The Philippine constitutional plebiscite of 1973 occurred from 10 to 15 January which ratified the 1973

Constitution of the Philippines The Constitution of the Philippines (Filipino language, Filipino: ''Saligang Batas ng Pilipinas'' or ''Konstitusyon ng Pilipinas'') is the Constitution, supreme law of the Philippines. Its final draft was completed by the Philippine Constitution ...

Background

In 1970, 320 delegates were elected to a constitutional convention which began to meet in 1971. On 23 September 1972, President

Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. (September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino lawyer, politician, dictator, and Kleptocracy, kleptocrat who served as the tenth president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled the c ...

issued the formal declaration of martial law which led to the arrests of 11 conveners, alongside government critics and journalists, by the

Armed Forces of the Philippines The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) () are the military forces of the Philippines. It consists of three main service branches; the Philippine Army, Army, the Philippine Air Force, Air Force, and the Philippine Navy, Navy (including the P ...

and the

Philippine Constabulary The Philippine Constabulary (PC; , ''HPP''; ) was a gendarmerie-type military police force of the Philippines from 1901 to 1991, and the predecessor to the Philippine National Police. It was created by the Insular Government, American occupat ...

. The convention then re-convened and wrote a constitution in line with what President

wanted, at least, according to many critics and victims of martial law. Marcos issued Presidential Decree No. 86 calling for the cancellation of the plebiscite and instituted

barangay The barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as ''barrio'', is the smallest Administrative divisions of the Philippines, administrative division in the Philippines. Named after the Precolonial barangay, precolonial po ...

s' ''citizens' assemblies'' to ratify the new constitution by a plebiscite from 10–15 January 1973. Alongside the utilization of citizens' assemblies, the voting age was also reduced to 15. Voting in citizens' assemblies took place through

viva voce ''Viva voce'' is a Latin phrase literally meaning "with living voice" but most often translated as "by word of mouth." It may refer to: *Word of mouth *A voice vote in a deliberative assembly *An oral exam ** Thesis defence, in academia *Spoken ev ...

voting, similar to parliamentary procedure, rather than the standard

secret ballot The secret ballot, also known as the Australian ballot, is a voting method in which a voter's identity in an election or a referendum is anonymous. This forestalls attempts to influence the voter by intimidation, blackmailing, and potential vote ...

that had been used up until that point. During the course of voting, military men were stationed in prominent positions to intimidate voters. And mayors were given quotas for "yes" votes, while "no" votes were occasionally not recorded. Official figures state that 90% of voters voted in favor of adopting the new constitution, although some communities did not partake in voting. On 17 January 1973, Marcos issued Proclamation No. 1102 certifying and proclaiming that the 1973 Constitution had been ratified by the Filipino people and thereby was in effect. These results were challenged during the Ratification Cases heard by the Supreme Court of the Philippine in 1973. The court upheld the results and the ratification of the 1973 Constitution.

Results

Approving the constitution

Having another plebiscite to ratify the constitution

References

External links