The laws of the first Philippine Republic (the laws of Malolos) 1898-1899. / Compiled & edited by Sulpicio Guevara.

PROLOGUE

5

qualifications of representatives elected by suffrage, and another committee composed of Messrs. Gregorio Araneta, Trinidad H. P. de Tavera and
Jose Albert, to review the documents exhibited by the five individuals
of the first committee, as provided in the Decree of June 23 of the
present year, and after Messrs. Luna (D. Antonio), P. de Tavera, Velarde,
Calderon, Araneta, and Albert had spoken finally approved that the next
session referred to in the cited Decree would be held at 3:00 P.M. today
in the same place."
On Saturday morning, September 17, 1898, at 9:00 o'clock, the Malolos Congress held its first regular session, presided over by the President-elect Dr. Pedro A. Paterno, who, upon declaring open the session,
delivered his inaugural address.5
The Malolos Congress was composed of eminent men who could compare favorably with the most dignified law-makers of any other legislative assembly in the world. Many of them were holders of academic
degrees from famous universities in Europe and schooled in Spanish
jurisprudence. The President of the Congress himself, Dr. Pedro A. Paterno, was a holder of a bachelor's degree in law from the University
of Salamanca and a doctorate degree from the Universidad Central de
Madrid, a prolific writer whose writings were the products of great
erudition and research, embracing theology, teleology, universal history,
zoology, botany, mathematics, philosophy, astronomy, music, literature,
and political science.6
The most significant act of the Malolos Congress was the ratification
on September 29, 1898, of the Act of Proclamation of Independence of
June 12, 1898. The greatest achievement, however, was the framing of
the Malolos Constitution, approved by the Congress on January 20, 1899,
decreed and sanctioned by General Aguinaldo on January 21, 1899, and
promulgated on January 22, 1899.7 The proclamation of the Republic was
formally proclaimed on a date fixed by Decree of January 21, 1899, on
5 See Appendix D.
6 Works of Dr. Pedro A. Paterno: Bathala, el Dios grande y unico del tagalismo,
comparado con AJ, RA, Brahma y Jehova (estudios teleol6gicos); Los Anitos o
Santos Tagalos (estudios hist6rico-teleol6gicos); Arcos Iris, Camino del Paraiso
Tagalo (estudios hist6ricos); Absoluci6n de los pecadores por el SONAT, obispo de
la antigua religi6n Tagala; Filosofia del Siglo XVI; Santo Tomas y Suarez; Un
Curso de Matematicas Elementales; Influencia social del Cristianismo (segunda
edicion), Madrid, 1876; Las Constelaciones de Manila (estudios astronbmicos);
Ornitologia de las orillas del Pasig (estudios zool6gicos); Las Plantas de mi jardin
(estudios botanicas); La Poesias liricas y dramaticas; Sampaguitas y poesias varias
(quinta edici6n); La Antigua Civilizaci6n de las Islas Filipinas; Musica Tagala:
El Kumintang, El Kundiman, El Balitaw, y La Sampaguita; Ninay, costumbres
filipinas; La Familia Tagala en la Historia Universal; Los Itas (la parte de la
Historia de Filipinas); El Cristianismo en la antigua civilizaci6n Tagala; El
Barangay; El Regimen Municipal de las Islas Filipinas, Madrid, 1893; El Individuo
Tagalo y su Arte en la Exposicion Hist6rico-Americana, 1893; La Antigua Civilizaci6n Tagala, Madrid, 1887.
7 See official edition of the Constitution as printed and published by the
official printer of the Revolutionary Government, Z. Fajardo, Barasoain, 1899,
and included in these "Laws of Malolos".