PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT UNDER THE 1987 PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION The Philippine Government is classified as DEMOCRATIC (REPUBLICAN), UNITARY and

PRESIDENTIAL. DEMOCRATIC means that sovereignty resides in the people and rule of the many or majority is favored. It is often exercised during elections where we vote for our public officials. UNITARY means that we have one central government concentrated in the capital (Manila). Most governmental activities happen in the capital while some may be delegated to various local governments across the country. PRESIDENTIAL means that we have a president as our HEAD OF STATE while at the same time our HEAD OF GOVERNMENT. It also gives us three distinct branches of government which exercises specific functions independently of each other.

THE THREE BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENT The three branches of government are the LEGISLATIVE (MAKE laws), EXECUTIVE (IMPLEMENT laws), and JUDICIARY (INTERPRET laws). These branches exercise specific functions which are interrelated but are independent of each other. Their functions all deal with policies but on its different aspects. All three are co-equal of each other therefore no one branch is superior to the other.

PRINCIPLE OF CHECKS AND BALANCES Although the branches are independent of each other, because they perform interrelated functions and they have ultimately the same goal of serving the people, they have to perform CHECKS on each others performance. These are mechanisms where in the exercise of their function, one branch may review the other and vice versa. It is an American concept where it is ensured that no one branch of the government is truly and fully independent despite the fact that they cannot dictate each other on how they perform their tasks. EXAMPLE: the Legislative created a law legalizing divorce, upon approval it is then submitted to the Executive for the Presidents approval and implementation. When the President refuses to approve and implement the law, he can do so and return the law to the Legislative BUT he cannot dictate them not to make the law. They can still insist in passing the law. This situation will be discussed later. RATIONALE: the principle of checks and balances sometimes create chaos among the branches of government because we cannot expect that all three will agree with each other all the time. Why do we insist on such system? The beauty of checks and balances is that it ensures that we pass the best laws possible. Three heads are better than one; our laws undergo a rigorous process as it passes through the three branches before we could say that it is really valid and effective.

1. THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH (CONGRESS, ARTICLE VI OF THE CONSTITUTION) A. Composition we have a BICAMERAL congress where it is composed of two houses independent and co-equal of each other. a. SENATE (Upper House) We have 24 Senators elected at-large. We elect 12 senators alternately every three years. QUALIFICATIONS Natural Born Filipino Citizen

Age: at least 35 years old at the date of the elections Registered Voter Resident of the Philippines for at least two years immediately preceding the next election (Domiciliary Principle) Able to read and write TERMS OF OFFICE Every senator is entitled to a term of six years and a maximum of two consecutive terms. b. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES (Lower House) We have 250 representatives unless otherwise provided by law. 80% of them represent LEGISLATIVE DISTRICTS while the remaining 20% are sectoral representatives (PARTY-LIST) Legislative Districts example are the north and south districts of Cebu City who are each represented by an elected representative. Party-list these are sectoral organizations representing certain MARGINALIZED groups. For them to be elected they must be: 1. Registered with COMELEC and 2. Garner at least 2% of all the votes cast in the elections. Every organization may have more than one representative in proportion to the number of votes obtained but may not be more than three. QUALIFICATIONS Natural Born Filipino Citizen Age: at least 25 years old at the date of the elections Registered Voter in the legislative district which he intends to represent Resident of the Legislative District for at least one year immediately preceding the next election (Domiciliary Principle) Able to read and write TERMS OF OFFICE Every representative is entitled to a term of 3 years and a maximum of three consecutive terms. B. PRIVILEGES a. Salaries and allowances b. PDAF (Pork Barrel) NOTE: these are not personal benefits of the legislators but DISCRETIONARY FUNDS supposed to be used for implementation of projects in legislative district. c. Immunity from arrest Requirements: 1. The offense is punishable by imprisonment of not more than six years; and 2. Congress is in session. When is Congress in session? According to the constitution, congress is in session starting EVERY fourth Monday of July and ends thirty days prior to the start of the next session.

C. FUNCTION (Make and Change Laws) Bill before a policy becomes law, it must be proposed by any member of Congress. This proposed policy is known as a bill. As a rule, a bill may become a law only after three readings on SEPARATE days. Every reading involves a certain process which is designed to make sure the benefit of the bill if it will become a law later. A bill may originate in ANY house and after the three-reading process in the proposing house, must be passed on to the other house which must then repeat the same process.

1. FIRST READING a. Read the Title b. Assign to the appropriate committee c. The committee shall study the bill and make a report and if it is positive then proceed to the 2nd reading. 2. SECOND READING a. The bill will be read entirely b. It will be subjected to deliberations (debates) and amendments (changes) c. Approval of any amendment proposed (voting majority) 3. THIRD READING a. Read the title b. Approval of the bill into law (voting majority) After the process has been done separately by each house, then the bill will be passed on to the President for his approval. This step is one of the most common exercises of the principle of checks and balances. Upon receipt of the bill by the President, there may be three possible scenarios: a. The President will sign the bill and it becomes law. b. The President will refuse to sign the bill (Veto Power) and return it to congress with an explanation as to why he refused and any recommendations. i. Congress may follow the recommendation of the President; or ii. Override the veto (Veto the veto) by a 2/3 vote. c. The President may ignore the bill and after thirty days, it becomes a law. Is Congress the only body in the country which can make laws? NO. Although they are the primary law making body in the Philippines, the Constitution however provides for a system of initiative. This means that we ordinary people can propose and approve our own laws with the same power and effect as those made by Congress. There are certain requirements: a. The proposal must be accompanied by the signature of at least twelve percent of all the registered voters. b. The proposal must also be supported by the signature of at least three percent of all the registered voters in every legislative district.

2. THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH (PRESIDENT, ARTICLE VII OF THE CONSTITUTION) A. Qualifications (same with the Vice President) a. Natural Born Citizen of the Philippines b. Age: at least 40 years old at the time of the elections c. Registered Voter d. Resident of the Philippines for at least ten years immediately preceding the elections. e. Able to read and write Term of Office President: six years beginning at noon on the 30th day of June after the election. The President shall not be eligible for ANY re-election.

B.

Case Study: Joseph Ejercito Estrada on the 2010 Elections. Vice President: same as that of the president except he is allowed one re-election. C. Functions

a.

As EXECUTIVE (Head of Government / Implementation of Laws) He exercises this power by supervising the members of his Cabinet. The members are considered as the alter-ego of the president which means that their acts are that of the President and that He exercises direct control over them. Each member of the Cabinet specializes in certain areas of law implementation (DSWD, DepEd, DPWH, etc.). b. As HEAD OF STATE i. He represents the Philippines in the International Community and signs agreements in our behalf (subject to ratification by the senate). ii. He has the power to forgive / pardon criminals. 1. PARDON all crimes, after conviction 2. AMNESTY political crimes, even before conviction As COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF i. Declaration of Martial-law:

c.

When can the President declare MARTIAL-LAW? The President can only declare Martial-law when there is invasion or rebellion AND when public safety requires it. This declaration shall be valid for not exceeding sixty days. Within 48 hours, the President shall submit a report to Congress explaining the reasons for the declaration. Congress may revoke such declaration if unsatisfied, but may also extend such beyond sixty days. The President has no power to extend the declaration beyond sixty days.

3. THE JUDICIAL BRANCH (ARTICLE VII OF THE CONSTITUTION) JUDICIAL POWER - includes the duty of the courts of justice to settle actual controversies involving rights which are legally demandable and enforceable, and to determine whether or not there has been a grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction on the part of any branch or instrumentality of the Government. In simple terms, it means that the court is tasked to INTERPRET laws. There is however a limitation, there must be actual controversy first. A bill becomes a law after the signature of the president without the need to pass through the judiciary but ultimately the power to interpret lies with them. With that power the judiciary may declare a law invalid due to its incompatibility with the constitution, with the latter being the supreme law of the land therefore all laws created by the state must be within the powers granted to it by the constitution. Before the judiciary can do this, someone qualified must file a case in court against someone else stating the controversy created by the law to be interpreted. The court then settles the controversy by interpreting the law in favor of one or the other. ORGANIZATION

a. Supreme Court the highest court of the land, the court of last resort. i. One Chief Justice and Fourteen Associate Justices ii. Qualifications: Natural Born Citizen, 40 years old, member of the Philippine Bar, and an experience requirement of 15 years either as a judge or justice of any lower court or practice of law. b. Sandiganbayan a special court which tries cases involving public officials performing official functions. c. Court of Appeals the intermediate appellate court, this court can review and reverse if necessary cases decided by the lower courts. d. Regional Trial Court the court of first instance, generally tries criminal cases involving crimes punishable by imprisonment of more than six years and most civil cases. e. Municipal Trial Court lowest level of the Philippine Judiciary, generally tries criminal cases involving crimes punishable by imprisonment of not more than six years and some civil cases. Who appoints judges or justices including those of the Supreme Court? The President has the power to appoint members of the judiciary. This power is however limited in a sense because he can only appoint from within a list of three candidates presented by a pre-screening body known as the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC). JBC Composition: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Chairman Secretary of Justice Members of Congress (one per house) Representative of the Philippine Bar A Professor of Law Retired Member of the Supreme Court Representative of the Private Sector