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Cruz, I. (2007). Constitutional law. Quezon City, Central Book Supply.
De Leon, H. (2008). Textbook on the Philippine constitution. Quezon City, Rex Bookstore.
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Suarez, R. (2011). Political law reviewer. Quezon City, Rex Bookstore.

















Constitution
The Philippines had changed its Constitution form time to time in the past century. We started
with the Malolos Constitution, Then the 1973 Constitution by President Marcos, followed by the 1985
Freedom Constitution, and finally our present Constitution: The 1987 Constitution. When asked what
the meaning of a Constitution is, people frequently answer that it is a law, the book of our rights, or the
fundamental law of the land (Suarez, 2011). What really is a Constitution?
Reference has been made to the definition by Miller (1893) that a Constitution is a body of
rules and maxims in accordance with which the powers of sovereignty are habitually exercised. With
particular reference to the Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines, the more appropriate
description is that given by Justice Malcolm (1902), who speaks of it as the written instrument enacted
by the direct action of the people 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.
The purpose of the Constitution is to prescribe the permanent framework of a system of
government, to assign to the several departments their respective powers and duties, and to establish
certain first fixed principles on which government is founded (Cruz, 1987). It is primarily designed to
preserve and protect the rights of individuals against the arbitrary actions of those in authority (De Leon,
2008). It should be stressed that when it comes to certain basic individual rights, such as religious
freedom, it is not the Constitution that creates or confers them. The correct view is that the Constitution
merely recognizes and protects these rights and does not bring them into existence.
The Constitution is the basic and paramount law to which all other laws must conform and to
which all persons, including the highest officials of the land, must defer (Cruz, 2007). It has the status of
fundamental which occupies the highest level in the hierarchy of laws. It is the test of the legality of all
governmental actions, whether from the highest official or lowest functionary. For example, no law
enacted by the congress shall be valid, however noble its intentions, if it conflicts with the Constitution.
The Constitution must remain supreme and all must bow to the mandate of this law.
A good written constitution must be broad, brief and definite (Cruz, 2007). It must be broad not
only because it provides for the organization of the entire government and covers all persons and things
within the territory of the State but more so because it is supposed to embody the past, to reflect the
present and to anticipate the future, it must be brief and confine itself to basic principles or else the
Constitution would be inaccessible to the understanding of the people and must be clear or definite.
Otherwise, ambiguity in its provisions would result into confusion and divisiveness among the people
(Albano, 2012).
Our Constitution is permanent in character and has the capacity to resist whimsical change
brought by occasional infatuations of the people with ideas or personalities. According to Duka (2012) a
Constitution must be firm and immovable, like a mountain amidst the strife of storms or a rock in the
ocean amidst the raging of the waves. Such a Constitution is not likely to be easily tampered with to
suit political expediency, personal ambitions or ill-advised agitation for change.