The legislative branch of the Philippine government is responsible for creating, enacting, and amending laws. It consists of two chambers: the Senate with 24 senators and the House of Representatives with no more than 250 members. For a bill to become a law it must pass through several steps, including being drafted, undergoing committee review and public hearings, readings and debates in each chamber, and approval by both chambers and the President. The primary function of the legislative branch is to draft laws through this process using input from citizens and the other branches of government.

1. Lesson 9: Functions of the Legislative
Branch
Reporters:
Otoc, Exiquiel S. Jr.
Pontillano, Mamerto C.

2. ~This Lesson gives the functions of the legislative
branch and the process of making laws. The Legislative
branch of the government, where laws are enacted,
sonsits of the Senate (upper house) and the Hose of
Representatives (lower House).

3. GLEVEITSAL CRHBAN
~It is responsible for making laws within a country.
Legislatures are made up of people called legislators
who, in democracies, are elected by the country's
population.

4. SIOCFNTUN
It’s an activity or purpose natural to or intended for a
person or thing.

5. Empower Yourself
The legislative power of the government is vested upon
the Congress of the Philippines in accordance with the
1987 Constitution. The Congress is divided into two
chamber:
The House of Representatives (lower house)
The Senate of the Philippines (uuper house)

6. The Senate of the Philippines is composed of 24 senator
elected at large while the House of Representatives is
composed of not more than 250 members, 20% of which
is composed o party-list representatives. A qualifies
candidate both the Senate and the House of
Representatives must be a natural-born citizen of the
Philippines, able to read and write, and a registered
voter. The difference is that the Senate requires that the
person must be at least 35 yrs. old and a resident of the
Philippines for not less than 2 yrs. before election day on
the other hand, a candidate for the house needs to be at
least 25 yrs. old and a resident of the Philippines for at
least one year in the disctrict where he/she will be
elected (expected for the party-list representatives).

7. ~The term of office for the elected senators and
representatives start at noon of the 30th day of june following
their election.
Senators will serve 6 years and shall not serve fore more
than two consecutive terms.
Representatives will serve 3 years and shall not hold office
for more than 3 consecutive terms.
In case of vacancy in the Congress, under Section 9 of Article
VI, a special election may be called to fill such vacancy in the
manner prescribed by law, but the senator or Member of the
House of Representatives thus elected shall serve only for the
unexpired term.

8. ~The primary function of the legislative branch is the
creation, enactment, and amendments of laws. Proposed
laws may come from the senators or representatives
themselves, the people they represent (district, province,
or the party), or the other two branches of the
government. These proposal are drafted into a bill.
A bill is a draft of law presented to legislation for
enactment, by the approval by congress and the president
of the republic.

9. a
~The basic process for the creation or amendment of a
law begins with a bill drafted by a senator or
representative and filed for the first reading. The reading
is where the Senate President or the Speaker of the
House read out the title, bill number, and author’s name,
and then assigns the bill to the proper Senate of House
Committee.

10. ~The author(s) or the concerned committee will send out
an invitation to various concerned parties, agencies, and
stakeholders for a public hearing of the bill to review the
proposed bill and give their comments during the
deliberations. The concerned committee can hold a
technical working group meeting for specific changes to
the provisions such as proper concepts, correction of
grammar, and deletion or addition of certain phrases or
words.

11. ~After the approval of the bill by the committee
members, a committee report is then filed with its
approved version of the bill to the Committee on Rules
for the second reading. In the second reading, the author
of the bill or the chairperson of the committee delivers a
sponsorship speech. It is followed by a period of
interpellation wherein other senators or representatives
may debate or ask further questions to the sponsor of the
bill. After the interpellation, the senators or
representatives may makes some ammendments.