MANILA, Philippines — Amid the furor over allowing virtual voting in the Senate, the importance of its bible of procedures, known as “The Rules of the Senate,” has come to the fore.
Debates about quorums, committees, and the rights of the minority, however, have been features of the Philippine legislature since its first iteration as the Malolos Congress in 1899.
In time for the highly anticipated Senate sessions this week, a 127-year-old manual of rules of the Malolos Congress has surfaced for the upcoming Leon Gallery auction on June 13.
Titled “Reglamento del Congreso de la Republica Filipina” or the “Rules of the Congress” of the First Philippine Republic, it was the first of its kind to be produced in the country, and indeed, in Asia.
The “Reglamento” paid meticulous attention to parliamentary procedure and the conduct and safety of the assemblymen.
For instance, the “Reglamento” provided for permanent standing committees and protected minority (or dissenting) opinions in cases of disagreement with committee majorities. Notice of amendments to the rules or laws needed to be served several days in advance. It also outlined strict rules of decorum, even for spectators in the gallery.
In addition, it assigned responsibility for the security and “policing” of the Congress grounds to the assembly’s president.
The rulebook was printed by the official government press in San Fernando, Pampanga, while the republic was on the move after the outbreak of the Philippine-American War.
The Malolos original is presumed to have been lost to the sands of time, since this is the only copy known to have survived the destruction of the revolution and successive wars. Not even the country’s repository of books, the National Library of the Philippines, has a copy of this significant work.
The “Reglamento” was authored by Pedro Paterno and Pablo Ocampo, both lawyers, and a writer/military man, Pablo Tecson. Paterno and Ocampo were elected president and secretary, respectively, of the Malolos Congress.
Nearly half of the Malolos Congress were lawyers, the rest being doctors, pharmacists, journalists and businessmen. (The only qualifications stipulated by its enabling decree were to be “sharp of mind” and “in good standing with the community.”)
Other highlights of the Leon Gallery Independence Day sale are a rare copy of the Malolos Constitution, a copy of General Aguinaldo’s inaugural address to the Malolos Congress, as well as Apolinario Mabini’s ill-fated draft of the First Republic’s constitution.