Politics And Governance With Phil.

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1. POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES TAGUIG CAMPUS POLITICS AND GOVERNANCE

WITH PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION

2. MEANING OF CONSTITUTION
In its broad sense, the term constitution refers to that body of rules and principles in accordance with which the
powers of sovereignty are regularly exercised. As thus defined, it covers both written and unwritten
constitutions.

With particular reference to the Constitution of the Philippines, it may be defined as that written instrument by
which the fundamental powers of the government are established, limited, and defined and by which these
powers are distributed among the several departments or branches for their safe and useful exercise for the
benefit of the people.

3. KINDS OF CONSTITUTION
4. 1) As to their origin and history :
Conventional or enacted. One which is enacted by a constituent assembly or granted by a monarch to his
subjects like the Constitution of Japan in 1889; and

Cumulative or evolved. Like the English Constitution, one which is a product of growth or a long period of
development originating in customs, traditions, judicial decisions, etc., rather than from a deliberate and formal
enactment.

The above classification substantially coincides with that of written and unwritten constitutions.

5. 2) As to their form :
Written. One which has been given definite written form at a particular time, usually by a specially constituted
authority called a constitutional convention; and

Unwritten . One which is entirely the product of political evolution, consisting largely of a mass of customs,
usages and judicial decisions together with a smaller body of statutory enactments of a fundamental character,
usually bearing different dates. The English Constitution is unwritten only in the sense that it is not codified in a
single document. Part of it is written the Acts of Parliament and judicial decisions. Indeed, there is no
Constitution that is entirely written or unwritten.

6. 3) As to manner of amending them :

Rigid or inelastic . One regarded as a document of special sanctity which cannot be amended or altered
except by some special machinery more cumbrous than the ordinary legislative process; and

Flexible or elastic . One which possesses no higher legal authority than ordinary laws and which may be
altered in the same way as other laws.

The Philippine constitution may be classified as conventional or enacted, written, and rigid or inelastic. It was
drafted by an appointive body called Constitutional Commission. (see E, infra.)

7. THE 1987 CONSTITUTION

Framing and Ratification . The 1987 Constitution was drafted by a Constitutional Commission created under
Article V of Proclamation No. 3 issued on March 25, 1986 which promulgated the Provisional Constitution or
Freedom Constitution following the installation of a revolutionary government through a direct exercise of the
power of the Filipino people.

8.

a) Pursuant to Proclamation No. 3, the President promulgated on April 23, 1986 Proclamation No. 3, the
President promulgated on April 23, 1986 Proclamation No. 9, the Law Governing the Constitutional
Commission of 1986, to organize the Constitutional Commission, to provide for the details of its operation and
establish the procedure for the ratification or rejection of the proposed new Constitution.

Under the Proclamation, the Constitutional Commission shall be composed of not more than fifty (50) national,
regional, and sectoral representatives who shall be appointed by the President, As constituted, the
Commission was composed only of forty-eight (48) members --- forty-two (42) men and six (6) women, with a
preponderance of lawyers --- because of the withdrawal of an opposition appointee and non-acceptance by the
Iglesia ni Kristo of the Presidents offer to submit a nominee.

9.
b) The Constitutional Commission, which marked the fourth exercise in the writing of a basic charter in
Philippine History since the Malolos Constitution at the turn of the century, convened on June 2, 1986 at the
Batasang Pambansa Building in Diliman, Quezon City. With the Malolos Constitution of 1986, the 1935
Constitution and the 1973 Constitution as working drafts, the Commission in addition to committee
discussions, public hearings, and plenary sessions, conducted public consultations in different parts of the
country.

c) The proposed new Constitution was approved by the Constitutional Commission on the night of Sunday,
October 12, 1986, culminating 133 days of work, by a vote of 44-2. A Commissioner signed subsequently by
affixing his thumbmark at his sickbed on October 14, 1986 so that he actually voted in favor of the draft.
Another Commissioner had resigned earlier. The two Commissioners who dissented also signed to express
their dissent and to symbolize their four (4) months of participation in drawing up the new Constitution.

10.
d) The Constitutional Commission held its final session in the morning of October 15, 1986 to sign the 109page draft consisting of a preamble, 18 Articles, 321 Sections and about 2,000 words after which, on the
same day, it presented to the President the original copies in English and Filipino. It was ratified by the people
in the plebiscite held on February 2, 1987. It superseded the Provisional Constitution which had abrogated the
1973 Charter.

11. THE 1987 CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

INTRODUCTION
A. STUDY OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
Meaning of Political Science
Reduced to its simplest terms,
political science
is the systematic study of thestate
1
and government. The word political is derived from the Greek word
polis
,meaning city, or what today would be the equivalent of a sovereign state. The word
science comes from the Latin word

scire
, to know.
(1)
The science of politics
2
, therefore, has, as its formal object, a basicknowledge and understanding of the
state and of the principles and ideals whichunderlie its organization and
activities.(2)
It is primarily concerned with the association of human beings into a bodypolitic,
or a political community (one organized under government and law).
(3)
As such, it deals with those relations among men and groups which aresubject to
control by the state, with the relations of men and groups to the stateitself, and
with the relations of the state to other states.
3
Scope of Political Science
Political Science is a very comprehensive field. Its curriculum is almost certain
toinclude courses in political theory, public law, and public administration as well as
invarious more specialized subjects.
4
(1)
Political theory.

The entire body of doctrine relating to the origin, form,behavior, and purposes of
the state are dealt with in the study of this subject.(2)
Public law.

The (a) organizations of governments, (b) the limitations upongovernment

authority, (c) the powers and duties of governmental offices andofficers, and (d)
the obligations of one state to another are handled in the study of public law. In
contradistinction to the rules of private law, which governs therelations among

individuals, public law is so specialized that separate courses areoffered in each of

its subdivisions

constitutional law
(a,b)
,administrative law
(c),and
international law
(d).
(3)
Public administration
.

In the study of public administration, attention isfocused upon the methods and
techniques used in the actual management of stateaffairs by executive, legislative,
and judicial branches of government. As thecomplexity of government activities
grows, the traditional distinctions among thepowers of these branches become
even less clear-cut
5
. Today, legislative bodieshave been forced to delegate greater discretion to
executive officers responsible forthe conduct of government policies and powers.
Thus, we find many administrativeagencies exercising quasi-legislative and quasijudicial powers,
i.e.
, powers whichare legislative (see Art. VI, Sec. 1) and judicial (see Art. VIII, Sec.
1) in nature.Administrative law, already referred to, also falls within the scope of
any broadstudy of public administration