Civil Service Exam (Professional) General Information Reviewer

The preamble (1) tells who ordained the Constitution and for whom — "We, the sovereign Filipino people", (2) states the general purposes the Constitution aims to achieve, and (3) can be used as an aid in interpreting the Constitution when a provision is ambiguous. Serving as "a prayer to start the provisions" is not one of its recognized purposes.

The introductory part of a constitution is called the preamble. The 1987 Philippine Constitution's preamble begins "We, the sovereign Filipino people…" and states who ordained the Constitution and the purposes it aims to achieve. "Preface" is a general word for a book's introduction, not the constitutional term.

Aspiration refers to a strong desire or ambition to achieve something, making it the perfect term to represent the unrealized dreams and goals that a nation strives for. While sovereignty relates to independence, posterity to future generations, and freedom to liberty, only aspiration directly captures the concept of unfulfilled aspirations and dreams.

The 1973 Constitution's preamble spoke of the "general welfare", which could be read as the welfare of the majority. The 1987 preamble replaced it with "the common good", which covers everyone.

The National Territory of the Philippines includes its land, internal waters, seabed, subsoil, and insular shelves within its jurisdiction. High seas, however, are international waters beyond any nation's territorial control and therefore cannot be included as part of the Philippines' national territory.

The baseline is the reference line from which all maritime zones of a coastal state are measured, including the territorial sea, contiguous zone, and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). This line is typically the low-water mark along the coast and serves as the starting point for determining a state's maritime boundaries and rights under international law.

Article I of the Philippine Constitution is titled "National Territory." This article defines and establishes the territorial boundaries of the Philippines, including its land, water, and airspace. The other options refer to different parts of the Constitution: the Preamble is the introductory section, Article II contains the Declaration of Principles and State Policies, and the Bill of Rights is found in Article III.

The Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea extends 200 nautical miles from a coastal state's baseline. This zone grants the coastal state sovereign rights over natural resources while allowing other states certain freedoms of navigation and communication.

An archipelago is defined as a group or chain of islands surrounded by water. The term comes from the Greek words 'archi' (chief) and 'pelagos' (sea), literally meaning 'chief sea.' A cliff, by contrast, is a steep rock face and has nothing to do with islands or groups of land masses.