Constitutional Convention of Puerto Rico

On June 8, 1950, the United States government approved Public Law 600, authorizing Puerto Rico to draft its own constitution in 1951. The Constitutional Assembly met for a period of several months between 1951 and 1952 in which the document was written. The framers had to follow only two basic requirements established under Public Law 600. The first was the document must establish a republican form of government for the island. The second was the inclusion of a Bill of Rights.

The Constitution of Puerto Rico renamed the body politic until then known as "People of Puerto Rico", and henceforth known as the "Commonwealth of Puerto Rico" (Estado Libre Asociado).

Members of the Constitutional Assembly

Delegate	Party	Constituency	Notes
Manuel Acevedo Rosario	P	Aguadilla
Juan Alemany Silva	P	Guayama
Arcilio Alvarado	PPD	San Juan I
Enrique Álvarez Vicente	P	Arecibo
Francisco L. Anselmi	P	Ponce
Francisco A. Arrillaga Gaztambide	PPD	San Juan I
Carmelo Ávila Medina	P	Humacao
José B. Barceló	P	Ponce
Ramón Barreto Pérez	PPD	San Juan I
Ramón Barrios	PS	At-large
Jaime Rexach Benitez	PPD	At-large
Francisco Berio Suárez	P	Guayama
Virgilio Brunet Maldonado	PPD	At-large
Agustín Burgos	P	Ponce
Mario Canales	P	Ponce
Ángel Candelario Arce	P	Mayagüez
Ernesto Carrasquillo	P	Humacao
Dionisio Casillas	P	Humacao
José A. Cintrón Rivera	PPD	At-large
Luis Alfredo Colón	P	Aguadilla
Ramiro L. Colón	P	Ponce
Juan Dávila Díaz	P	Arecibo
José M. Dávila Monsanto	P	Guayama
Lionel Fernández Méndez	P	Guayama
Antonio Fernós Isern	PPD	At-large	Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico
Luis A. Ferré Aguayo	PE	Ponce
Alcides Figueroa	P	Aguadilla
Leopoldo Figueroa Carreras	PE	At-large
Ernesto Juan Fonfrías	P	San Juan II
Jorge Font Saldaña	PPD	At-large
Juan R. García Delgado	PE	Aguadilla
Miguel A. García Méndez	PE	Mayagüez
Genaro Gautier	PPD	San Juan I
Rubén Gaztambide Arrillaga	PPD	San Juan I
Fernando J. Géigel	PPD	San Juan I
Darío Goitía	P	Arecibo
María Libertad Gómez	PPD	At-large
Héctor González Blanes	PE	San Juan I
Andrés Grillasca	P	Ponce
Víctor Gutiérrez Franqui	PPD	At-large
Celestino Iriarte	PE	At-large
Jesús Izcoa Moure	P	San Juan II
Lorenzo Lagarde Garcés	P	Ponce
Ramón Llobet, Jr.	P	San Juan II
Ramiro Martínez Sandín	P	Arecibo
Juan Meléndez Báez	PPD	San Juan I
Ramón Mellado	P	San Juan II
Bernardo Méndez	P	Aguadilla
Armando Mignucci	P	Mayagüez
José Mimoso Respaldo	P	Guayama
Pablo Morales Otero	P	San Juan II
Luis Muñoz Marín	PPD	At-large	Governor of Puerto Rico
Luis Muñoz Rivera	PPD	San Juan I
Eduardo Negrón Benítez	P	Aguadilla
Luis A. Negrón López	PPD	Mayagüez
Abraham Nieves	P	Guayama
Mario Orsini Martínez	P	Humacao
Benjamín Ortiz	PPD	At-large
Cruz Ortiz Stella	P	Humacao
Lino Padrón Rivera	PS	At-large
Santiago R. Palmer	PPD	Mayagüez
Norman E. Parkhurst	P	San Juan II
Francisco Paz Granela	PPD	At-large
Santiago Polanco Abreu	PPD	Arecibo
Samuel R. Quiñones	PPD	At-large	President, Senate
Ubaldino Ramírez de Arellano	P	Mayagüez
Ramón María Ramos	P	Guayama
Ernesto Ramos Antonini	PPD	At-large	President, House of Representatives
Antonio Reyes Delgado	PS	At-large
Dolores Rivera Candelaria	P	Arecibo
Heraclio H. Rivera Colón	P	San Juan II
Alejo Rivera Morales	P	Humacao
Álvaro Rivera Reyes	P	Humacao
Carmelo Rodríguez García	P	Arecibo
Carlos Román Benítez	P	San Juan II
Alfonso Román García	P	Humacao
Joaquín Rosa	P	Arecibo
José Rosario Gelpí	P	Mayagüez
Alberto E. Sánchez	PPD	At-large
Ángel Sandín	P	Arecibo
Luis Santaliz Capestany	P	Aguadilla
Yldefonso Solá Morales	P	Guayama
Juan B. Soto González	PE	At-large
Rafael Torrech Genovés	P	San Juan II
Lucas Torres	P	Ponce
Pedro Torres Díaz	P	Humacao
José Trías Monge	PPD	At-large
Augusto Valentín Vizcarrondo	P	Mayagüez
Baudilio Vega	P	Mayagüez
Sigfredo Vélez González	P	Arecibo
José Veray, Jr.	P	Aguadilla
José Villares Rodríguez	P	Guayama

Committees

Permanent Committees designated by Dr. Antonio Fernós Isern, President of the Constituent Convention of Puerto Rico during the September 25, 1951 session.

• Rules Committee

Ortiz Stella, Cruz; Mimoso Raspaldo, José; Colón Velázquez, Luis Alfredo; Santaliz Capestany, Luis; Lionel Fernández Méndez; Negrón Benítez, Eduardo; Rosa Gómez, Joaquín; Vega Berríos, Baudilio; García Delgado, Juan R.; Gelpí Bosch, José Rosario; Barrios Sánchez, Ramón

• Publications and Disbursements Committee

1. Palmer Díaz, Santiago R. 2. Román García, Alfonso 3. Dávila Díaz Juan 4. Burgos Rivera, Agustín 5. Casillas Casillas, Dionisio 6. Arrillaga Gaztambide, Francisco 7. Nieves Negrón, Abraham 8. Muñoz Rivera, Luis 9. Parkhurst, Norman E. 10. García Delgado, Juan R. 11. Álvarez Vicente, Enrique

• Calendar Committee

1. Ortiz Ortiz, Benjamín 2. Rivera Colón, Heraclio H. 3. Vélez González, Sigfredo 4. Román Benítez, Carlos 5. Berio Suárez, Francisco 6. Mignucci Calder, Armando 7. Torres Díaz, Pedro 8. Torres Santos, Lucas 9. Figueroa Carreras, Leopoldo 10. García Méndez, Miguel A. 11. Barrios Sánchez, Ramón

• Preamble, Orders and Amendment Procedures Committee

1. Muñoz Marín, Luis 2. Trías Monge, José 3. Font Saldaña, Jorge 4. Ramos Antonini, Ernesto 5. Fonfrías Rivera, Ernesto Juan 6. Mellado Parsons, Ramón 7. Brunet Maldonado, Virgilio 8. Gautier Dapena, Jenaro 9. Román Benítez, Carlos 10. Colón Velázquez, Luis Alfredo 11. Ferré Aguayo, Luis A. 12. Colón Castaño, Ramiro L. 13. Reyes Delgado, Antonio 14. González Blanes, Héctor 15. Martínez Sandín, Ramiro

• Bill of Rights Committee

1. Benítez Rexach, Jaime 2. Carrasquillo Quiñones, Ernesto 3. Méndez Jiménez, Bernardo 4. Brunet Maldonado, Virgilio 5. Ortiz Stella, Cruz 6. Ribera Reyes, Álvaro 7. Paz Granela, Francisco 8. Cintrón Rivera, José A. 9. Sánchez Nazario, Alberto E. 10. Meléndez Báez, Juan 11. Alvarado Alvarado, Arcilio 12. Gaztambide Arrillaga, Rubén 13. González Blanes, Héctor 14. Figueroa Carreras, Leopoldo 15. Soto González, Juan Bautista 16. Padrón Rivera, Lino 17. Reyes Delgado, Antonio

• Legislative Branch Committee

1. Negrón López, Luis A. 2. Gaztambide Arrillaga, Rubén 3. Anselmi Rodríguez, Francisco L. 4. Rivera Colón, Heraclio H. 5. Barreto Pérez, Ramón 6. Valentín Vizcarrondo, Augusto 7. Canales Torresola, Mario 8. Ramírez de Arellano Quiñones, Ubaldino 9. Géigel Sabat, Fernando J. 10. Iriarte Miró, Celestino 11. Padrón Rivera, Lino

• Executive Branch Committee

1. Quiñones Quiñones, Samuel R. 2. Ribera Reyes, Álvaro 3. Negrón López, Luis A. 4. Goitía Montalvo, Dario 5. Rodríguez García, Carmelo 6. Morales Otero, Pablo 7. Solá Morales, Yldefonso 8. Torrech Genovés, Rafael 9. Gelpí Bosch, José Rosario 10. Veray Hernández Jr., José 11. Reyes Delgado, Antonio

• Judicial Branch Committee

1. Ramos Antonini, Ernesto 2. Villares Rodríguez, José 3. Dávila Monsanto, José M. 4. Lagarde Garcés, Lorenzo 5. Polanco Abreu, Santiago 6. Fonfrías Rivera, Ernesto Juan 7. Trías Monge, José 8. Candelario Arce, Ángel M. 9. Gutiérrez Franqui, Víctor 10. Alvarado Alvarado, Arcilio 11. Soto González, Juan Bautista 12. García Méndez, Miguel A. 13. Orsini Martínez, Mario 14. Iriarte Miró, Celestino 15. Padrón Rivera, Lino

• Transitory Dispositions and General Affairs Committee

1. Solá Morales, Yldefonso 2. Polanco Abreu, Santiago 3. Sandín Martínez, Angel 4. Anselmi Rodríguez, Francisco L. 5. Ávila Medina, Carmelo 6. Grillasca Salas, Andrés 7. Barceló Oliver, José Bartolo 8. Acevedo Rosario, Manuel 9. Figueroa Oliva, Alcides 10. Rivera Candelaria, Dolores 11. Ferré Aguayo, Luis A. 12. Llobet Díaz, Ramón 13. Veray Hernández Jr., José 14. Rivera Morales, Alejo 15. Martínez Sandín, Ramiro

• Drafting and Style Committee

1. Gutiérrez Franqui, Víctor 2. Gómez Garriga, María Libertad 3. Font Saldaña, Jorge 4. Quiñones Quiñones, Samuel R. 5. Benítez Rexach, Jaime 6. Ortiz Ortiz, Benjamín 7. Lionel Fernández Méndez 8. Izcoa Moure, Jesús 9. Alemany Silva, Juan 10. Ramos de Jesús, Ramón María 11. Orsini Martínez, Mario