Voices throughout the Ages:

The History of the Philippine House of Representatives

During the age of empires, an archipelago in the Western Pacific Ocean became the bastion of what
would become one of the earliest and longest-standing representative democracies in Southeast Asia.
These cluster of islands – nearly unparalleled in its geographical and ethnological diversity – would
forever be fragmented if not for the unifying framework of republicanism brought to its shores by
Western powers through historical circumstance.

Imperial Spain, at the height of its pomp and grandeur, subjected these nearly 7000 islands under her
dominion and with it, a dynamic exposure to European politics and bureaucracy. She would name her
farthest possession in Asia as Las Islas Filipinas - the Philippine Islands – after the illustrious Spanish
monarch, Philip II, and her 300-year presence would lay the foundation for a rich legislative tradition.

The people of the Philippines were neither Spanish citizens nor sovereign ethnic groups. Collectively,
they became known as Filipinos, notwithstanding their unique regional identities. The Spanish colonial
government administered the islands from the designated capital, Manila. This insular way of
governance left many in the periphery of the archipelago voiceless and powerless, not being able to air
their grievances nor raise their needs to the foreign hegemon.

Empires rise and fall; the same rings true for Spain – once the largest empire the world had ever known.
It collapsed under its own weight, necessitating a bureaucratic transformation. It veered away from
absolute monarchism towards constitutional parliamentarism. The voices of the kings and queens of old
no longer resounded throughout the empire. It was instead the proclamations common folk that pushed
forward the imperial agenda.

These changes would find their way into the Philippines, where a number of Filipinos would attempt to
get representation into the Spanish Cortes. These Ilustrados – Filipinos educated in European
universities – constantly pushed for an unequivocal voice for Spain’s far eastern possession into its
Congress. No less than Dr. Jose Rizal, the Philippines’ national hero, advocated for parliamentary
representation for the archipelago. Despite earnest efforts, nobody in the Spanish Cortes heeded the
clamor of the Filipino people.

Within the Philippines, voices of dissent exponentially grew as colonial oppression finally reached a
collective tipping point. An ill-fated revolution in 1896 was the manifestation of widespread discontent
of inept and abusive Spanish administration of the islands. Despite the suppression of the Revolution of
1896, sectors of Philippine society were already gearing up for independence. A revolutionary
government was instituted by the country’s first-ever President, Emilio Aguinaldo, and an attempt at
creating a national assembly was consummated in Malolos, Bulacan on September 15, 1898. This
assembly was thereafter known as the Malolos Congress.

The turn of the 19th Century saw a changing of the guard. Spain was relegated into the sidelines and
world affairs were being shaped by new, emerging powers. A young nation – the United States of
America – was the exemplar of republicanism, representative democracy, and industrial might. This
fledging federation of North American states would then get into conflict with Spain, resulting to the
irreversible collapse of the Spanish Empire.
The entry of the United States into the pacific theater would pave the way for representative democracy
to take root in the Philippines. The United States emerged victorious in its brief war with Spain and the
Philippines was among the former’s spoils. Unlike its colonial predecessor, the United States
administered the islands with more fervor and efficiency. However, it had to first stamp out the
revolutionary government of Aguinaldo.

The political outcome of the Philippine-American war was the end of the First Philippine Republic and
the annexation of the Philippines as an overseas territory of the United States of America. Similar to
Spanish administration, the people of the Philippines were neither citizens of the United States nor were
they sovereign on their own. This is where the comparisons end, however, as the American colonial
government exerted efforts to prepare the Philippines towards self-governance and inevitable
independence.

The Organic Acts, the Philippine Bill of 1902, and the Jones Law of 1916 were among the successive
attempts to familiarize and educate the Philippine political elite to bicameral representative democracy.
The prototype of the House of Representatives – the Asamblea Filipina – was inaugurated on October
16, 1907 with Sergio Osmeña serving as the assembly’s first Speaker.

This was followed by the formal institution of a House and a Senate under the Jones Law of 1916,
wherein Osmeña remained Speaker while Manuel L. Quezon became the first Senate President. A
bicameral legislature persisted even after Quezon was elected President of the Philippine
Commonwealth from 1935 until his demise on August 1, 1944.

The path towards self-governance reached a crossroad during the advent of the Second World War. The
Philippines was not spared of the political changes that swept Southeast Asia. The United States, licking
its wounds from the Battle of Pearl Harbor, retreated home from the Philippines, opening the door for
Japanese political administration of the archipelago.

A new government was installed by the Japanese, which mirrored the forerunning National Assembly.
This time, however, the muted voices of a nation at war would be encapsulated in a token unicameral
Philippine legislature with Jose P. Laurel serving as President of Japanese-occupied Philippines. The
exiled Commonwealth government of Quezon would continue asserting its legitimacy from Australia.

The United States made good its promise to liberate the Philippines after nearly four years of Japanese
occupation. The Laurel government and its national assembly were dissolved and the Commonwealth
government was reintroduced to administer the archipelago. Liberation was for good as on July 4, 1946,
the Philippines finally obtained its independence from the United States.

The Philippine Congress then faced a constitutional crisis when then-President Ferdinand E. Marcos
issued Proclamation 1081, declaring martial law throughout the country on September 23, 1972. A new
constitution was drafted and passed in 1973, transforming the House and the Senate into a unicameral
body known as the Batasang Pambansa. This was a time of silenced voices in the legislature as the
Presidency held lawmaking powers – further blearing the lines between the executive and legislative
branches of government.

Democracy was finally restored in 1986 after the Marcos regime was overthrown by a bloodless People
Power Revolution. The House and the Senate were reintroduced through the 1987 Constitution. The 8th
Congress from 1987 to 1992 was the first formal bicameral assembly to hold session post-Martial Law.
The consequent Congresses further enriched the nation’s legislative tradition, introducing innovative
laws that are suitable to the pressing needs of the Filipino people.

The present House of Representatives of the 17th Congress, under the leadership of Speaker Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo, achieved numerous milestones that set it apart from its predecessors. These include
RA 10931, or the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act; RA 11055, or the Philippine
Identification System Act; and the landmark RA 11054, or the Bangsamoro Organic Law, among others.

Each Congress is shaped by the voices that echo and reverberate throughout its halls. These are timeless
voices expressing the sundry dreams and yearnings of the Filipino people. No other government body
can channel the multitude of voices of a nation more effectively than the House of Representatives
through its duly-elected Members. It is, beyond measure, a House of the Filipino People.