2. Concepts of State and Government
Objectives:
a) Familiarity with basic concepts related to
state and government
b) Familiarity with the profile of the
Philippines as a state
3. CONCEPTS OF STATE
State
A community of persons more or less numerous,
permanently occupying a definite portion of territory,
having a government of their own to which the great
body of inhabitants render obedience and enjoying
freedom from external control.
Elements of the State
a) People b) Territory c) Government d) Sovereignty
4. Elements of the State
a) People: the mass of population living within the state
Population
97,976,603 (July 2009 est.)
Age structure
0-14 years: 35.2% (male 17,606,352/female 16,911,376)
15-64 years: 60.6% (male 29,679,327/female 29,737,919)
65 years and over: 4.1% (male 1,744,248/female 2,297,381)
Median age
total: 22.5 years
male: 22 years
Female: 23 years
Population growth rate
1.957%
Ethnic groups
Tagalog 28.1%, Cebuano 13.1%, Ilocano 9%, Bisaya/Binisaya 7.6%, Hiligaynon Ilonggo
7.5%, Bikol 6%, Waray 3.4%, Kapampangan 3%, other 25.3% (2000 census)
5.
6.
7. Elements of the State
b) Territory: it includes not only the land over
which the jurisdiction of the state extends
but also the rivers and lakes therein, a
certain area of the sea which abuts upon
its coasts and the air space above it.
8. Elements of the State: Territory
Area:
total: 300,000 km2
land: 298,170 km2
water: 1,830 km2
Coastline: 36,289 km
Maritime claims: measured from claimed archipelagic baselines
continental shelf: to depth of exploitation
exclusive economic zone: 200 nautical miles (370 km)
territorial sea: irregular polygon extending up to 100 nautical miles (185 km) from coastline as defined by 1898
treaty; since late 1970s has also claimed polygonal-shaped area in South China Sea up to 285 nautical miles
(528 km) in breadth.
Natural resources: timber, petroleum, nickel, cobalt, silver, gold, salt, copper
Land use:
arable land: 19%
permanent crops: 12%
permanent pastures: 4%
forests and woodland: 46%
other: 19% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 15,800 km2 (1993 est.)
Distances from Manila:
10,000 km – San Francisco
8,000 km – Honolulu, Hawaii
3,400 km – Micronesia
2,900 km – Tokyo
2,400 km – Singapore
1,000 km – Taiwan and Hong Kong
9.
10.
11. Elements of the State: Territory
The Philippines is divided into three island groups:
Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. These are
divided into 17 regions, 80 provinces, 120 cities,
1,511 municipalities and 42,008 barangays. The
Philippines is an archipelago comprising 7,107
islands with a total land area of 300,000 km2.
The 11 largest islands contain 94% of the total
land area. The largest of these islands is Luzon
at about 105,000 kms. The next largest island is
Mindanao at about 95,000 km. The archipelago
is around 800 kms from the Asian mainland and
is located between Taiwan and Borneo.
12. Elements of the State: Territory
The islands are divided into three groups: Luzon,
Visayas, and Mindanao. The Luzon islands
include Luzon itself, Palawan, Mindoro,
Marinduque, Masbate and Batanes Islands .
The Visayas is the group of islands in the central
Philippines, the largest of which are: Panay,
Negros, Cebu, Bohol, Leyte and Samar. The
Mindanao islands include Mindanao itself, plus
the Sulu Archipelago, composed primarily of
Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi. The island of
Romblon lies exactly at the center of the
Philippine archipelago.
13. Region Designation Regional center
Ilocos Region Region I San Fernando, La Union
Cagayan Valley Region II Tuguegarao, Cagayan
Central Luzon Region III San Fernando, Pampanga
CALABARZON Region IV-A Calamba City, Laguna
MIMAROPA Region IV-B Calapan, Mindoro
Bicol Region Region V Legazpi, Albay
Western Visayas Region VI Iloilo City
Central Visayas Region VII Cebu City
Eastern Visayas Region VIII Tacloban
Zamboanga Peninsula Region IX Pagadian, Zamboanga del Sur
Northern Mindanao Region X Cagayan de Oro City
Davao Region Region XI Davao City
SOCCSKSARGEN Region XII Koronadal, South Cotabato
Caraga Region XIII Butuan
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao ARMM Cotabato City
Cordillera Administrative Region CAR Baguio
National Capital Region NCR Manila
14.
15. Elements of the State: Territory
List of Landlocked provinces in the Philippines
A landlocked province is one that has no coastline, meaning no access to
sea or ocean. There are 16 landlocked provinces in the Philippines:
All provinces of Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR): Apayao, Abra,
Kalinga, Mt. Province, Ifugao and Benguet.
Two provinces of Cagayan Valley (Region II): Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino
Two provinces of Central Luzon (Region III): Nueva Ecija and Tarlac
Four provinces of Mindanao:
Bukidnon of Northern Mindanao (Region X)
Cotabato Province of Soccsksargen (Region XII)
Agusan del Sur of Caraga (Region XIII), and
Maguindanao of Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
Similarly, Laguna and Rizal Province and of Calabarzon (Region IV-A)
have coastlines on Laguna de Bay. Since lakes do not allow access to
seaborne trade, these provinces are still considered to be landlocked.
16. Elements of the State: Territory
List of island provinces in the Philippines
An island province completely surrounded by water, is the opposite of a
landlocked one. There are 15 island provinces in the Philippines:
One province of Cagayan Valley (Region II): Batanes
Three provinces of MIMAROPA (Region IV-B): Marinduque, Romblon and
Palawan
Two provinces of Bicol (Region V): Catanduanes and Masbate
One province of Western Visayas (Region VI): Guimaras
Three provinces of Central Visayas (Region VII): Cebu, Bohol and Siquijor
One province of Eastern Visayas (Region VIII): Biliran
One province of Northern Mindanao (Region X): Camiguin
Three provinces of Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM):
Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi
One province of Caraga Region: Dinagat Islands
17. Elements of the State: Territory
Ten largest cities
The following is a list of the ten largest cities in the country in terms of population,
with their population according to the 2007 census. Component cities and
municipalities of Metro Manila and Metro Cebu are taken as one to show the extent of
urbanization.
Rank City Population in 2007
1. Metro Manila 11,553,427
2. Metro Cebu 2,314,897
3. Davao City 1,363,337
4. Zamboanga City 774,407
5. Antipolo City 633,971
6. Cagayan de Oro City 553,966
7. General Santos City 529,542
8. Bacolod City 499,497
9. Iloilo City 418,710
10. Iligan City 308,046
18. Elements of the State: Government
It refers to the agency through which the will of the
state is formulated, expressed and carried out.
Forms of government may be classified according
to the number of persons exercising authority
(monarchy, aristocracy and democracy); extent
of powers exercised by central or national
government (unitary or federal); relationship
between executive and legislative branches
(parliamentary and presidential)
19. Elements of the State: Government
ACCORDING TO THE NUMBER OF PERSONS
EXERCISING SOVEREIGN POWER
Monarchy: one in which the supreme and final
authority is in the hands of a single person
Kinds of monarchy:
a) Absolute monarchy – one in which the ruler
rules by divine right
b) Limited monarchy – one in which the ruler
rules in accordance with the constitution
20. Elements of the State: Government
Aristocracy: one in which political power is exercised by a
few privileged class
Democracy: one in which political power is exercised by a
majority of the people
a) Direct or pure democracy: one in which the will of the
State is formulated or expressed directly and
immediately through the people in a mass meeting or
primary assembly
a) Indirect, representative or republican democracy or one
in which the will of the state is formulated and
expressed through the agency of a relatively small and
select body of persons chosen by the people to act as
their representatives
21. Elements of the State: Government
ACCORDING TO THE EXTENT OF POWERS
EXERCISED BY THE CENTRAL
GOVERNMENT
Unitary government: one in which the control of
national and local affairs is exercised by the
central or national government
Federal government: one in which the powers of
government are divided between two sets of
organs, one for national affairs and the other for
local affairs.
22. Elements of the State: Government
ACCORDING TO THE RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN THE EXECUTIVE AND THE
LEGISLATIVE BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENT
Parliamentary: one in which the state confers
upon the legislature the power to terminate the
tenure of office of the real executive
Presidential government: one in which the state
makes the executive constitutionally
independent of the legislature as regards his
policies and acts
23. Elements of the State: Government
The politics of the Philippines takes place in an organized
framework of a presidential, representative and
democratic republic whereby the president is both the
head of state and the head of government within a
pluriform multi-party system. This system revolves
around three separate and sovereign yet interdependent
branches: the legislative branch (the law-making body),
the executive branch (the law-enforcing body), and the
judicial branch (the law-interpreting body). Executive
power is exercised by the government under the
leadership of the president. Legislative power is vested
in both the government and the two-chamber congress --
the Senate (the upper chamber) and the House of
Representatives (the lower chamber). Judicial power is
vested in the courts with the Supreme Court of the
Philippines as the highest judicial body.
24. Theories on Origin of the State
Divine Right Theory: the state is a divine creation and
the ruler is ordained by God to rule the people.
Necessity or force theory: state was created through
force
Paternalistic theory: state developed from a single
nuclear family under the authority of a single parent
Social contract theory: state must have been formed by
deliberate and voluntary contract among the people to
form a society and organize government for their own
good
25. Important Distinctions
State: a political concept (see the previous
definition)
Nation: an ethnic concept; a group of people
bound by common social and cultural origin
Government: an agency through which the state
expresses its will; its main purpose is the
promotion of common good or public welfare
