The Regular Batasang Pambansa (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

: Regular National Assembly), or the First Batasang Pambansa, was the meeting of the

Batasang Pambansa The Batasang Pambansa Complex, or simply the Batasan (), is the seat of the House of Representatives of the Philippines. It is located along the Batasan Road in Batasan Hills, Quezon City. The complex was initially the home of the Batasang Pa ...

from the beginning of its session on July 23, 1984 until it was abolished by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Corazon Aquino Maria Corazon "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino (; ; January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009) was a Filipina politician who served as the 11th president of the Philippines from 1986 to 1992. She was the most prominent figure of the 1986 People P ...

on March 25, 1986.

Events

Marcos impeachment attempt

On August 13, 1985, 56 assemblymen signed a resolution calling for the impeachment of President Marcos for graft and corruption, culpable violation of the Constitution, gross violation of his oath of office and other high crimes. They cited the ''

San Jose Mercury News ''The Mercury News'' (formerly ''San Jose Mercury News'', often locally known as ''The Merc'') is a morning daily newspaper published in San Jose, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is published by the Bay Area News Group, a subsidiar ...

'' exposé of the Marcoses' multimillion-dollar investment and property holdings in the United States. The properties allegedly amassed by the First Family were the Crown Building, Lindenmere Estate, and a number of residential apartments (in New Jersey and New York), a shopping center in New York, mansions (in London, Rome and Honolulu), the Helen Knudsen Estate in Hawaii and three condominiums in San Francisco, California. The Assemblymen also included in the complaint the misuse and misapplication of funds "for the construction of the Film Center, where X-rated and pornographic films are exhibited, contrary to public morals and Filipino customs and traditions". The following day, the Committee on Justice, Human Rights and Good Government dismissed the impeachment complaint for being insufficient in form and substance:

The resolution is no more than a hodge-podge of unsupported conclusions, distortion of law, exacerbated by ultra partisan considerations. It does not allege ultimate facts constituting an impeachable offense under the Constitution. In sum, the Committee finds that the complaint is not sufficient in form and substance to warrant its further consideration. It is not sufficient in form because the verification made by the affiants that the allegations in the resolution "are true and correct of our own knowledge" is transparently false. It taxes the ken of men to believe that the affiants individually could swear to the truth of allegations, relative to the transactions that allegedly transpired in foreign countries given the barrier of geography and the restrictions of their laws. More important, the resolution cannot be sufficient in substance because its careful assay shows that it is a mere charade of conclusions.

The People Power Revolution

The People Power Revolution from February 22–25, 1986 was a series of mostly

nonviolent Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosoph ...

mass demonstrations in the

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila (often shortened as Metro Manila; fil, Kalakhang Maynila), officially the National Capital Region (NCR; fil, link=no, Pambansang Punong Rehiyon), is the capital region, seat of government and one of three List of metrop ...

area. The peaceful protests were held after a call by

Archbishop of Manila The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila ( lat, Archidioecesis Manilensis; fil, Arkidiyosesis ng Maynilà; es, Arquidiócesis de Manila) is the archdiocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in Metro Manila, Philippines, encompassing ...

Jaime Cardinal Sin Jaime Lachica Sin ( zh, t=辛海梅, 辛海棉, poj=Sin Hái-mûi, Sin Hái-mî; August 31, 1928 – June 21, 2005), commonly and formally known as Jaime Cardinal Sin, was the 30th Roman Catholic Archbishop of Manila and the third cardinal fro ...

for civilian support of rebels, and this led to the fall of Marcos' regime and the installation of

as president.

Abolition

On March 25, 1986, President Aquino signed Presidential Proclamation No. 3, known as the "Freedom Constitution". Article I, Section 3 of this

provisional constitution A provisional constitution, interim constitution or transitional constitution is a constitution intended to serve during a transitional period until a permanent constitution is adopted. The following countries currently have,had in the past,such a c ...

abolished the Regular Batasang Pambansa '' inter alia'':

Section 3. ARTICLE VIII (The Batasang Pambansa), ARTICLE IX (The Prime Minister and the Cabinet), ARTICLE XVI (Amendments), ARTICLE XVII (Transitory Provisions) and all amendments thereto are deemed superseded by this Proclamation.

Sessions

*First Regular Session: July 23, 1984 – June 7, 1985 *Second Regular Session: July 22, 1985 – March 25, 1986

Leadership

*Prime Minister :: Cesar E. A. Virata ( KBL, Parliamentary District of Cavite) ::

Salvador H. Laurel Salvador Roman Hidalgo Laurel (, November 18, 1928 – January 27, 2004), also known as Doy Laurel, was a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the vice president of the Philippines from 1986 to 1992 under President Corazon Aquino an ...

(

UNIDO The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) (French: Organisation des Nations unies pour le développement industriel; French/Spanish acronym: ONUDI) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that assists countries in ...

) ''appointed on February 25, 1986, concurrently Vice-President'' *Deputy Prime Minister ::Jose A. Roño, Jr. ( KBL, Parliamentary District of Samar) *Speaker of the Batasan :: Nicanor E. Yñiguez, Jr. ( KBL, Parliamentary District of Southern Leyte) *Speaker Pro-Tempore ::Salipada K. Pendatun ( KBL, Parliamentary District of Maguindanao) ::Macacuna B. Dimaporo ( KBL, Parliamentary District of Lanao del Sur), ''elected 1985'' *Majority Floor Leader ::Jose A. Roño ( KBL, Parliamentary District of Samar) *Minority Floor Leader :: Jose B. Laurel, Jr. (

, Parliamentary District of Batangas)

Legislation

The Regular Batasang Pambansa passed a total of 181 laws: Mga Batas Pambansa Blg. 703 to 884.

Major legislation

Batas Pambansa Blg. 877
– ''Stabilization and Regulation of, Rentals of Certain Residential Units for Other Purposes''

– ''Public Assembly Act of 1985''
Batas Pambansa Blg. 881
– ''Omnibus Election Code of the Philippines''

– ''Order of Succession Act''

– ''Special Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Act''

– ''Presidential Electoral Tribunal Act''

Members

Member of Parliament

: The

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

proclaimed Pacificador's opponent,

Evelio Javier Evelio Bellaflor Javier (October 31, 1942 – February 11, 1986) was a Filipino politician. He served as governor of the province of Antique and was an opponent of the dictatorship of President Ferdinand Marcos. His assassination on February 11, ...

, the real winner in 1986. : Romualdez preferred to sit as Ambassador of the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, thereby he was disqualified to sit as Mambabatas Pambansa of Leyte. : Pendatun died in office on January 27, 1985 . : Climaco was assassinated on November 14, 1984.

References

External links

Congress
{{Philippine legislative periods Defunct unicameral legislatures Batasang Pambansa