Bryan Jay O. Ladrido

1935  Constitution       When  the  constitution  of  the  Commonwealth  was  being  drafted,  Camarines  Norte  Representative  Wenceslao  Vinzons  proposed  the  inclusion  of  an  article  on  adopting  a  national  language.His  proposal  bore  fruit  in  Article  XIII,  Section  3  of  the  1935  Constitution,  which  directed  the  National  Assembly  to  “take  steps  toward  the  development  and  adoption  of  a  common  national  language  based  on  one    of  the  existing  native  languages.”  It  also  states  that  until  otherwise  provided  by  law,  English  and  Spanish  shall  remain  as  the  official  languages  of  the  Philippines.  

1973  Constitution     The  1973  Constitution  ended  up  with  a  carefully-­‐worded  Article  XV,  Section  3,  which  states:  “(2)  The  Batasang  Pambansa  shall  take  steps  towards  the  development  and  formal  adoption  of  a  common  national  language  to  be  known  as  Filipino.  (3)  Until  otherwise  provided  by  law,  English  and  Pilipino  shall  be  the  official  languages.”  

  It  was  a  compromise  as  it  did  not  explicitly  mention  that  Filipino  was  not  to  be  based  on  Tagalog,  nor  did  it  state  that  a  Tagalog-­‐based  national  language  was  to  be  abandoned.  Instead,  it  proposes  the  development  of  a  language  that  shall  be  called  “Filipino.”  

1987  Constitution       The  current  working  definition  of  the  Philippines’  national  language  is  found  in  Sections  6  and  7  of  Article  XIV  of  the  1987  Constitution,  which  was  created  following  the  ouster  of  Marcos.           Section  6  states:  “The  national  language  of  the  Philippines  is  Filipino.  As  it         evolves,  it  shall  be  further  developed  and  enriched  on  the  basis  of  existing         Philippine  and  other  languages.”  

  Section  7,  says:  “For  purposes  of  communication  and  instruction,  the  official         languages  of  the  Philippines  are  Filipino  and,  until  otherwise  provided  by         law,  English.”  

     

Source: http://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/65477-national-language-philippine-constitutionshttp://www.gov.ph/constitutions/the-1935-constitution/