The Philippine government is divided into executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The executive branch is headed by a president who is elected by popular vote for a six-year term. The legislative branch consists of a 24-member Senate and a 200-member House of Representatives. Senators serve six-year terms while Representatives serve three-year terms. The judicial branch includes local, regional, and national courts with the Supreme Court serving as the highest court.

1. Philippine
National
Government

2. Government is divided
into:
• executive,
• legislative, and
• judicial departments.

3. Executive Department
• Article 6 of the 1987 Constitution
restores the presidential system with
certain modifications. The president
is elected by a direct vote of the
people for a term of six years and is
not eligible for reelection.

4. The president must be:
• a natural-born citizen of the
Philippines,
• at least forty years of age,
• and a resident of the Philippines for
at least ten years immediately
preceding the election.

5. The president is empowered
to control all the executive
departments, bureaus, and
offices, and to ensure that
the laws are faithfully
executed.

6. Vice President
• The vice president has the same term of
office as the president and is elected in
the same manner. The vice president also
may serve as a member of the cabinet.
No vice president may serve for more
than two successive terms. The president
and vice president are not elected as a
team. Thus, they may be ideologically
opposed, or even personal rivals.

7. Legislative Department
• The constitution establishes a 24-
seat Senate and a House of
Representatives with 200 elected
representatives and up to 50 more
appointed by the president. Senators
are chosen at large, and the twenty-
four highest vote-winners
nationwide are elected.

8. Senators must be :
• native-born Filipinos
• at least thirty-five years old.
The term of office is six years, and
senators cannot serve more than two
consecutive terms.

9. House of Representatives
• House of Representatives members
are elected in single-member
districts (200 in 1991), reapportioned
within three years of each census.
• Representatives must be native-born
Filipinos and at least twenty-five
years of age. Their term of office is
three years.

10. Judicial Department
• At the local level are metropolitan trial courts,
municipal trial courts, and municipal circuit
trial courts. The next level consists of regional
trial courts, one for each of the nation's
thirteen political regions, including Manila.
Courts at the local level have original
jurisdiction over less serious criminal cases
while more serious offenses are heard by the
regional level courts, which also have
appellate jurisdiction.

11. • At the national level is the Intermediate
Appellate Court, also called the court of
appeals. Special courts include Muslim
circuit and district courts in Moro
(Muslim Filipino) areas, the court of tax
appeals, and the Sandiganbayan. The
Sandiganbayan tries government officers
and employees charged with violation of
the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

12. The Supreme Court also
regulates the practice of law
in the Philippines,
promulgates rules on
admission to the bar, and
disciplines lawyers.