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‘If men were angels, no government would be necessary,’ stated James Madison, which briefly explains the value of a state’s constitution. Reflecting back to the state of nature, men enter into social contracts and form governments to protect their natural rights, which serves as the primary purpose of governments. In this sense, citizens give their consent by accepting the government’s laws and services, and the essence of the Constitution serves as the foundation for these laws. The Constitution is more than just a document that lays out the do’s and don’ts of a given state; aside from the fact that it is the document where laws and statutes were outlined; it also has other functions, such as empowering and authorizing regulations for public institutions and defining the limitations on how representatives can obtain power. The constitution, according to Hedling (2017), is a collection of fundamental precepts that specifies the overall organization and administration of the state and contains essential concepts and standards that support and guide all government action. Hedling further said that because the constitution is the foundation of the state’s actions and decisions, it should be anticipated to last a long time and govern indefinitely. Accordingly, the definition by Malcolm and Laurel, Philippine Constitutional Law states that the constitution is a written instrument by which the government’s essential powers are founded, limited, and defined, and by which those powers are dispersed among the several departments for safe and useful implementation for the benefit of the people. With that, according to Calilung and Bunquin (2014), the Philippine constitution is a living proof of the people’s sovereignty, a by-product of the fight against tyranny and dictatorship, and, most importantly, an embodiment of the Filipino people’s reignited faith and confidence in democratic values, as well as the sanctity and significance of democratic institutions, which are truly a spectrum of empowerment.
The most significant aspects of a government are protected by the Constitution. For example, in the Philippines, the constitution establishes fundamental civil and political rights for citizens, including the right to due process of law, the right against unwarranted arrest, the freedom of speech, the equal protection clause, and many others, while also limiting the government’s powers to ensure that these rights are exercised (Nachura, 2014). Furthermore, the constitution lays out the framework for how the government should operate; for example, in a democratic setting, the government must have three branches: executive, legislative, and judiciary. In consonance with those provisions, the political autonomy of local government units that serve as municipal governments for provinces, cities, municipalities, and barangays was as well limited (Calilung and Bunquin, 2014). Furthermore, the constitution has provisions that allow citizens of the country to change or revise the contents of the constitution if it no longer meets the needs of the people or is no longer applicable to the status quo.
Knowing the constitution’s purpose and goals for the general welfare of the people and the state enabled us to appreciate its significance as a whole, for which the constitution, as the fundamental law, ensures that the people are fairly representedthat the government’s decisions and laws are implemented in the people’s best interests. The constitution establishes actions to hold public officials accountable for any committed abuses or grievances through the limitations and rules imposed on them. The constitution essentially protects the people; for example, in a democratic setup, citizens are provided with protected and guaranteed individual rights and freedoms while ensuring each individual’s life, human dignity, and liberty. Constitution is a cooperative effort between the government and the people that harmonizes all of the various political viewpoints in order to maintain a stable society. When disagreements arise, all decisions would lay back based on the constitution’s framework. Furthermore, as the foundation, the constitution establishes the basic information that presents the state’s identity, whether it is a democratic or authoritarian state. For example, the 1987 constitution establishes the Philippines as a ‘democratic and republican state’ in which ‘sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them . In addition, the constitution specifies who is eligible to vote and who is deemed a citizen of the state.
The purpose of the constitution, as stated above would conclude the reasons why it is important for a state to have a constitution, going back to James Madison’s statement in the first sentences of this paper: ‘If men were angels, no government would be necessary.’ This explains that men are innately irrational, and there is no guarantee that people will conform and respect the rights of others that indeed we need a government that would execute the constitution where the basic and fundamental rights of each citizen were outlined to be protected.
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