their lives as free,
responsible citizens in a democracy.
Recto was elected to the Senate on the Democrata party platform in 1931. He actedas
minority floor leader for 3 years. In 1934 he became majority floor leader and president
protempore of the Senate. He subsequently resigned his Senate seat when President
FranklinRoosevelt named him as associate justice of the Supreme Court. The Supreme
Court of the United States of America vowed to appoint a new Supreme Court justice. In
1949 he was reelected on the Nacionalista partyticket. He stood for president in 1957
but was defeated. Apart from his numerous legal treatises andliterary works in Spanish,
Recto is recognized for his uncompromising nationalist attitude on problems
regardingpolitical sovereignty and economic independence.
4. What was the primary context of the primary source’s production?
The primary context of the primary source production was about the national territory,
which included all of the territory ceded to the United States by the Treaty of Paris
signed between the United States and Spain, as well as all of the islands included in the
treaty, and all of the territory over which the current Government of the Philippine island
exercises jurisdiction.
The state's concern should be to assist the government and promote social justice in
order to ensure the well-being and economic security of all people. No one shall be
deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor shall any person be
denied the equal protection of the law, private property, the right of the people to be
secure, the liberty of the abode, the privacy and communication and correspondence,
the right to form associations or societies, religious profession or worship without
discrimination or preference shall forever be allowed, freedom of speech or of the press,
no law shall be construed to deny the right to life, liberty, or property without due
process of law. Ex post facto is a law that changes the legal consequences of actions or
relationships that existed prior to the enactment of the law. For example, no one shall be
imprisoned for debt or non-payment of a poll tax, no involuntary servitude in any form
shall exist except as a punishment, and the privilege of A writ of habeas corpus is used
to bring a prisoner or other detainee (e.g. institutionalized mental patient) before A
habeas petition is filed as a civil action against the State agent (typically a warden) who
detains the prisoner. No individual shall be held to answer for criminal offense without
due process of law. Except for those charged with capital charges where there is solid
evidence of guilt, all persons must be bailable before conviction by sufficient sureties.
Arson, for example, is not bailable if proven. A youngster or a buddy shall be pressured
to be a witness against himself, exorbitant fines should not be imposed nor severe or
unusual punishment shall be inflicted, no individual shall be twice put in peril of
punishment for the same offense. No one shall be refused free access to the courts on
the basis of poverty. In Terms of citizenship, those who were citizens of the Philippine
Islands at the time of the adoption of this constitution, those born in the Philippines of
foreign parents prior to the adoption of this constitution, those whose fathers are Filipino
citizens, those whose mothers are Filipino citizens, and those who are naturalized in
accordance with law upon reaching the age of majority. Philippine citizenship may be
lost orre-acquired in the way specified by law.
Suffrage, often known as political franchise or simply franchise, is the right to vote in
public elections (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). Congress is
in charge of drafting enabling laws to ensure that the spirit of the constitution is upheld
in the country and, at times, amending or changing the constitution itself. In order to
create,