Popularly known as the 1987 Constitution, is the constitution or the supreme law of the Republic of the Philippines. It was enacted in 1987, during the administration of President Corazon C. Aquino.[1]
Philippine constitutional law experts recognize three other previous constitutions as having effectively governed the country — the 1935Commonwealth Constitution, the 1973 Constitution, and the 1986 Freedom Constitution.[2][3] Two further constitutions were drafted and adopted during two short-lived war-time governments, by the revolutionary forces during the Philippine Revolution with Emilio Aguinaldo as President and by the occupation forces during the Japanese Occupation of the Philippines during World War II with José P. Laurel as President.
Background of the 1987 Constitution
In 1986, following the People Power Revolution which ousted Ferdinand E. Marcos as President, and following on her own inauguration, Corazon C. Aquino issued Proclamation 3, declaring a national policy to implement the reforms mandated by the people, protecting their basic rights, adopting a provisional constitution, and providing for an orderly transition to a government under a new constitution.[4]
President Aquino later issued Proclamation № 9, creating a Constitutional Commission (popularly known as the "ConCom") to frame a new charter to supersede the Marcos-era 1973 Constitution. Aquino appointed 50 members to the Commission; the members were drawn from varied backgrounds, including several former congressmen, former Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberto Concepción, Roman Catholic bishop Teodoro Bacani, and film director Lino Brocka. Aquino also deliberately appointed five members, including former Labour Minister Blas Ople, who had been allied with Marcos until the latter 's ouster. After the Commission had convened, it elected Cecilia Muñoz-Palma as its president. Muñoz-Palma had emerged as a leading