MANILA --  The National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP), the surviving delegates of the 1971 Constitutional Convention, and the National Museum of the Philippines are mounting a conference entitled “Philippine Constitutions and the Social Order: Counting Blessings, Rising Above Challenges.”  

The conference will be held on 16-17 January 2024, from 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Old Senate Session Hall, National Museum of Fine Arts, Manila. It will feature speakers and panelists who will highlight the value of our Constitution in the face of various political, social, and economic issues. Attendance is by invitation, though the proceedings will be livestreamed through the Facebook page of the NHCP. The public may join the online Zoom room and register through this link - https://bit.ly/ConCon-Zoom-Sign-Up 

This will be followed by the opening of an exhibit on the Philippines' rich constitutional history on 18 January 2024; it will run until 17 February 2024. The exhibit will feature facsimiles of various charters which were proposed and implemented in the country. Also on display are the ceremonial mace of the 1971 Constitutional Convention and photographs from their sessions. For a limited time, visitors will also get to see the pen believed to have been used by Felipe Calderon in writing and signing the 1899 Constitution, as well as original prints of Apolinario Mabini's proposed constitution and the approved 1899 constitution owned by delegate Leon Apacible.  

The conference and exhibit are part of the celebration of the 125th anniversary of the inauguration of the First Philippine Republic on 23 January and the 51st anniversary of the ratification of the 1973 Constitution on 17 January. (NHCP)