A constitution is important because it ensures those who make decisions on behalf of the public fairly represent public opinion. It also sets out how those who exercise power may be held accountable to the people they serve.
Of the many constitutions that we have, Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile chose the adoption of the 1935 Constitution for the Philippines, and recommended scrapping the 1987 Constitution.
Many believe in what former Senate President Enrile had said based on what many are saying that the 1935 Charter was drafted by men and women who were elected by the people into the Constitutional Convention, whereas the 1987 Constitution was drafted by the people who were handpicked by only one person, Corazon Cojuangco Aquino.
The 1935 Constitution seemed to have served the nation well. It gave the Philippines 26 years of a stable constitutional government during a period when several other Asian states were overwhelmed by military dictatorship or communist revolution. It provided us with a republican state. Sovereignty resides in the people, and all government authority emanates from them.
The important provisions of the 1935 Constitution included that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor shall any person be denied equal protection of the law.
The 1935 Constitution provided the legal basis of the Commonwealth government, which was considered a transition government before the granting of Philippine independence with the American-inspired Constitution. The Philippine government eventually patterned its government system after the American government, as Filipino minds were being influenced and molded through the 1934 Constitutional Convention.
The 1934 Constitutional Convention derived its authority from an act of the United States Congress in a milestone in Philippine constitutional history, as it was the first time Filipinos under American rule were allowed to write a fundamental law that would guide them toward autonomy and independence. Previous organic acts had little, if any participation among Filipinos in their enactment. The study utilizes the idea which teaches that law and regulation act upon norms, social relationships and social practice. Thus, consensus building, the rule of the majority, and leaderships play important roles in decision-making in response to social, political, and economic conditions.
Of the 202 delegates to the 1934 Constitutional Convention, three became presidents of the Philippines, namely Jose Laurel, Manuel Roxas, and Elpidio Quirino.
A closer study of this constitution reveals the fundamental philosophy in the drafting of the 1935 Constitution, and how the socioeconomic and political considerations played important factors in the resolution of issues in the 1934 Constitutional Convention, considering the parameter set by the Tydings-McDuffie Law.
It was Delegate Manuel Roxas of Capiz who was said to be the one who signed the Constitution. He was the leading member of the Committee on Style, also known as the Seven Wise Men, who had a significant impact on the final draft of the 1935 Constitution.
The 1935 Constitution was amended in 1940 with a structural change in the legislative. The amendment abolished the unicameral legislative. In its place, a bicameral legislative body was created composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Article XIV, Section 3 of the 1935 Constitution states that “Congress shall make necessary steps toward the development of a national language, which will be based on one of the existing native languages.” There are two significant words in the statement, namely “existing” and “native.”
In 1935, Quezon won the Philippines’ first national presidential election under the banner of the Nacionalista Party. He obtained nearly 68 percent of the vote against his two main rivals, Emilio Aguinaldo and Bishop Gregorio Aglipay. Quezon was inaugurated on 15 November 1935.