Unicameral long a Filipino dream

Filipinos had always wanted a unicameral legislature. They in fact twice set up one-chamber parliaments, which framed Constitutions and efficiently passed laws. But American colonizers also twice imposed a second "upper chamber". This is contained in no less than the website of the Philippine Senate. Excerpts:

"Although the Philippine Legislature was organized only in 1916, it had deep roots in the past. Long before the Spanish rulers came to the Philippines, the people in their barangays were already governed by a set of rules by their chief. Over the long span of Spanish and American rule, various forms of legislative structures were set up to perpetuate the colonial rulers’ desire to rule the country.

"In the closing years of the Spanish regime, the revolutionary government of Emilio Aguinaldo inaugurated a Congress on September 15, 1898, at the Barasoain Church in Malolos, Bulacan. This Congress was later on referred to as the Malolos Congress.

"The Malolos Congress, also known as the Assembly of Representatives, was the lawmaking body of the First Republic. It was a unicameral body composed of representatives, one-third of who were chosen by the officials of the municipalities under the control of the Revolutionary Government, and the others appointed by Aguinaldo to represent areas under the American Army which could not send delegates. The Malolos Congress is best remembered for framing the Malolos Constitution.

"The delegates to the Congress constituted the cream of the country’s professionals and intellectuals... TheAssembly, despite time constraints, turned out to be a prolific legislature. Its first official act was the ratification of the ‘Act of Declaration of Independence’ on September 29, 1898. It also passed a number of important laws designed to protect the local business and labor.

"With the outbreak of the Philippine-American War in February 1899, the Assembly’s activities were hampered by the emergency situation."

That last sentence was an understatement. Actually the legislature supported Aguinaldo’s forces against the Americans, and its leaders thus returned to the battlefields. Fighting broke out not only in Luzon but also in Mindanao and the Visayas. Aguinaldo’s capture on March 23, 1901 did not reduce the cause for self-rule. War would end only in 1907. Meanwhile, the "emergency" brought executive, legislative and judicial power to the American military governor. The Senate website goes on:

"In 1901, however, the legislative powers hitherto exercised by the military governor were transferred to the Philippine Commission... The members of the Commission were appointed by the US President with the consent of the US Senate... Its membership, starting in 1901, consisted of five Americans and three Filipinos. Then in 1913, there were five locals to only four Americans. It was only in 1913 when the Filipinos finally obtained numerical majority in a nine-man legislative body... This body served as the sole legislative body until 1907 when the first Philippine Assembly was convened pursuant to the Philippine Bill of 1902.

"The Philippine Assembly was convened at the old Manila Grand Opera House on October 16, 1907. Two dominant political groups – the Partido Nacionalista and the Partido Nacionalista Progresista – vied for positions in the Assembly... The NP, the party that espoused ‘immediate and complete independence’, headed by Sergio Osmeña, captured majority of the 80-seat Assembly. However, a situation of conflict prevailed, for the legislative arm of government consisted of an elective Assembly composed of Filipinos and an appointive Commission (later to become the Senate), the majority members of which were Americans. Such conflicts came to an end when the legislative powers were vested by the Jones Law in a bicameral legislature composed exclusively of Filipinos. From 1907 to 1916, the legislative power was vested in a legislature, with the Philippine Commission as the upper house and the Philippine Assembly as the lower house thereof.

It would seem that combining the Commission with the Assembly was not only to reduce conflict but also enforce American wishes. From 1907 to 1916, the Commission still consisted of American appointees who checked and balanced the independence ideals of the elective Assembly of Filipinos. Thus was thwarted the NP. But the Senate website continues:

"Pursuant to the provisions of the Jones Law, the legislative setup was changed. The Philippine Commission was abolished and the Philippine Legislature, inaugurated on October 16, 1916, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives, was established... On May 1, 1934, it accepted the Tydings-McDuffie Law, which authorized the framing of the Philippine Constitution.

"The birth of the Commonwealth of the Philippines ushered another change in the legislative system when a unicameral National Assembly was convened as provided in the 1935 Constitution. But the return to unicameral was short-lived. By virtue of a constitutional amendment in 1940, a two-chamber Congress was restored."

Historians suggest that the Senate’s return in 1940 was by colonial design. The US at that time effectively had set up a presidential form, by which it dealt with only one person concerning Philippine affairs. It was a convenient mode, for the US needed to continue controlling politics and the economy after a planned "grant" of independence. A training ground was needed for the highest office in the land, and that was to be the Senate. And so the colonizers induced the Assembly to restore it.

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