The 1935 Constitution

CONSTITUTION OF THE PHILIPPINES

The Filipino people, imploring the aid of Divine Providence, in order to establish a government that shall
embody their ideals, conserve and develop the patrimony of the nation, promote the general welfare,
and secure to themselves and their posterity the blessings of independence under a régime of justice,
liberty, and democracy, do ordain and promulgate this Constitution.

Article I.—THE NATIONAL TERRITORY

Section 1. The Philippines comprises all the territory ceded to the United States by the treaty of Paris
concluded between the United States and Spain on the tenth day of December, eighteen hundred and
ninety-eight, the limits of which are set forth in Article III of said treaty, together with all the islands
embraced in the treaty concluded at Washington, between the United States and Spain on the seventh
day of November, nineteen hundred, and in the treaty concluded between the United States and Great
Britain on the second day of January, nineteen hundred and thirty, and all territory over which the
present Government of the Philippine Islands exercises jurisdiction.

ARTICLE II.—DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES

Section 1. The Philippines is a republican state. Sovereignty resides in the people and all government
authority emanates from them.

Sec. 2. The defense of the State is a prime duty of government, and in the fulfillment of this duty all
citizens may be required by law to render personal military or civil service.

Sec. 3. The Philippines renounces war as an instrument of national policy, and adopts the generally
accepted principles of international law as a part of the law of the Nation.

SEC. 4. The natural right and duty of parents in the rearing of the youth for civic efficiency should receive
the aid and support of the Government.

SEC. 5. The promotion of social justice to insure the well-being and economic security of all the people
should be the concern of the State.

ARTICLE III.—BILL OF RIGHTS

(2) Private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation.

(3) The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against
unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue but upon probable
cause, to be determined by the judge after examination under oath or affirmation of the complainant
and the witnesses he may produce, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the
persons or things to be seized.

(4) The liberty of abode and of changing the same within the limits prescribed by law shall not be
impaired.

(5) The privacy of communication and correspondence shall be inviolable except upon lawful order of
the court or when public safety and order require otherwise.

(6) The right to form associations or societies for purposes not contrary to law shall not be abridged.

(7) No law shall be made respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise
thereof, and the free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without
discrimination or preference, shall forever be allowed. No religious test shall be required for the exercise
of civil or political rights.

(8) No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people
peaceably to assemble and petition the Government for redress of grievances

(9) No law granting a title of nobility shall be enacted, and no person holding any office of profit or trust
shall, without the consent of the National Assembly, accept any present, emolument, office, or title of
any kind whatever from any foreign state.

(10) No law impairing the obligation of contracts shall be passed.

(11) No ex post facto law or bill of attainder shall be enacted.

(12) No person shall be imprisoned for debt or nonpayment of a poll tax.

(14) The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended except in cases of invasion,
insurrection, or rebellion, when the public safety requires it, in any of which events the same may be
suspended wherever during such period the necessity for such suspension shall exist.

(15) No person shall be held to answer for a criminal offense without due process of law.

(16) All persons shall before conviction be bailable by sufficient sureties, except those charged with
capital offenses when evidence of guilt is strong. Excessive bail shall not be required.

(17) In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall be presumed to be innocent until the contrary is
proved, and shall enjoy the right to be heard by himself and counsel, to be informed of the nature and
cause of the accusation against him, to have a speedy and public trial, to meet the witnesses face to face
and to have compulsory process to secure the attendance of witnesses in his behalf.

(18) Bo person shall be compelled to be a witness against himself.

(19) Excessive fines shall not be imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted.

(20) No person shall be twice put in jeopardy of punishment for the same offense. If an cat is punished
by a law and an ordinance, conviction or acquittal under either shall constitute a bar to another
prosecution for the same act.

(21) Free access to the courts shall not be denied to any person by reason of poverty.

ARTICLE IV.—CITIZENSHIP

SECTION 1. The following are citizens of the Philippines:

(1)  Those who are citizens of the Philippine Islands at the time of the adoption of this Constitution.

(2) Those born in the Philippine Islands of foreign parents who, before the adoption of this Constitution,
had been elected to public office in the Philippine Islands.

(3) Those whose fathers are citizens of the Philippines.

(5) Those who are naturalized in accordance with law.

SEC. 2. Philippine citizenship may be lost or re-acquired in the manner provided by law.

ARTICLE V.—SUFFRAGE

SECTION 1. Suffrage may be exercised by male citizens of the Philippines not otherwise disqualified by
law, who are twenty-one years of age or over and are able to read and write, and who shall have resided
in the Philippines for one year and in the municipality wherein they propose to vote for at least six
months preceding the election. The National Assembly shall extend the right of suffrage to women, if in
a plebiscite which shall be held for that purpose within two years after the adoption of this Constitution,
not less than three hundred thousand women possessing the necessary qualifications shall vote
affirmatively on the question.

ARTICLE VI.—LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT

 SECTION 1. The Legislative power shall be vested in a National Assembly. The Members of the National
Assembly shall not exceed one hundred and twenty, shall be chosen every three years, and shall be
apportioned among the several provinces as nearly as may be according to the number of their
respective inhabitants, but each province shall have at least one Member. The National Assembly shall
by law make an apportionment within three years after the return of every enumeration, and not
otherwise. Until such apportionment shall have been made, the National Assembly shall consist of
ninety-eight Members, of whom eighty-seven shall be elected by the representative districts as now
provided by law; and three by theMountainProvince, and one by each of the other eight existing special
provinces. The Members of the National Assembly in the provinces of Sulu, Lanao, and Cotabato shall be
chosen as may be determined by law; in all other provinces they shall be elected by the qualified voters
therein.

 SEC. 2. No person shall be a Member of the National Assembly unless he has been five years a citizen of
the Philippines, is at least thirty years of age, and, at the time of his election, a qualified elector, and a
resident of the province in which he is chosen for not less than one year immediately prior to his
election.

 SEC. 3. (1) In case of vacancy in the National Assembly a special election may be called in the
corresponding district, in the manner prescribed by law, but the member thus elected shall serve only
for the unexpired term.

(2) Elections for the National Assembly shall be held on the dates fixed by law.
(3) The National Assembly shall convene in regular session once every year, on the second Monday of
the month immediately following that on which the election of its Members was held, unless a different
date is fixed by law. The National Assembly may be called in special session at any time by the President
to consider general legislation or only such subjects as he may designate. No special session shall
continue longer than thirty days and no regular session longer than one hundred days, exclusive of
Sundays.

(4) The National Assembly shall choose its Speaker, a secretary, a sergeant-at-arms, and such other
officers as may be required. A majority of all the Members shall constitute a quorum to do business, but
a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may compel the attendance of absent Members, in
such manner and under such penalties as the National Assembly may provide.

(5) The National Assembly may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly
behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a Member. It shall keep a Journal of its
proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in its judgment
require secrecy; and the yeas and nays on any question shall, at the request of the one-fifth of its
Members present, be entered in the Journal.

SEC. 4. There shall be an Electoral Commission composed of three Justices of the Supreme Court
designated by the Chief Justice, and of six Members chosen by the National Assembly, three of whom
shall be nominated by the party having the largest number of votes, and three by the party having the
second largest number of votes therein. The senior Justice in the Commission shall be its Chairman. The
Electoral Commission shall be the sole judge of all contests relating to the election, returns, and
qualifications of the Members of the National Assembly.

SEC. 5. The Members of the National Assembly shall, unless otherwise provided by law, receive an
annual compensation of five thousand pesos each including per diems and other emoluments or
allowances and exclusive only of travelling expenses to and from their respective districts when
attending sessions of the National Assembly. No increase in said compensation shall take effect until
after the expiration of the full term of the Members of the National Assembly elected subsequent to the
approval of such increase. The Speaker of the National Assembly shall receive an annual compensation
of sixteen thousand pesos until otherwise provided by law.

SEC. 6. The Members of the National Assembly shall in all cases except treason, felony, and breach of
the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the sessions of the National Assembly,
and in going to and returning from the same; and for any speech or debate therein, they shall not be
questioned in any other place.

SEC. 7. The National Assembly shall elect from among its Members, on the basis of proportional
representation of the political parties therein, a Commission on Appointments and a Commission on
Impeachment, each to consist of twenty-one members. These Commissions shall be constituted within
thirty days after the National Assembly shall have been organized with the election of its Speaker, and
shall meet only while the National Assembly is in session, at the call of their respective Chairmen or a
majority of their members, to discharge such powers and functions as are herein conferred upon them.