Executive Order No. 1




MALACAÑAN PALACE MANILA BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES [ EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 1, November 15, 1935 ] REQUIRING ALL OFFICIALS AND THE ARMED FORCES OF THE GOVERNMENT TO TAKE AN OATH OF LOYALTY TO THE CONSTITUTION AND OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE UNITED STATES WHEREAS, Article XIII, section two of the Constitution of the Philippines provides that all public officers and members of the armed forces of the Government of the Philippines shall take an oath to support and defend the Constitution; and WHEREAS, pursuant to section two, paragraph two of Public Act Numbered One hundred twenty-seven of the Congress of the United States approved March twenty-fourth, nineteen hundred and thirty-four, there is embodied in the Constitution of the Philippines as an Ordinance appended thereto a provision requiring that every officer of the Commonwealth of the Philippines shall, before entering upon the discharge of his duties, take and subscribe an oath of office declaring among other things that he recognizes and accepts the supreme authority of, and will maintain true faith and allegiance to, the United States; and WHEREAS, under the provisions of Article XV, section four of the Constitution, all officers and employees in the existing Government of the Philippines shall continue in office until the National Assembly shall provide otherwise, excepting such officers whose appointments are, by the Constitution, vested in the President, who may remain in office until the appointment and qualification of their successors provided such appointment is made by the President within one year from the date of the inauguration of the Commonwealth of the Philippines; NOW, THEREFORE, I, MANUEL L. QUEZON, President of the Philippines, hereby decree, order, and direct that all officers, including the armed forces of the Government of the Philippines, who, by the provisions of Article XV, section four of the Constitution, are continued in office shall forthwith take and subscribe an oath, as follows: 1. General Form— “OATH OF OFFICE Pursuant to the provisions of Article XIII, section 2 of the Constitution of the Philippines and of section 1, paragraph (2) of the Ordinance appended thereto, I, _______________________, of___________________, Province of _________________, having to continue in my position as _____________________ by virtue of Article XV, section 4 of said Constitution, hereby solemnly swear that I will well and faithfully discharge to the best of my ability the duties of my present position and of all others I may hereafter hold under the Commonwealth of the Philippines; that I will support and defend the Constitution of the Philippines; and that I will obey the laws, legal orders, and decrees promulgated by the duly constituted authorities, of the Commonwealth of the Philippines; and I hereby declare that I recognize and accept the supreme authority of the United States of America in the Philippines, and will maintain true faith and allegiance thereto; and that I impose this obligation upon myself voluntarily, without mental reservation or purpose of evasion. “So help me God. ______________________ 2. Form for judicial officers— “OATH OF OFFICE “Pursuant to the provisions of Article XIII section 2 of the Constitution of the Philippines and of section 2 of the Constitution of the Philippines and of section 1, paragraph (2) of the Ordinance appended thereto, I, ______________________, of______________, Province of ___________________, having to continue in my position as __________________ by virtue of Article XV, section 4 of said Constitution, hereby solemnly swear that I will administer justice without respect to persons, and do equal right to the poor and to the rich, that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent upon me as _______________________ according to the best of my ability and understanding, agreeably to the laws of the Philippines; that I will support and defend the Constitution; and I hereby declare that I recognize and accept the supreme authority of the United States of America in the Philippines, and will maintain true faith and allegiance thereto; that I impose upon myself this obligation voluntarily, without mental reservation or purpose of evasion. “So help me God. “____________________” Done at the City of Manila, Philippines, this fifteenth day of November, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and thirty-five.1a⍵⍴h!1 MANUEL L. QUEZON President of the Philippines The Lawphil Project - Arellano Law Foundation