Asia’s cradle of freedom

Honoring the Filipino on the 123rd anniversaries of the Malolos Constitution and the First Philippine Republic

By Dr. Pablo S. Trillana III

On Friday and on Sunday, Jan. 21 and 23, the Philippines will commemorate two landmark events: the 123rd anniversaries of Aguinaldo’s proclamation of the Malolos Constitution and his inauguration of the First Philippine Republic at the Barasoain Church in Malolos, Bulacan. In the saga of constitution-making in the world, they defined the country as the constitutional Republic in all of then colonized Asia. We were Asia’s cradle of freedom.

Magellan’s defeat in the Battle of Mactan on April 27, 1521 foiled Spain’s first attempt to colonize the islands and showed our unquenchable desire to remain free. The 1565 second wave of Spanish conquest succeeded in pushing back our aspirations into colonial submission that lasted for more than 300 long years.

Our ancient heart was both enduring and patient. When the Cadiz Constitution of 1812 declared Spain’s dominions overseas (including the Philippines) as parts of the Spanish nation and their subjects as citizens of Spain, we were given a seat in constitutional governance. We sent Ventura de los Reyes of Vigan as our representative to the Spanish Cortez. It was a quantum leap that stoke the ancient fires of self-governance. But Spain suffered difficulties and decided, in 1837, to govern the islands through special laws and took our seat away from the table of constitutional governance.

We grieved and, from 1800 to 1872, we made our Spanish overlords feel our lamentations with 11 open revolts. We were ignored and suppressed.

But when they garroted Gomez, Burgos, and Zamora on Feb. 17, 1872, our ancient heart was incensed. And the boys of 1872 grew into the heroes of the pen, the sword, and the moral compass. Almost single-handedly, Rizal gave clarity and voice to our discontent and created a climate of opinion that grew into a call for nationhood. The Katipuneros scrawled “Viva La Independencia de Filipinas” on the walls of Bernardo Carpio’s legendary Pamitinan caves in Montalban (now Rodriguez, Rizal) during the Holy Week of April 1895. A year later, in August 1896, Bonifacio and Aguinaldo would ride into the battlefields with an irrevocable cry to separate from Spain.

In those tumultuous yet luminous struggles, the boys of 1872 became the men and women of 1896. Even as they fought the Wars of Philippine Independence, first against Spain in swift decline (1896-1898) and then against America in swift ascent (1899-1901), they were also engaged in the task of state-ordering and nation-building.

When the Katipunan was being reorganized in late 1896 into a revolutionary government, General Edilberto Evangelista submitted a constitution but it remained unpromulgated. When Aguinaldo left Cavite for Bulacan in 1897, he established the Biak-na-Bato Republic and promulgated its constitution as prepared by Felix Ferrer and Isabelo Artacho. The Truce of Biak-na-Bato (Dec. 15, 1897) forced Aguinaldo to go to Hong Kong in exile. But those he left behind continued to build the institutions of state order. In 1898, they framed the Makabulos Constitution of Tarlac and Jacinto’s Pagkakatatag ng Pamahalaan sa Hukuman ng Silangan.

Emilio Aguinaldo declared independence in Kawit, Cavite on June 12, 1898, convened the Malolos Congress on Sept. 15, 1898, proclaimed the Malolos Constitution on Jan. 21, 1899, inaugurated the First Philippine Republic two days later, and became our first President.

After Spain’s defeat by the American Navy squadron in the mock battle of Manila Bay on May 1, 1898, Aguinaldo returned to Manila within the month (May 19, 1898) and brought with him a constitution drafted by Mariano Ponce. Aguinaldo swiftly resumed the war. He declared independence in Kawit, Cavite on June 12, 1898, convened the Malolos Congress on Sept. 15, 1898, proclaimed the Malolos Constitution on Jan. 21, 1899, inaugurated the First Philippine Republic two days later, and became our first President. It was classic state-ordering in times of war.

Within a month, however, Aguinaldo and the revolutionaries rebooted to face a second colonizer, the Americans. Spain had ceded the Philippines to the Americans for $20 million in the Treaty of Paris (Dec. 10, 1898). The wealthy industrialist (Andrew Carnegie) offered to pay the money to keep the Philippines independent and free. But the islands were rich geopolitical pivots in the shimmering Asia-Pacific region. And as America expanded its world of commerce and Manifest Destiny, it snapped the beautiful possession from Spain, ship-loaded 72,000 soldiers to the islands, bankrolled the war with $300 million, and subdued the country with the final capture of Aguinaldo in Palanan, Isabela on March 23, 1901.

Yet the belly-fire of constitution-framing did not die. In 1902, Macario Sakay promulgated a constitution and established the Tagalog Republic in Southern Luzon. And in 1913, Ricarte attempted to rekindle the fires of revolution and published his Rizaline Constitution. But the Americans preferred conquest and commerce.

The Malolos Constitution and the First Philippine Republic, though short-lived, were glory days of independence and free choice. The Malolos Constitution implored the aid of the Almighty and established the nation-state with a government that was popular, representative, and responsible. It divided the powers of government between the Assembly of Representatives elected in accordance with law (the legislature), the President of the Republic (the executive) elected by the Assembly and the Supreme Court and other courts as organized by law (the judiciary). The Assembly was to choose the Chief Justice with the concurrence of the President. It instituted provincial assemblies for the local governance of the islands. And its unique feature was the supremacy of the legislature with its Permanent Commission, selected from Members of the Assembly, who could assume, during the recesses of the Assembly, all legislative powers including the power to adopt emergency measures. It was a hybrid form of parliamentary government and demonstrated our capacity for social-ordering through the power of law-making.

Conceived in sacrifice and blood, the Malolos Constitution and the First Philippine Republic became bedrocks of future constitution-making and nation-building in the country. To remember them is to honor them.

The author, a Littauer Fellow at Kennedy School at Harvard University, is a professor of Constitutional Law at San Beda.