The Malolos Constitution. The Committee to draft the Constitution was constituted and headed by
Felipe G. Calderon and other members who belong to the Filipino intelligenta who possessed intellectual
and moral integrity. The members of the committee studied carefully the three constitutional drafts for
consideration :
The Mabini Constitutional Plan- was the Constitutional Program of the Republic of the Philippines
The Paterno Constitutional Plan- was based on the Spanish Constitution of 1868
The Calderon Plan- a noted constitutional lawyer based his plan on the constitutions of Belgium, Brazil,
Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico and France.
After a thoroughexamination of the different Constitutional Plans, the Committee chose the
Calderon Plan as the best subject to ammendments and submitted it to the Malolos Congress for
approval.
Calderon sponsored the proposed Constitution to congress on October 8,1898. This was followed by the
distribution of printed copies to the members of the Congress. The draft was presented to the floor and
deliberation on every article occasionally protracted with heated debate, especially the subjects of
whether or not the Church and the State should be united and the adoption of Catholic Christianity as
the official religion of the State. This article was bitterly contested by opposing groups articulated by
some delegates that the Filipinos as a people, up in arms against Catholic Spain were not anti Catholic
but merely, anti-clerical practices. On the other hand, those who advocated for the separation of the
Church and the state and the freedom of religion in order to avoid the bitter lessons that occurred
during Spanish era were mostly Masonic members of the Congress.
After a few days of deliberating on the sensitive article, it was changed, thus “The Stae recognized the
freedom of and equality of religion, as well as the separation of Church and the State.”
The decisive decision shown by the members of the Congress is an eloquent manifestation of genuine
statesmanship and in effect, became the cornerstone of Philippine democracy and showed not only
nationalism and democratic orientation of those who voted for the separation of Church and State, but
also their discerning and highly sensitive sense of history.
The Malolos Constitution was approved by a majority vote of the members of Congress and then
forwarded to President Aguinaldo for approval on November 29, 1898.
The Constitution is the first document ever produced by the people’s representatives, anchored on
sound democratic philosophy and traditions. It embodied the Filipino aspirations of a government that
was truly popular, representative and responsible with three branches:
Executive
Legislative
Judicial
It also provided an article on the Bill of Rights that enumerated the individual rights and privileges of the
citizen. It was designed to protect them against encroachments by the government or by any individual
or groups of individuals. Its basis was the social importance accorded to the individual in a democratic
society, that every individual has the dignity and worth which must be respected and safeguarded.
The Malolos Constitution has a unicameral legislature. It is unique. In the sense that the
legislature is superior to either executive or the judicial branch. Calderon’s reason for the omnipotence
of the legislature was that he feared the predominance of ignorant military elements who might abuse
their power because they were soldiers behind Aguinaldo.
The Malolos Constitution was the symbol of unity, freedom, equality, justice and customs and traditions
that reflect the character of the Filipino people.
The First Philippine Republic. Apolinario Mabini objected to some provisions of the Constitution; so
Aguinaldo held its promulgation until such time that Congress leaders could find the proper solution.
The finally compromised with Mabini, Aguinaldo’s closet adviser by acceding to insert the needed
ammendments in the document. Aguinaldo formally promulgated the Constitution that embodied the
ideology, belief system and values of the Filipino people on January 21, 1899. He expressed his
congratulations to the members of Malolos Congress, the Armed forces and most especially to all the
Filipino for their cooperative efforts and sacrifices in the struggle to gain independence. He said the
aspirations of lofty ideals of a resilient race “to live under the democratic regime of the Philippine
Republic, free from the yoke of any foreign domination.” He concluded his inaugural address by
declaring that: “Great is the day, glorious this date and forever memorable this moment in which our
beloved people raised to the apotheosis of Independence.
On January 2, President Aguinaldo formed his cabinet.
Apolinario Mabini –President of the Cabinet and Secretary of Foreign Affais
Teodoro Sandico-Secretary of Interior
Baldomero Aguinaldo- Secretary of War
Mariano Trias- Secretary of Finance
Graciano Gonzaga- Secretary of Welfare, including Public Instruction, Public Works and
Communications, Agriculture, Industry and Commerce
According to Mabini, the Cabinet “belong to no party, nor does it desire to form one, it stands for
nothing save the interest of the fatherland” One of the significant acts of Aguinaldo after his
inauguration was to issue a decree granting pardon to all Spanish prisoners of war who were not
members of the Spanish regular army and at the same time, granting to Spanish and other aliens the
right to engage in business within the territorial boundaries of the Republic.
On Financial Matters. The Republic adopted a system similar to Spanish and other countries with some
modifications. Taxes levied by the Spanish government were retained except those on cockfighting and
forms of gambling. New methods of collecting revenues for public purposes were instituted. The
Malolos Congress authorized the government to issue paper money of various denomination and mined
coins.
The Revolutionary Periodicals of the republic. The New Republic, as a struggling nation, had to devise a
medium as a mouthpiece that should convey its ideals and aspirations to be known not only of the
people of the Philippines but also other people the world over.
Its official organ was El Heraldo de le Revolucion (Herald of the revolution) whose first issue came out
September 29, 1898 but subsequently changed to Heraldo Filipino, (Philippine Herald) and finally to
Gaceta de Filipinos (Philippine Gazette). The last issue came out on October 14, 1899. The periodicals
published the full texts of the decrees of the government and other significant news items.
There were also privately-owned nationalistic newspapers (La Independencia (Independence) founded
and edited by Pedro A. Paterno. The staff of newspapers constituted the great Filipino writers at the
time whose patriotic and nationalistic articles were written by Cecilio Apostol, Jose Palma, Fernando Ma.
Guerrero, to name a few.
In the provinces, there were also various revolutionary periodicals published by Filipino intellectuals to
keep the ideals and aspirations of the people alive; e.g La Libertad (The Liberation) edited by Clemente
Jose Zulueta; Ang Kaibigan ng Bayan (The People’s Friend) and La Federation )The Federation). While
most of these local periodicals in the provinces were shirt lived, their policy to continuously ighting for
freedom and indeoendence was foremost headlines hailed not only the rare courage of every Filipino to
fight the excesses of the repressive Spanish government but also kept the sparks of the revolutionary
movement alive which ultimately gave the Philippine her most significant colorful and epochal peace in
the history of mankind.
Education under the Republic. The destruction of many schools and the peace and order condition
caught the attention of Filipino leadersto be closed for the time being. The Revolutionary Government
through the secretaryof the interior ordered the various provincial governors of their respective
government