POLSC102

Philippine Legislature

Legislature: The primary representative institution in a democratic society, responsible

for defining and enacting laws and public policies. It serves as an arena for articulating
needs and a public forum for all points of view, reflecting major societal divisions.

Structure
Bicameral Legislature: Comprises two chambers (or houses) with broadly equal powers,
functions, and responsibilities. Merits include representing different classes and groups,
providing checks and balances, and ensuring thorough deliberation of legislative
measures.

Powers and Functions

- Legislative Power: The authority under the Constitution to make, alter, and repeal laws.
- Laws: Written enactments of the legislature.

The Committee System

Committees: Small work groups established on a subject basis to manage the volume of
legislative work and allow specialization among members. Functions include:
- Workshops of lawmaking
- Holding hearings to obtain information and publicize issues
- Detailed consideration of legislative measures
- Examining financial proposals
- Scrutinizing government administration and past expenditures
- Investigating matters of public concern

Representation
Representational Function: The legislature should act slowly and deliberately to
maintain a balance of power among competing interests. Two views on representation:
- Trustee View: Legislators act as trustees of society's broad interests, even against
constituents' narrow interests.
- Instructed-Delegate View: Legislators act according to their constituents' dictates.

Lawmaking
- Legislation: The process of making, amending, or repealing laws, involving formulation,
deliberation, discussion, and review of policies.
Functions of Laws:
- Define the rights and duties of citizens
- Impose taxes
- Appropriate funds
- Define crimes and provide for their punishment
- Create and abolish government offices
- Determine jurisdiction and functions
- Regulate human conduct and property use

Bill: A proposed law, presented for consideration by the legislative body.

Steps in the Passage of a Bill
1. First Reading: Proposal of additional authors, reading by number, title, and
author(s).
2. Referral to Committee: For study and consideration. Disapproved bills die here.
3. Second Reading: Forwarded to the Committee on Rules for calendaring and
deliberation. Debates and amendments occur.
4. Third Reading: Only the title is read, no amendments allowed. Then referred to the
other House for the same procedure.
5. Submission to Joint Bicameral Committee: To reconcile differences between the
House’s bill and the Senate’s version.
6. Submission to the President: For approval or disapproval. If the President does
not communicate a veto within 30 days, the bill becomes law.
Statute: Written will of the legislature, identified by serial numbers
Formal Parts of a Law:
- Title: Announces the subject matter of the act.
- Preamble: Introduction or preface explaining the reasons for enactment.
- Enacting Clause: Identifies the legislative body enacting the law.
- Body: Contains the proposed law or statute.
- Effectivity Clause: Time when the law takes effect (usually 15 days after publication).
When Bill Becomes a Law:
- President approves the bill by signing it.
- Through a vote of two-thirds of all members of both Houses.
- President does not communicate his veto within 30 days after receipt.

Legislative Oversight
- Oversight Function: Ensures laws are enforced and administered as intended by the
legislature. Achieved through legislative inquiries and investigations of governmental
operations. Serves as a check on the executive and bureaucracy.
System Maintenance
- System Maintenance Function: Legislatures serve as training grounds for future
leaders and members of the executive branch. As multimember institutions, they
apportion seats among different groups, facilitating mass-elite integration.

Powers of Congress
- General Legislative Power: Power to enact laws as rules of conduct to govern relations.
- Specific Powers: Powers expressly directed or authorized by the Constitution, such as
promoting social justice, declaring war, impeaching officials, and imposing taxes.
- Implied Powers: Essential to the effective exercise of expressly granted powers, like
conducting inquiries and investigations, and punishing for contempt.
- Inherent Powers: Possessed and exercised by every government, including taxation,
eminent domain, and police power.

Structure of the Senate

- Composition and Election: 24 Senators.
- Term of Office: 6 years, with a maximum of two consecutive terms
- Qualifications: Natural-born citizen, at least 35 years old, able to read and write,
registered voter, resident for at least 2 years.

Structure of the House of Representatives

- Composition and Election: Not more than 250 members, elected from legislative
districts and through a party-list system.
- Term of Office: 3 years, with a maximum of three consecutive terms.
- Qualifications: Natural-born citizen, at least 25 years old, able to read and write,
registered voter, resident of the district for at least 1 year.

Sessions and Procedures

Sessions of Congress
- Regular Session: Legislates on any matter deemed fit.
- Special Session: Called by the President.
- Executive Sessions: Secret meetings.
- Closed Sessions: For discussing issues involving national security.

Officers of Congress: Senate President and Speaker of the House elected by majority
vote of their respective members.
- Quorum: Majority of members (half plus one) needed to pass laws.
- Budget: Financial program prepared by the President, submitted to Congress, outlining
governmental activities and public spending.
- Veto Power: The President can disapprove acts passed by Congress. If the President
does not communicate a veto within 30 days, the act becomes law.
Philippine Executive Department

- Executive Department: Responsible for implementing and enforcing laws and policies.
- Chief Executive: Always called the President in the Philippines.

Key Dimensions of the Executive

1. Executive Title
2. Executive Origin
3. Executive Survival
4. Executive Cabinet Authority
5. Executive Integration into the Legislature

Executive Title
- Chief Executive: The President, who administers laws but is not a legislative leader.

Executive Origin
- Selection: The President is directly elected by popular vote for a fixed term.

Qualifications
- Natural-born citizen
- Registered voter
- Able to read and write
- At least 40 years old on election day
- Resident of the Philippines for at least 10 years

Election Process
- System of Direct Voting: President and Vice-President are elected by popular vote.
- In Case of a Tie: Congress elects the President and Vice-President.
- Term of Office: Both serve for 6 years starting at noon on June 30.

Executive Survival
Term Limits:
- President: Cannot be reelected.
- Vice-President: Can serve for up to 2 successive terms.
Conditions for Vice-President to Act as President:
- President-elect fails to qualify or is not chosen.
- Temporary inability of the President.
Vice-President Becomes President:
- President-elect dies or becomes disabled before taking office.
- Death, permanent disability, removal, or resignation of the President after assuming
office.
Notable Successions
Historical Replacements
- Quezon (died of tuberculosis) replaced by Osmena.
- Roxas (died of a heart attack) replaced by Quirino.
- Magsaysay (died in a plane crash) replaced by Garcia.
- Estrada (impeachment/resignation) replaced by Macapagal-Arroyo.

Executive Cabinet Authority

- Appointment Power: The President appoints and dismisses cabinet members.
- Confirmation: Presidential appointments are confirmed or rejected by the Commission
on Appointments (CA).

Executive Powers
- Control Over Executive Departments: The President controls all executive
departments, bureaus, and offices.
- Appointment and Removal Powers: Appoints competent officials and can remove
incapable or dishonest ones.

Executive Integration into the Legislature

Legislative Participation:
- Certifies bills as urgent.
- Submits the annual national budget.
- Calls special legislative sessions.
- Addresses Congress and proposes legislative agendas.

Treaty-Making Power
Steps in Treaty-Making:
- Negotiation: Solely the President's authority.
- Approval or Ratification: Requires a 2/3 vote of all Senate members.

Budgetary Power
- Budget Preparation: The President prepares the budget of receipts and expenditures
and submits it to Congress within 30 days.

Military Powers of the President

- Commander-in-Chief: The President can call out the armed forces.
- Emergency Powers:
- Suspension of Writ of Habeas Corpus: Invasion or rebellion required.
- Declaration of Martial Law: President can make rules and regulations with the force of
law.
Executive Clemency Powers
- Reprieve: Postpones the execution of a death sentence.
- Commutation: Reduces the sentence.
- Remission: Prevents the collection of fines or confiscation of property.
- Amnesty: Grants a general pardon for past offenses.

Philippine Judiciary

Judicial Power
- The power to apply laws to disputes involving legally recognized rights and duties
between the state and private individuals or between individual litigants.
Scope:
- Adjudicatory Power: Courts settle actual controversies involving rights derived from or
recognized by law and determine grave abuses of discretion by any government branch
or instrumentality.
- Judicial Review: Courts assess the validity or constitutionality of state laws and acts of
government departments, interpret laws, and render binding judgments.
- Incidental Powers: Courts have powers necessary for the effective discharge of their
functions, such as punishing contempt.

Structure of the Judiciary

- Supreme Court: The highest court, created by the Constitution.
- Lower Courts: Created by law, including the Sandiganbayan and other statutory
courts.

Organization of Courts
Regular Courts:
- Court of Appeals: 69 justices, headed by a Presiding Justice, organized into 23
divisions.
- Regional Trial Courts: 720 judges across 13 regions.
- Metropolitan Trial Courts: In metropolitan areas.
- Municipal Trial Courts: In every city.
- Municipal Circuit Trial Courts: In municipalities.

Special Courts:
- Sandiganbayan: 14 justices and a Presiding Justice.
- Court of Tax Appeals: 5 justices and a Presiding Justice.

Importance of the Judiciary

- Ensures the administration of justice.
- Preserves government and promotes respect for law and order.
Composition of the Supreme Court
- Membership: 15 members, including the Chief Justice.
- Procedure: The Supreme Court may sit en banc (as one body) or in divisions of 3, 5, or 7
justices.

Rule-Making Power of the Supreme Court

- Promulgation of Rules: For the protection and enforcement of constitutional rights, and
procedures in the practice of law and courts of justice.

Types of Law
- Substantive Law: Creates, defines, and regulates rights concerning life, liberty,
property, and powers of agencies (e.g., Civil Code, Criminal Law, the Constitution).
- Procedural Law: Prescribes methods for enforcing rights or obtaining redress for
violations (e.g., rules on courts' jurisdiction, pleadings, trials, and evidence).

Administrative Supervision
- Supreme Court: Has administrative supervision over lower courts.

Qualifications for Judges

Supreme Court and Collegiate Courts:
- Natural-born citizen
- At least 40 years old
- Lower court judge or law practitioner for at least 15 years
- Proven competence, integrity, probity, and independence

Tenure of Office
- Security of Tenure: Judges serve until the mandatory retirement age of 70.
- Decision-Making: Courts must render decisions within set timeframes:
- Supreme Court: 24 months
- Court of Appeals and other appellate courts: 12 months
- Lower courts: 3 months

Reporting
- Annual Report: The judiciary submits an annual report on its operations and activities
to the President and Congress to guide legislation affecting the courts and justice
administration.
Elections in the Philippines

Election Trends
- Elite Competition: Elections in the Philippines primarily serve as a battleground for the
country's elite families. Wealthy clans compete for national and provincial positions,
while those with lesser wealth vie for municipal offices.
- Barangay Elections: In the barangays, where the population is generally poor, winning
an election confers social prestige rather than significant power or wealth.
- Election Cycle: Presidential elections occur every six years, with the last held in 2016
and the next scheduled for 2022. Congressional, Senate, and local elections are held in
conjunction with presidential elections and every three years in between.
- Multi-Party System: The Philippines has a multi-party system, necessitating coalition
governments as no single party usually gains an outright majority.

Commission on Elections (COMELEC)

- Composition and Role: The constitution establishes COMELEC, which supervises all
aspects of elections. It consists of a chairperson and six commissioners.
- Voting Process: Since 2010, voters mark ballots by shading an oval next to their chosen
candidate's name. These ballots are then counted by Smartmatic voting machines, and
results are electronically transmitted to local canvassing boards.

Suffrage
- Definition and Scope: Suffrage is both a right and obligation of qualified citizens to vote
in national and local elections and referenda.
Types of Participation:
- Election: Choosing officials for fixed periods.
- Plebiscite: Voting on proposed laws or constitutional amendments.
- Initiative: Direct proposal and enactment of laws by the people.
- Recall: Removing public officials via a vote following a petition by voters.

Voter Qualifications
- Eligibility: Voters must be Filipino citizens, at least 18 years old, and have resided in the
Philippines for at least one year and in the voting district for six months preceding the
election.
- Disqualifications: Those sentenced to imprisonment for one year or more (until five
years post-sentence), individuals convicted of crimes involving disloyalty, and those
declared insane or incompetent are disqualified.
Special Provisions
- Detainee Voting: COMELEC allows detainees to vote, either in special polling places
within jails or escorted to vote elsewhere. This provision has been in place since 2010.
- Overseas Voting: The Overseas Absentee Voting Act (RA 9189) enables Filipino citizens
abroad to vote in national elections, provided they register and meet specific criteria.
Eligible Positions for Overseas Voters
- Positions: Overseas voters can vote for the President, Vice President, Senators, and
Party-list representatives during presidential election years.