Transitory Provisions

Section 1

The first elections of Members of the Congress under this Constitution shall be held on the second Monday of May, 1987.

The first local elections shall be held on a date to be determined by the President.

• It may be simultaneous with the election of the Members of the Congress.
• It shall include the election of all Members of the city or municipal councils in the Metropolitan Manila area.

Section 2

The Senators, Members of the House of Representatives, and the local officials first elected under this Constitution shall serve until noon of June 30, 1992.

Of the Senators elected in the election of 1992, the first 12 obtaining the highest number of votes shall serve for 6 years and the remaining 12 for 3 years.

Section 3

All existing laws, decrees, executive orders, proclamations, letters of instructions, and other executive issuances not inconsistent with this Constitution shall remain operative until amended, repealed, or revoked.

Section 4

All existing treaties or international agreements which have not been ratified shall not be renewed or extended without the concurrence of at least two-thirds of all the Members of the Senate.

Section 5

The 6-year term of the incumbent President and Vice-President elected in the February 7, 1986 election is, for purposes of synchronization of elections, hereby extended to noon of June 30, 1992.

The first regular elections for the President and Vice-President under this Constitution shall be held on the second Monday of May, 1992.

Section 6

The incumbent President shall continue to exercise legislative powers until the first Congress is convened.

Section 7

Until a law is passed, the President may fill by appointment from a list of nominees by the respective sectors the seats reserved for sectoral representation in paragraph (2), Section 5 of Article VI of this Constitution.

Section 8

Until otherwise provided by the Congress, the President may constitute the Metropolitan Authority to be composed of the heads of all local government units comprising the Metropolitan Manila area.

Section 9

A sub-province shall continue to exist and operate until it is converted into a regular province or until its component municipalities are reverted to the mother province.

Section 10

All courts existing at the time of the ratification of this Constitution shall continue to exercise their jurisdiction, until otherwise provided by law. The provisions of the existing Rules of Court, judiciary acts, and procedural laws not inconsistent with this Constitution shall remain operative unless amended or repealed by the Supreme Court or the Congress.

Section 11

The incumbent Members of the Judiciary shall continue in office until they reach the age of seventy years or become incapacitated to discharge the duties of their office or are removed for cause.

Section 12

The Supreme Court shall, within one year after the ratification of this Constitution, adopt a systematic plan to expedite the decision or resolution of cases or matters pending in the Supreme Court or the lower courts prior to the effectivity of this Constitution. A similar plan shall be adopted for all special courts and quasi-judicial bodies.

Section 13

The legal effect of the lapse, before the ratification of this Constitution, of the applicable period for the decision or resolution of the cases or matters submitted for adjudication by the courts, shall be determined by the Supreme Court as soon as practicable.

Section 14

The provisions of paragraphs (3) and (4), Section 15 of Article VIII of this Constitution shall apply to cases or matters filed before the ratification of this Constitution, when the applicable period lapses after such ratification.

Section 15.

The incumbent Members of the Civil Service Commission, the Commission on Elections, and the Commission on Audit shall continue in office for one year after the ratification of this Constitution, unless they are sooner removed for cause or become incapacitated to discharge the duties of their office or appointed to a new term thereunder.

No Member can serve longer than 7 years.

Section 16.

Career civil service employees separated from the service not for cause but as a result of the reorganization pursuant to Proclamation No. 3 dated March 25, 1986 and the reorganization following the ratification of this Constitution shall be entitled to appropriate separation pay and to retirement and other benefits accruing to them under the laws of general application in force at the time of their separation.

In lieu thereof, at the option of the employees, they may be considered for employment in the Government or in any of its subdivisions, instrumentalities, or agencies, including government-owned or controlled corporations and their subsidiaries. This provision also applies to career officers whose resignation, tendered in line with the existing policy, had been accepted.

Section 17.

Until the Congress provides otherwise, the President shall receive an annual salary of three hundred thousand pesos; the Vice-President, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, two hundred forty thousand pesos each; the Senators, the Members of the House of Representatives, the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court, and the Chairmen of the Constitutional Commissions, two hundred four thousand pesos each; and the Members of the Constitutional Commissions, one hundred eighty thousand pesos each.

Section 18. At the earliest possible time, the Government shall increase the salary scales of the other officials and employees of the National Government.

Section 19. All properties, records, equipment, buildings, facilities, and other assets of any office or body abolished or reorganized under Proclamation No. 3 dated March 25, 1986 or this Constitution shall be transferred to the office or body to which its powers, functions, and responsibilities substantially pertain.

Section 20. The first Congress shall give priority to the determination of the period for the full implementation of free public secondary education.

Section 21. The Congress shall provide procedures to revert to the State all lands of the public domain and real rights connected therewith which were acquired in violation of the Constitution or the public land laws, or through corrupt practices.

No transfer or disposition of such lands or real rights shall be allowed until after 1 year from the ratification of this Constitution.

Section 22. The Government shall expropriate idle or abandoned agricultural lands to be distributed to the beneficiaries of the agrarian reform program.

Section 23. Advertising entities affected by paragraph (2), Section 11 of Article 16 shall have 5 years from its ratification to comply on a graduated and proportionate basis with the minimum Filipino ownership requirement therein.

Section 24. Private armies and other armed groups not recognized by duly constituted authority shall be dismantled.

All paramilitary forces including Civilian Home Defense Forces not consistent with the citizen armed force established in this Constitution, shall be:

• dissolved or
• converted into the regular force.

Section 25. Foreign military bases, troops, or facilities shall not be allowed in the Philippines except under a treaty:

• allowed by the Senate
• ratified by a national referendum

Section 26.

The authority to issue sequestration or freeze orders under Proclamation No. 3 dated March 25, 1986 in relation to the recovery of ill-gotten wealth shall remain operative for not more than 18 months after the ratification of this Constitution. However, in the national interest, as certified by the President. The Congress can extend the said period.

A sequestration or freeze order shall be issued only upon showing of a prima facie case. The order and the list of the sequestered or frozen properties shall forthwith be registered with the proper court. For orders issued before the ratification of this Constitution, the corresponding judicial action or proceeding shall be filed within six months from its ratification. For those issued after such ratification, the judicial action or proceeding shall be commenced within six months from the issuance thereof.

The sequestration or freeze order is deemed automatically lifted if no judicial action or proceeding is commenced as herein provided.

Section 27. This Constitution shall take effect immediately upon its ratification by a majority of the votes cast in a plebiscite held for the purpose and shall supersede all previous Constitutions.

Ratified: February 2, 1987