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History · Constitution and authoritarian rule

1972–1987

The 1973 Constitution of the Philippines

A sourced guide to the 1973 Philippine Constitution, its parliamentary design, disputed citizens-assembly ratification, Javellana ruling and authoritarian use.

Official portrait of Ferdinand Marcos during his second presidential term
Malacañang Press · Public domain / Wikimedia Commons
29 Nov 1972
Draft approved
15 Jan 1973
Plebiscite cancelled
17 Jan 1973
Ratification proclaimed
31 Mar 1973
Javellana decision

By Biography Compass Editorial TeamPublished 9 September 2026

The short answer

The 1973 Constitution promised a parliamentary republic but entered force through a ratification process conducted under martial law and outside the secret-ballot plebiscite originally scheduled. The text, the transition decrees and the divided Supreme Court decision must be read together to understand how constitutional form and authoritarian power coexisted.

Chronology

A timeline of the turning points

  1. Convention approves the proposed charter

    Delegates completed a text establishing a nominally parliamentary government and unicameral National Assembly.

  2. A national plebiscite is scheduled

    Presidential Decree No. 73 set a secret-ballot ratification vote for 15 January 1973.

  3. Citizens’ assemblies receive a national role

    Presidential decrees created and expanded local assemblies that were asked about the new constitution and martial law.

  4. The scheduled plebiscite is postponed

    General Order No. 20 suspended both the vote and the temporary space for free public debate.

  5. Marcos proclaims ratification

    Proclamation No. 1102 relied on reported voting in citizens’ assemblies and declared the new constitution in effect.

  6. The Supreme Court decides Javellana

    A divided Court found no further judicial obstacle to treating the constitution as in force, without a majority holding that it was validly ratified.

  7. Amendments reshape the parliamentary text

    Marcos combined presidential and prime-ministerial authority, convened the Interim Batasang Pambansa and retained power after formal martial law ended.

  8. The constitutional order is replaced

    People Power, the Freedom Constitution and ratification of the 1987 Constitution ended the 1973 framework.

What did the original 1973 Constitution propose?

The charter replaced the 1935 Constitution’s separately elected president and bicameral Congress with a parliamentary design. Legislative power belonged to a unicameral National Assembly, a prime minister would head the government and a president would serve as head of state.

It also contained a bill of rights, social-justice commitments and provisions on national territory, citizenship and economic ownership. Reading the text alone, however, does not explain how its transitory machinery operated under martial law.

How was ratification originally supposed to work?

The 1971 Constitutional Convention approved the proposed charter on 29 November 1972. Presidential Decree No. 73 then called a plebiscite for 15 January 1973, with secret ballots asking voters to approve or reject the full text.

That plan was recognisable as a national constitutional vote under the 1935 charter. It also provided for publication, polling places, election inspectors and canvassing by the Commission on Elections.

Why did the scheduled plebiscite not happen?

At the end of December, Marcos created citizens’ assemblies as local consultation bodies. Presidential Decree No. 86-A asked them to consider the new constitution, continuation of martial law, the reopening of Congress and scheduled elections.

General Order No. 20 postponed the 15 January plebiscite until further notice and again restricted free public debate. The government then treated reported assembly responses as a direct act of ratification rather than returning to the secret-ballot process described in Presidential Decree No. 73.

What did Proclamation No. 1102 claim?

On 17 January 1973, Marcos announced that the proposed constitution had been ratified through citizens’ assemblies. The proclamation reported 14,976,561 votes for adoption and 743,869 against, figures that were not certified through the ordinary Commission on Elections canvass planned for the postponed plebiscite.

The same day, Proclamation No. 1103 said the Interim National Assembly would not be convened, and Proclamation No. 1104 continued martial law. These acts show why the constitution’s effective meaning cannot be separated from executive control of its transition.

What did Javellana v. Executive Secretary decide?

Petitioners asked the Supreme Court to stop implementation, arguing that citizens’ assemblies and the proclamation did not satisfy constitutional ratification requirements. The justices produced multiple opinions and no single majority reasoning that cleanly validated the process.

A majority did not agree that the constitution had been validly ratified, but the vote also failed to produce the relief needed to stop it. The Court’s dispositive conclusion was that there was “no further judicial obstacle” to the new constitution being considered in force. Describing Javellana as a simple approval therefore misses the division at the centre of the case.

Did the Philippines immediately become a normal parliamentary democracy?

No. The Interim National Assembly named in the transitory provisions did not convene. Marcos continued governing through martial-law powers and presidential decrees. Amendments approved in 1976 created an Interim Batasang Pambansa while allowing him to exercise both presidential and prime-ministerial authority.

The Interim Batasang Pambansa first met in 1978. Formal martial law ended in January 1981, but executive dominance, controlled elections, detention powers and restrictions on opposition continued. Institutional labels changed more quickly than the distribution of power.

How did the 1973 Constitution end?

The disputed February 1986 election and People Power Revolution removed Marcos from office. Corazon Aquino initially governed under a provisional Freedom Constitution while an appointed commission drafted a replacement.

Voters ratified the 1987 Constitution on 2 February. It restored a presidential system and bicameral Congress, limited the president to one six-year term and imposed time limits plus legislative and judicial review on future martial-law declarations.

Continue the chronology

1967–1972

The 1971 Constitutional Convention

Begin with the elected body that drafted the proposed parliamentary charter.

Read the timeline1972–1986

The Marcos Martial Law Era

Place the constitutional transition inside the broader system of decrees, repression and resistance.

Read the timeline22–25 Feb 1986

The People Power Revolution

Follow the election crisis and mass mobilisation that ended the Marcos government.

Read the timeline1986–1987

The 1987 Philippine Constitution

Compare the restored presidential system, bicameral Congress and new safeguards.

Read the timeline

Connected biographies

Five lives across drafting, executive power, legal challenge and democratic opposition

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1920—2016

Jovito Salonga

Opposition senator and post-EDSA Senate presidentA Filipino lawyer, opposition leader and statesman who survived wartime imprisonment and the Plaza Miranda bombing before helping rebuild the Senate after EDSA.Read biography

Quick answers

Common questions

When did the 1973 Philippine Constitution take effect?
Proclamation No. 1102 declared it ratified and in effect on 17 January 1973. The legality of that process was immediately challenged.
Was there a plebiscite for the 1973 Constitution?
A secret-ballot plebiscite was scheduled for 15 January 1973 but postponed by General Order No. 20. The government instead relied on reported voting through citizens’ assemblies.
What form of government did the 1973 Constitution create?
Its original design was parliamentary, with a unicameral National Assembly, a prime minister as head of government and a president as head of state. Amendments and transitory arrangements concentrated authority in Marcos.
Did the Supreme Court uphold the 1973 Constitution?
Javellana produced divided opinions. No majority held that ratification was valid, but the Court concluded that there was no further judicial obstacle to treating the charter as in force.
When was the 1973 Constitution replaced?
It was displaced by the provisional Freedom Constitution in March 1986 and replaced by the 1987 Constitution ratified on 2 February 1987.

Primary and institutional sources

How this history was checked

Dates, legal milestones and historical claims are checked against the official and institutional records below. This article was reviewed on 9 September 2026.

  1. The LawPhil Project1973 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines
  2. The LawPhil ProjectPresidential Decree No. 73 — scheduled ratification plebiscite
  3. The LawPhil ProjectGeneral Order No. 20 — postponement of the plebiscite
  4. The LawPhil ProjectProclamation No. 1102 — announced ratification
  5. Supreme Court of the Philippines via LawPhilJavellana v. Executive Secretary, G.R. No. L-36142