PHILIPPINE POLITICS AND GOVERNANCE

Grade 12

ROLES AND POWERS OF A PRESIDENT

Philippines is a democratic and a republican country with a presidential form of Government

wherein power and roles are all equally divided into different branches, namely; (1) Executive, (2)
Legislative, and (3) Judiciary. Under the 1987 Philippine Constitution, the Three Branches of
Government were made to ensure that the government is effective, and citizens’ rights are protected.
Further, Separation of Powers is a doctrine of constitutional law, which the different branches are kept
separate. Each branch has separate powers, and generally, each branch is not allowed to exercise the
powers of other branches. Each branch of government can change acts of the other branches as
follows:

 The President can veto laws passed by Congress.

 Congress confirms or rejects the President's appointments and can remove the President from
office in exceptional circumstances.
 The Justices of the Supreme Court, who can overturn unconstitutional laws, are appointed by
the President and confirmed by the Senate.

The Philippine government seeks to act in the best interests of its citizens through this system of
checks and balances.

The Constitution expressly grants the Supreme Court the power of Judicial Review as the power
to declare a treaty, international or executive agreement, law, presidential decree, proclamation, order,
instruction, ordinance or regulation unconstitutional.

EXECUTIVE BRANCH

Among the three branches of government, the Legislative’s main function is to craft laws and
the interpretation of these laws are in Judiciary’s functionality while the Executive Branch with its
Executive power is to execute these laws and make sure these are properly implemented.

Executive branch is composed of the President, Vice-President, the Cabinet and, Local
Government (LGU) which is headed by the Philippine President.

Article VII of 1987 Philippine Constitution articulates the roles and powers of the Executive Branch.
According to the constitution the Philippine President will serve as;

1. The Head of State and Head of Government

2. Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines
3. Chief Executive of all executive departments, bureaus and offices

In Article VII Section I states that the executive power shall be vested in the President of the
Philippines Being the Head of State and the Head of Government, President of the Philippines have
the biggest responsibility in the country. It takes to be a great person to become a President but what
are the qualifications to become one?

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 Article VII Section 2 of 1987 Constitution outline the qualifications and Section 4 of the
same constitution speaks the manner of election and term of office.
Section 2: No person may be elected President unless he is a (1) natural-born citizen of the
Philippines, a (2) registered voter, able to read and write, (3) at least forty years of age on the day of
the election, and a (4) resident of the Philippines for at least ten years immediately preceding such
election.

Section 3: There shall be a Vice-President who shall have the same qualifications and term of
office and be elected with and in the same manner as the President. He may be removed from office
in the same manner as the President.

The Vice-President may be appointed as a Member of the Cabinet. Such appointment

requires no confirmation.

Section 4 (Paragraph 1): The President and the Vice-President shall be elected by direct vote
of the people for a term of six years which shall begin at noon on the thirtieth day of June next
following the day of the election and shall end at noon of the same date six years thereafter. The
President shall not be eligible for any reelection. No person who has succeeded as President and has
served as such for more than four years shall be qualified for election to the same office at any time.

POWERS OF THE PRESIDENT:

Besides the constitution, the powers of the President of the Philippines are specifically outlined in
Executive Order No. 292, s. 1987, otherwise known as the Administrative Code of 1987. The
following powers are:

1. Power of control over the executive branch

The President of the Philippines has the mandate of control over all the executive departments,
bureaus, and offices. This includes restructuring, reconfiguring, and appointments of their respective
officials. The Administrative Code also provides for the President to be responsible for the
abovementioned offices’ strict implementation of laws.

2. Power ordinance power

The President of the Philippines has the power to give executive issuances, which are means to
streamline the policy and programs of an administration. There are six issuances that the President
may issue. They are the following as defined in the Administrative Code of 1987:

Executive Orders — Acts of the President providing for rules of a general or permanent character in
implementation or execution of constitutional or statutory powers shall be promulgated in executive
orders.

Administrative Orders — Acts of the President which relate to particular aspects of governmental
operations in pursuance of his duties as the administrative head shall be promulgated in administrative
orders.

Proclamations — Acts of the President fixing a date or declaring a status or condition of public
moment or interest, upon the existence of which the operation of a specific law or regulation is made
to depend, shall be promulgated in proclamations which shall have the force of an executive order.
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Memorandum Orders — Acts of the President on matters of administrative detail, or of subordinate or
temporary interest which only concern a particular officer or government office shall be embodied in
memorandum orders.

Memorandum Circulars — Acts of the President on matters relating to internal administration, which
the President desires to bring to the attention of all or some of the departments, agencies, bureaus, or
offices of the government, for information or compliance, shall be embodied in memorandum circulars.

General or Special Orders — Acts and commands of the President in his capacity as commander-in-
chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines shall be issued as general or special orders.

It is important to note that during the term of President Ferdinand E. Marcos, he used
executive issuances known as presidential decrees as a form of legislation. These decrees have the
full force and effect of laws because at the time the legislature did not exist and, when the 1973
Constitution was put into full force and effect, it gave the power to the President to do as such. This
continued until the first year of President Corazon C. Aquino’s term. However, President Aquino opted
to used executive orders instead of presidential decrees. President Aquino’s executive orders,
however, still had the full force and effect of laws until the ratification of the 1987 Constitution.

3. Power over aliens

The President of the Philippines has certain powers over non-Filipinos in the Philippines. The
powers he may exercise over foreigners in the country are as follows:

 The chief executive may have an alien in the Philippines deported from the country after due
process.
 The President may change the status of a foreigner, as prescribed by law, from a non-
immigrant status to a permanent resident status without necessity of visa.
 The President may choose to overrule the Board of Commissioners of the Bureau of
Immigration before their decision becomes final and executory (after 30 days of the issuance
of the decision). The Board of Commissioners of the Bureau of Immigration has jurisdiction
over all deportation cases.
 The president is also mandated by the Administrative Code of 1987 to exercise powers as
recognized by the generally accepted principles of international law.

4. Powers of eminent domain, escheat, land reservation and recovery of ill-gotten wealth

The President of the Philippines has the authority to exercise the power of eminent domain. The
power of eminent domains means the state has the power to seize or authorize the seizure of private
property for public use with just compensation. There are two constitutional provisions, however, that
limit the exercise of such power: Article III, Section 9 (1) of the Constitution provides that no person
shall be deprived of his/her life, liberty, or property without due process of law. Furthermore, Article III,
Section 9 (2), provides that private property shall not be taken for public use without just
compensation.

Once the aforementioned conditions are met, the President may exercise the power of eminent
domain which are as follows:

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Power of Eminent Domain — The President shall determine when it is necessary or advantageous to
exercise the power of eminent domain in behalf of the national government, and direct the solicitor
general, whenever he deems the action advisable, to institute expropriation proceedings in the proper
court.

Power to direct escheat or reversion proceedings — The President shall direct the solicitor general
to institute escheat or reversion proceedings over all lands transferred or assigned to persons
disqualified under the constitution to acquire land.

Power to reserve lands of the public and private domain of the government —

(1) The president shall have the power to reserve for settlement or public use, and for specific
public purposes, any of the lands of the public domain, the use of which is not otherwise
directed by law. The reserved land shall thereafter remain subject to the specific public
purpose indicated until otherwise provided by law or proclamation.

(2) He shall also have the power to reserve from sale or other disposition and for specific public
uses or purposes, any land belonging to the private domain of the government, or any of the
friar lands, the use of which is not otherwise directed by law, and thereafter such land shall be
used for the purposes specified by such proclamation until otherwise provided by law.

Power over ill-gotten wealth — The President shall direct the solicitor general to institute
proceedings to recover properties unlawfully acquired by public officials or employees, from them or
from their nominees or transferees.

Within the period fixed in, or any extension thereof authorized by, the constitution, the
President shall have the authority to recover ill-gotten properties amassed by the leaders and
supporters of the previous regime, and protect the interest of the people through orders of
sequestration or freezing of assets or accounts.

5. Power of appointment

The President may appoint officials of the Philippine government as provided by the constitution
and laws of the Philippines. Some of these appointments, however, may need the approval of the
Committee on Appointments (a committee composed of members from the House of Representatives
and the Senate of the Philippines).

6. Power of general supervision over local governments

The President of the Philippines, as chief executive, has the mandate to supervise local
governments in the Philippines, despite their autonomous status as provided by Republic Act No. 7160
otherwise known as the Local Government Code of 1991.

Traditionally, this is done by the Department of the Interior and Local Government, headed by a
cabinet secretary—an alter ego of the President.

7. Other powers

Aside from the aforementioned powers of the President of the Philippines, he can also exercise
powers enumerated in the constitution, and powers given to him by law.
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ACTIVITY 1: What have you done, Mr. President?
Directions: List all the things that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, has done for our country as a
Philippine President.
Example: Postponement of Barangay / SK Elections (RA
11935) Marcos in October signed into law the bill to move the
barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections to October
2023.

ASSESSMENT – POST TEST

Directions: Read each sentence and identify what is being asked. Write your answer on the answer
sheet provided.

1. It is a doctrine of constitutional law which the different branches are kept separate.

2. It is composed of the President, Vice-President, the Cabinet and, Local Government (LGU) which is
headed by the Philippine President.

3. It states that the executive power shall be vested in the President of the Philippines Being the Head
of State and the Head of Government, President of the Philippines have the biggest responsibility in
the country.

4. It states the qualifications of the aspiring to be the President of the Philippines.

5. Acts of the President providing for rules of a general or permanent character in implementation or
execution of constitutional or statutory powers.

6. Acts of the President fixing a date or declaring a status or condition of public moment or interest,
upon the existence of which the operation of a specific law or regulation is made to depend.

7. Acts of the President which relate to aspects of governmental operations in pursuance of his duties
as the administrative head.

8. Acts and commands of the President in his capacity as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of
the Philippines.

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9. Acts of the President on matters of administrative detail, or of subordinate or temporary interest
which only concern a officer or government office.
10. Acts of the President on matters relating to internal administration, which the President desires to
bring to the attention of all or some of the departments, agencies, bureaus, or offices of the
government, for information or compliance.

11. The President of the Philippines has the mandate to supervise local governments in the
Philippines, despite their autonomous status as provided by Republic Act No. 7160 otherwise known
as the _________________.
12. It is the alter-ego of the President.

13-15. Give the three (3) branches of Philippine Government.

Prepared by: Checked by: Noted by:

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ANNA MARIEL M. ALONZO PABLO NOEL R. SARMIENTO BERNADETTE N. OPAY
Subject Teacher SHS Focal Person School Principal II

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