Politics, Governance & the New Philippine Constitution Concept of Constitution Constitution

POLITICS, GOVERNANCE & THE NEW PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION CONCEPT OF CONSTITUTION CONSTITUTION defined. A constitution is “that body of rules and maxims in accordance with which the powers of sovereignty are habitually exercised.” Broadly speaking, every state has some kind of a constitution—a leading principle that prevails in the “administration of its government until it has become an understood part of its system, to which obedience is expected and habitually yielded.” (Cooley, 1868) In a restricted sense, the Constitution of the Philippines is “a written instrument by which the fundamental powers of the government are established, limited and defined, and by which those powers are distributed among the several departments for their safe and useful exercise and for the benefit of the body politic.” (Malcolm and Laurel, 1936 as cited by Suarez, 2008) Strong (1963) summarizes the definition of constitution by saying that: A constitution may be said to be a collection of principles according to which the powers of the government, the rights of the governed, and the relations between the two are adjusted. The constitution may be a deliberate creation on paper; it may be found in one document which itself is altered or amended as time and growth demand; or it may be a bundle of separate laws given special authority as the laws of the constitution. Or, again, it may be that the bases of the constitution are fixed in one or two fundamental laws while the rest of it depends for its authority upon the force of custom. (p. 11) Purpose/function of the Constitution (1) Serves as the supreme or fundamental law. Being a supreme law, it applies to all citizens. All other laws of the land conform to it. (De Leon and De Leon, 2011) (2) Establishes basic framework and underlying principles of government. It defines the “framework of the system of government” and assigns to the different departments their duties and powers. (Malcolm and Laurel, 1936 as cited by De Leon and De Leon)

References: Cooley, T.M. (1868). A treatise on the constitutional limitations which rest upon the legislative power of the states of the American union. [Google ebook] Boston: Little, Brown, and Company. De Leon, H.S. and De Leon, H.M. (2011). Textbook on the Philippine Constitution. Manila: Rex Book Store. Meiji Constitution. 2012. In Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. Retrieved July 11, 2012, from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/373298/Meiji-Constitution Strong, C.F. (1963). A history of modern political constitutions. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons. Online version: http://archive.org/stream/historyofmodernp017892mbp#page/n6/mode/1up Suarez, R.A. (2008). Constitutional law reviewer. [pdf version of Chapter 1]. Manila: Rex Book Store. Trueman, C. (2012). The British Constitution. In History Learning Site. Retrieved July 11, 2012, from http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/british_constitution1.htm