1899 Malolos Philippine Constitution

Constitutional structure and sovereignty principles

The political association of all Filipinos constitutes a nation whose states is called the Philippine Republic (Article 1).
The Philippine Republic is free and independent (Article 2).
Sovereignty resides exclusively in the people (Article 3).
The Government is popular, representative, alternative, and responsible, exercised by three distinct powers: legislature, executive, and judicial (Article 4).
No two or more of these powers may be vested in one person or corporation, and the legislative power may not be entrusted to a single individual (Article 4).

Religion, church-state separation, and worship equality

The state recognizes the freedom and equality of religious worships (Article 5).
The state maintains the separation of church and state (Article 5).
The Constitution suspends execution of Article 5, Title III until the meeting of the constituent assembly (Article 100).
During the suspension period, municipalities of places that require the spiritual services of any Filipino priest must provide for his necessary support (Article 100).

Filipino status, personal liberty protections

All persons born in Philippine territory are Filipinos (Article 6).
A vessel flying the Philippine flag is considered a portion of Philippine territory for Filipino-status purposes (Article 6).
Children of a Filipino father or mother are Filipinos even if born outside the Philippines (Article 6).
Foreigners who have obtained a certificate of naturalization are Filipinos (Article 6).
Persons who acquire residence (“vecindad”) in any town in Philippine territory without the foregoing are Filipinos (Article 6).
“Residence” is considered acquired by staying two years without interruption in any locality of the Philippine territory, having an open abode and a known mode of living, and contributing to national charges (Article 6).
Filipino status is lost in accordance with existing laws (Article 6).
No Filipino or foreigner may be arrested or imprisoned except for a crime and in accordance with law (Article 7).
All detained persons must be released or delivered to judicial authority within twenty-four hours following the act of detention (Article 8).
Arrest must be carried to commitment within seventy-two hours following delivery to a competent judge, and arrest without effect is required if these timelines are not met (Article 8).
Notice of the order issued must be given to the interested party within the same period (Article 8).
No Filipino may be imprisoned except by virtue of a writ issued by a competent judge (Article 9).
The decree under which the writ is issued must be ratified or confirmed after the presumed criminal has been heard within seventy-two hours following the act of commitment (Article 9).

Domicile, searches, correspondence, and detention liability

No one may enter the domicile of a Filipino or foreigner residing in Philippine Islands without consent except in urgent cases of fire, flood, earthquake, or other similar danger, unlawful aggression proceeding from within, or to assist a person calling for help (Article 10).
Outside the urgent exceptions, entrance into a domiciled residence and searching of papers or effects require a decree by a competent judge and must be executed in the daytime (Article 10).
Searches must always be done in the presence of the interested party, or in his absence, a member of his family, and in their absence, two witnesses residing in the same town (pueblo) (Article 10).
Authorities may enter a domiciled residence for apprehension only if an offender found in flagrante is pursued and takes refuge there, and entry is only for apprehension purposes (Article 10).
If the offender takes refuge in the domicil of another, a request must first be made to the latter (Article 10).
No Filipino may be compelled to change domicile or residence except by virtue of a final judgment (Article 11).
Correspondence confined to the post-office cannot be detained or opened by government authorities, and telegraphic or telephonic correspondence cannot be detained (Article 12).
A correspondence can be detained only by virtue of a decree by a competent judge, and mail correspondence may be opened only in the presence of the accused (Article 12).
All decrees for imprisonment, domicile search, or correspondence detention must be for cause; lack of this requirement, or causes declared unlawful or manifestly insufficient by judicial declaration, gives the detained person the right to demand liabilities that ensue (Article 13).
Persons detained or imprisoned without legal formalities must be discharged upon their own petition or that of any Filipino, and laws determine the form of proceedings and the personal and pecuniary liabilities incurred by the person who ordered, executed, or caused illegal detention or imprisonment (Article 15).
No person may be deprived temporarily or permanently of property or rights, or disturbed in possession, except by virtue of a judicial sentence; functionaries who infringe are personally responsible for the damage caused (Article 16).
No person may be deprived of property except for public necessity and welfare, previously justified and declared by the proper authority, and after paying indemnity prior to the act of expropriation (Article 17).

Public liberties: speech, assembly, petition, movement

No Filipino in full enjoyment of civil and political rights may be hindered in the free exercise of those rights (Article 19).
A Filipino has the right to freely express ideas and opinions by word or writing, using the press or similar means (Article 20).
A Filipino has the right to join associations for all objects of human life not contrary to public morals (Article 20).
A Filipino has the right to petition, individually or collectively, different departments of government and public authorities (Article 20).
The right of petition cannot be exercised through any kind of armed force (Article 20).
The exercise of the rights in the preceding article is subject to general provisions that regulate them (Article 21).
Crimes committed on the occasion of exercising the rights granted in this title are punished by courts under ordinary laws (Article 22).
Any Filipino may found and maintain educational or instruction establishments in accordance with regulations; popular education is obligatory and gratuitous in national schools (Article 23).
Any foreigner may establish himself freely in Philippine territory subject to governing provisions, exercising industry or profession where the law does not require certificates of fitness from national authorities (Article 24).
No Filipino in full enjoyment of civil and political rights may be hindered from going freely from Philippine territory or removing residence or property to a foreign country, without prejudice to obligations to contribute to military service and maintenance of public charges (Article 25).
A foreigner who has not been naturalized cannot exercise in the Philippines any office to which authority or jurisdiction is attached (Article 26).
Every Filipino is obliged to defend the country with arms when called upon by law and to contribute to state expenses in proportion to holdings (Article 27).
The enumeration of rights granted in this title does not prohibit other rights not expressly stated (Article 28).

Due process in prosecution and home of functionaries

No previous authorization is necessary for prosecuting public functionaries before ordinary tribunals for whatever crime they have committed (Article 29).
A superior order does not exempt responsibility for manifest, clear, and determinate infraction of a constitutional provision (Article 29).
In other cases, a superior order exempts only agents who do not exercise authority (Article 29).
The guarantees in Articles 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 and paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 20 cannot be suspended in the Republic or any part except temporarily by a law when the security of the state in extraordinary circumstances requires it (Article 30).
The suspension law governs during suspension in the territory promulgation applies to, and a special law may govern according to circumstances (Article 30).
Suspension laws must be voted in the national Assembly; if it is closed, the government may issue them with the permanent commission, without prejudice to calling the Assembly at the shortest possible time and giving account of actions taken (Article 30).
Neither the special law nor the suspension law may suspend any other guarantees than those named in Article 30’s first paragraph (Article 30).
Neither law may authorize banishment or deportation of any Filipino (Article 30).
Military or civil heads may not establish any penalty other than that previously provided by law (Article 30).
No person may be tried under a special law or by special tribunals (Article 31).
No person or corporation may have privileges nor emoluments except as compensation for public service fixed by law (Article 31).
“El fuero de Guerra y marina” extends solely to crimes and misdemeanors intimately connected with military and naval discipline (Article 31).

Political rights, taxation, and legality constraints

No Filipino may be prosecuted or sentenced except by a judge or tribunal with jurisdiction, exercising jurisdiction in the form prescribed by laws in force prior to commission of the crime (Article 14).
Taxes require prior voting by the Assembly or authorized public corporations imposing them, and assessment must be made in the form prescribed by law (Article 18).
Crimes committed on occasion of the exercise of rights are punished in accordance with ordinary laws (Article 22).
No Filipino may establish primogeniture rights in succession (“mayorazgos”), nor institutions entailing property, and no Filipino may accept honors, decoration of orders (“condecoraciones”), or titles of honor and nobility from foreign nations without authorization by the government (Article 32).
The government may not establish such institutions nor grant honors, decorations, or titles of honor and nobility to any Filipino (Article 32).
The nation may reward eminent services rendered by citizens through a special law approved by the Assembly (Article 32).
No Filipino may be deprived of the right to express, associate, and petition, subject only to Article 21’s general regulatory provisions and the armed-force restriction (Articles 20, 21).

Legislature: Assembly powers, meetings, voting, and immunity

Legislative power is exercised by an Assembly of Representatives; the Assembly’s organization and conditions are determined by law (Article 33).
Representatives represent the whole nation, not exclusively the voters who chose them (Article 34).
No Representative may receive imperative instructions from electors (Article 35).
The Assembly meets every year; the President has the prerogative to convoke it, suspend and close sessions, and dissolve it with the Assembly’s concurrence or the permanent commission’s concurrence in default, within periods established by law (Article 36).
The Assembly is open at least three months each year, excluding the time required for organization; the President must convoke it on or before 15th April (Article 37).
In extraordinary cases, the President may convoke it outside the legal period with the permanent commission’s concurrence, prolonging the legislature when the term does not exceed one month, and when not more than two times in the same legislature (Article 38).
The National Assembly with extraordinary Representatives forms the constituent assembly for constitutional modification and election of a new President, convoked at least one month before the former President’s power expires (Article 39).
If the President dies or resigns, the Assembly meets immediately in its own right and at the call of the President or permanent commission (Article 39).
Any meeting of the Assembly outside the ordinary legislature period is illegal and void, except the constituent assembly arrangement and the case where the Assembly is constituted into a tribunal of justice exercising only judicial functions (Article 41).
Assembly sessions are public, but may become secret upon petition of a number of members set by rules, and continued secrecy depends on an absolute majority of votes of members present (Article 42).
The President communicates with the Assembly through messages read from the rostrum by a Secretary of the government; Secretaries sit in the Assembly with the right to take the floor whenever they request, and may be represented on discussion by a commissioner designated by presidential decree (Article 43).
The Assembly may constitute a judicial tribunal by decree of the Assembly, or the permanent commission in its absence, or the President proposing through the Solicitor General or the council of government, to try certain crimes against state security by specified top officials; laws determine the mode of accusation, trial, and pardon (Article 44).
Representatives are not prosecuted or molested for opinions expressed or votes cast in performance of office (Article 45).
Criminal proceedings against a member require previous authorization from the Assembly or the permanent commission; upon notice of commitment, responsibility ensues if within two days the Assembly does not authorize detention or show reasons for refusal (Article 46).
The Assembly has powers to make rules for internal government, examine legality of elections and qualifications of members elect, appoint its president/vice-president/secretaries upon organization, accept resignations and grant leaves of absence under rules (Article 47).
No bill becomes law without prior voting by the Assembly (Article 48).
A bill requires attendance of at least a fourth part of the total number of members whose election certificates are approved and who have taken oath of office (Article 48).
Bills cannot be approved without first voting as a whole and then voting article by article (Article 49).
The Assembly has the right to criticize the government; each member has the right of interpellation (Article 50).
Introduction of laws belongs to both the President and the Assembly (Article 51).
A Representative who accepts from the government a pension, employment, or commission with salary is deemed to have renounced the office, except the offices of Secretary of the government and other offices provided by special laws (Article 52).
The Representative’s term is four years, with reimbursement sums determined by law; those absent themselves during the whole legislature forfeit reimbursement but can recover by assisting all succeeding ones (Article 53).

Permanent commission and continuity

Before adjourning, the Assembly elects seven of its members to constitute a permanent commission during the Assembly’s closure; in its first session it must designate a president and secretary (Article 54).
In the absence of the Assembly, the permanent commission may: declare whether there is sufficient reason to proceed against specified officials in the constitutionally provided case, call the Assembly to special session where it constitutes as tribunal of justice, give course to pending business for consideration, call the Assembly to special session when exigency requires, and take the place of the Assembly in all its functions according to the Constitution except the right to make and pass laws (Article 55).
The permanent commission meets whenever convoked by the person who presides over it in accordance with the Constitution (Article 55).

Executive: President election, lawmaking, promulgation, treaty, war powers

Executive power is vested in the President of the Republic and exercised through his Secretaries (Article 56).
The President is elected by an absolute majority of the Assembly and special Representatives in a constituent assembly (Article 58).
The presidential term is four years and the President may be re-elected (Article 58).
While the President is not yet chosen, his powers are exercised by the President of the Supreme Court of Justice, relieved according to laws by a member of that tribunal (Article 40).
The President has initiative of laws as members of the Assembly and promulgates laws passed and approved by the Assembly while supervising and ensuring execution (Article 59).
The President’s power to cause laws to be executed covers all conducive to public order and security for the state abroad (Article 60).
The President promulgates laws within twenty days after transmission by the Assembly for final approval (Article 61).
If laws are not promulgated within that time, the President returns them to the Assembly with causes for detention for reconsideration; if not repassed by a vote of two-thirds of members present, the Assembly cannot insist on passage (Article 62).
If repassed as required, the government must promulgate within ten days, and must cause nonconformity to appear therein (Article 62).
If the President allows the twenty-day term to pass without returning the law, the government must promulgate it (Article 62).
If the Assembly declares promulgation urgent by express vote of an absolute majority, the President may by message call for reconsideration, which must not be denied; after renewed approval, the law must be promulgated within the legal period without prejudice to the President’s right to note nonconformity (Article 63).
Promulgation takes effect by publication in the official periodical of the Republic, and laws take effect after thirty days from publication (Article 64).
The President commands the army and navy, declares war, and ratifies treaties with the Assembly’s previous consent (Article 65).
Peace treaties are not final until approved by the Assembly (Article 66).
Besides execution powers, the President has prerogatives to confer military and civil employment according to laws, appoint Secretaries of government, direct diplomatic and commercial relations, ensure speedy and complete justice across territory, pardon offenders according to laws except matters relative to Secretaries of government, and preside over national ceremonies and receive envoys and representatives of foreign powers accredited to him (Article 67).
The President needs authority of a special law to eliminate or exchange any part of Philippine territory, annex other territory, admit foreign troops in Philippine territory, ratify enumerated treaties (including treaties of alliance offensive and defensive, special commerce treaties, treaties giving subsidy to foreign power, and treaties that may bind Filipinos individually), grant amnesties and general pardons, and coin money (Article 68).
Secret articles of a treaty cannot nullify public articles (Article 68).
The President may make rules for compliance and application of laws in accordance with requisites prescribed in those laws (Article 69).
The President may dissolve the Assembly with the previous concurrence of a majority vote of the Representatives; new elections must be ordered within three months (Article 70).
The President is only responsible in case of high treason (Article 71).
The President’s compensation is fixed by special law and cannot be changed until the end of the presidential term (Article 72).
The decree-to-assembly continuity during independence struggle authorizes the government to determine questions and difficulties not provided by laws arising from unforeseen events by decrees while Congress is closed, with communication to the permanent commission and Assembly at first meeting (Article 99).

Cabinet and governmental responsibility

The council of the government consists of a President and seven Secretaries, who each handle portfolios of Foreign Affairs, Interior, Finance, War and Navy, and Agriculture, Industry, and Commerce (Article 73).
Orders or decisions of the President must be assigned by the proper Secretary; no public officer shall comply with an order lacking this requirement (Article 74).
Secretaries of government are jointly responsible to the Assembly for general government policy and individually responsible for their personal acts (Article 75).
The Solicitor General prosecutes Secretaries, and the Assembly judges them; laws determine cases, penalties, and mode of proceeding against Secretaries (Article 75).
If convicted by the Assembly, Secretaries’ pardon requires prior petition of an absolute majority of the Representatives (Article 76).

Judiciary: exclusive power, court structure, independence

The power to apply laws in civil and criminal cases, in the name of the nation, belongs exclusively to the courts (Article 77).
The same Code governs the entire Republic, subject to modifications laws may prescribe in special circumstances; only one system of law exists for all citizens in ordinary civil and criminal trials (Article 77).
Courts do not apply general and municipal regulations except insofar as they are in harmony with laws (Article 78).
Judicial power is exercised by one Supreme Court of Justice and tribunals prescribed by laws; membership, organization, and attributes are governed by organic laws (Article 79).
The President of the Supreme Court of Justice and the Solicitor General are appointed by the National Assembly in concurrence with the President of the Republic and the Secretaries of the government (Article 80).
The President of the Supreme Court of Justice and the Solicitor General are absolutely independent from the legislative and executive departments (Article 80).
Any citizen may bring a public action against all members of the Judicial Department for offenses committed in the exercise of their power (Article 81).

Local governments and state administration mechanics

The organization and powers of provincial and municipal assemblies are governed by their respective laws, observing principles including: popular and direct election basis; publicity of sessions within limits prescribed by law; publication of budgets, accounts, and important ordinances; national measures to prevent provincial/municipal corporations from exceeding powers to the prejudice of general and individual interests; and determining tax powers so provincial and municipal taxation never antagonizes the state taxation system (Article 82).
Each year, government must present the Assembly a budget of income and expenses, show alterations from the preceding year, and include a balance of the last fiscal year according to law (Article 83).
No payment may be made except in accordance with the Appropriations Law or other special law, in the form and under responsibilities determined by laws (Article 84).
The government needs authorization by law to dispose of state property or to secure a loan upon the credit of the nation (Article 85).
Public debt contracted under the Constitution is under the nation’s special guaranty; no indebtedness is created without voting simultaneously for the means to pay it (Article 86).
Laws relating to incomes, public expenditures, or public credits are part of budgets and must be published as such (Article 87).
Each year, the Assembly fixes land and sea military forces upon recommendation of the President of the Republic (Article 88).

Constitutional amendment and language/oaths

The Assembly may resolve to amend the Constitution on its own motion or upon recommendation of the President, specifying which article or articles are to be amended (Article 89).
After the amendment declaration, the President dissolves the Assembly and convenes the constituent assembly, which meets within three months; the resolution must be inserted in the notice of the convention (Article 90).
The President, government, Assembly, and all Philippine citizens must faithfully keep the Constitution; immediately after approving the Appropriation Law, the legislative power examines strict observance, corrects infractions, and provides what is convenient to exact responsibility from transgressors (Article 91).
The President and all other officials may not begin duties without first taking the oath of office; the President takes the oath before the national Assembly, and other officials take it before authorities prescribed by law (Article 92).
Use of the language spoken in the Philippines is optional and may be regulated only by law solely for acts of public authorities and judicial affairs; Spanish language is used for these acts for the present (Article 93).

Transitional laws, decrees, presidential succession, and special suspensions

Existing laws in force prior to emancipation are considered laws of the Republic, without prejudice to the constitutional provisions on legislative passage and committees for drafting organic laws (Article 94).
Specific Civil Code and registry-related provisions, instructions, and laws are treated as in force under the stated framework, including civil registry and marriage-related rules previously suspended by the Governor General, and enforcement instructions tied to specified Code articles (Article 94).
Provisions of Spanish laws provisionally effective under the transitional framework may be modified by any special law until the referenced laws are approved (Article 95).
Once the laws approved by the Assembly under Article 94 have been promulgated, the government is authorized to issue decrees and regulations necessary for immediate constitution of the different organs of the state (Article 96).
The actual President of the revolutionary government assumes the title of President of the Republic and exercises until the constituent assembly is convened and elected definitively (Article 97).
The Congress described lasts four years, beginning from 15th of April of the next year (Article 98).
Laws returned by the President to Congress are not repassed until the legislature of the following year, during which they are suspended under responsibility of the President and his council of government; after repassage under these conditions, promulgation becomes obligatory within ten days, with the President stating nonconformity; if repassed in subsequent legislatures, it is considered approved as a first-time law (Article 101).