10 July, 1934

TODAY IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY:

The Filipino voters elected at least 202 delegates to a constitutional convention which drafted the Philippine Constitution.

Headed by Claro M. Recto, the Constitutional Convention of 1934 was responsible for framing the 1935 Commonwealth Constitution which was approved by President Franklin Roosevelt on March 23, 1935. The 1935 Constitution followed the American model in structure and formal appearance, except for a unicameral legislature and a unitary (as against a federal) system of government.

Notably, the so-called “Seven Wise Men” — Filemon Sotto, chairman, and Norberto Romualdez, Manuel Roxas, Vicente Singson Encarnacion, Manuel C. Briones, Miguel Cuaderno, and Conrado Benitez (who replaced Jose P. Laurel) — prepared the draft of the Constitution.

(Ref: themindanaoexaminer.com; Photo from malacanang.gov.ph)