Constitution of the Philippines

CreatedOctober 15, 1986

Ratified February 2, 1987
Location
Legislative Archives of the
House of Representatives,
Quezon City
Author(s)
1986

Constitutional Commission of

Signatories

46 of the 50 commissioners

Purpose
National constitution to replace
Presidential Proclamation No. 3

The Constitution of the

Philippines (Filipino: Saligang Batas ng
Pilipinas) is the constitution or supreme law of
the Republic of the Philippines. Its final draft was
completed by the Constitutional Commission on
October 12, 1986 and was ratified by a
nationwide plebiscite on February 2, 1987.
Three other previous constitutions have
effectively governed the country in the past: the
1935 Commonwealth Constitution, the 1973
Constitution, and the 1986 Freedom
Constitution. The earliest constitution
establishing a "Philippine Republic," the 1899
Malolos Constitution, was never fully
implemented throughout the Philippines and did
not establish a state that was internationally
recognized, due in great part to the impending
American occupation during its adoption.

Background
Ruling by decree during the early part of her
tenure and as a president installed via
the People Power Revolution,
President Corazon C. Aquino issued
Proclamation No. 3 on March 25, 1986 which
abrogated many of the provisions of the then
1973 Constitution adopted during the Marcos
regime including the unicameral legislature
(the Batasang Pambansa), the office of Prime

Minister, and provisions which gave the

President legislative powers. Often called the
"Freedom Constitution," this constitution was
only intended as a temporary constitution to
ensure the freedom of the people and the return
to democratic rule. A constitutional assembly
was soon called to draft a new constitution for
the country.
The Constitutional Commission was composed
of fifty members appointed by Aquino from
varied backgrounds including several former
members of the House of Representatives,
former justices of the Supreme Court, a Roman
Catholic bishop, and political activists against
the Marcos regime. The Commission
elected Cecilia Muoz-Palma, a former
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, as its
president. Several issues were of particular
contention during the Commission's sessions,
including the form of government to adopt, the
abolition of the death penalty, the retention of the
U.S. bases in Clark and Subic, and the
integration of economic policies into the
constitution. Lino Brocka, a film director and
political activist who was member of the
Commission, walked out before the
constitution's completion, and two other
delegates dissented from the final draft. The
Commission finished the final draft on October
12, 1986 and presented it to Aquino on October
15. The constitution was ratified by a nationwide
plebiscite on February 2, 1987.

Article 1. 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.