2. 2
The Philippines is a republic with a presidential
form of government wherein power is equally
divided among its three branches: executive,
legislative, and judicial.
One basic corollary in a presidential system of
government is the principle of separation of
powers wherein legislation belongs to Congress,
execution to the Executive, and settlement of
legal controversies to the Judiciary.
Philippine Government
4. The Legislative branch is authorized to make laws,
alter, and repeal them through the power vested in the
Philippine Congress.
This institution is divided into the Senate and the
House of Representatives.
5. The Executive branch is composed of the President and the
Vice President who are elected by direct popular vote and
serve a term of six years.
The Constitution grants the President authority to appoint his
Cabinet. These departments form a large portion of the
country’s bureaucracy.
6. The Judicial branch holds the power to settle controversies involving rights that are
legally demandable and enforceable. This branch determines whether or not there
has been a grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction on
the part and instrumentality of the government. It is made up of a Supreme Court
and lower courts.
The Constitution expressly grants the Supreme Court the power of Judicial Review
as the power to declare a treaty, international or executive agreement, law,
presidential decree, proclamation, order, instruction, ordinance or regulation
unconstitutional.
7. Under the Constitution, the Supreme Court shall be composed of
a Chief Justice and fourteen Associate Justices. It may sit en
banc or, in its discretion, in divisions of three, five, or seven
members. (Art. VIII, §4) Its members shall be appointed by the
President from a list of at least three nominees prepared by
the Judicial and Bar Council for every vacancy, without need
of confirmation by the Commission on Appointments. (Art. VIII,
§9)
8. Members of the Supreme Court are required to have
proven competence, integrity, probity and
independence; they must be natural-born citizens of
the Philippines, at least forty years old, with at least
fifteen years of experience as a judge of a lower
court or law practice in the country. (Art. VIII,
§7) Justices shall hold office during good behavior
until they reach the age of seventy years, or become
incapacitated to discharge the duties of office. (Art.
VIII, §11)
9. The Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City is the current base of the House of Representatives.
According to the 1987 Constitution, legislative power shall be vested in the Congress of the Philippines, which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives.
The Senate shall be composed of twenty-four Senators who shall be elected at large by the qualified voters of the Philippines, as may be provided by law; the House of
Representatives shall be composed of not more than 250 (unless otherwise fixed by law), 20 percent of whom must be Party-list representatives.
The qualifications to become a senator, as stipulated in the constitution, are:
a natural-born citizen of the Philippines;
at least thirty-five years old;
is able to read and write
a registered voter; and
a resident of the Philippines for not less than two years before election day.
Meanwhile, the constitution provides for the following criteria to become a member of the House of Representatives:
a natural-born citizen of the Philippines;
at least twenty-five years old;
is able to read and write; and
except the party-list representatives, a registered voter and a resident for at least one year in the district where s/he shall be elected.
10. Congress is responsible for making enabling laws to make sure the spirit of the constitution is upheld in the country and, at times, amend
or change the constitution itself. In order to craft laws, the legislative body comes out with two main documents: bills and resolutions.
Resolutions convey principles and sentiments of the Senate or the House of Representatives. These resolutions can further be divided into
three different elements:
•joint resolutions — require the approval of both chambers of Congress and the signature of the President, and have the force and effect of
a law if approved.
•concurrent resolutions — used for matters affecting the operations of both chambers of Congress and must be approved in the same
form by both houses, but are not transmitted to the President for his signature and therefore have no force and effect of a law.
•simple resolutions — deal with matters entirely within the prerogative of one chamber of Congress, are not referred to the President for his
signature, and therefore have no force and effect of a law.
Bills are laws in the making. They pass into law when they are approved by both houses and the President of the Philippines. A bill may be
vetoed by the President, but the House of Representatives may overturn a presidential veto by garnering a 2/3rds vote. If the President
does not act on a proposed law submitted by Congress, it will lapse into law after 30 days of receipt.
11. Article VII, Section 1, of the 1987 Constitution vests executive power
on the President of the Philippines. The President is the Head of
State and Head of Government, and functions as the commander-in-
chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
As chief executive, the President exercises control over all the
executive departments, bureaus, and offices.
12. THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES
The President of the Philippines is elected by direct vote by the people for a term of six years. He may
only serve for one term, and is ineligible for reelection. The term of the President of the Philippines
starts at noon of the 30th day of June after the election.
QUALIFICATIONS
The qualifications for an individual aspiring to become the President of the Philippines are outlined
in Article VII, Section 2 of the 1987 Constitution. According to the constitution, an individual may
become President provided he meets the following criteria:
1.natural born Filipino;
2.a registered voter;
3.must be able to read and write;
4.40 years of age at the day of the election; and
5.must have resided in the Philippines ten years before the election is held.
13. POWERS OF THE PRESIDENT
Besides the constitution, the powers of the President of the Philippines
are specifically outlined in Executive Order No. 292, s. 1987, otherwise
known as the Administrative Code of 1987. The following powers are:
1. Power of control over the executive branch
The President of the Philippines has the mandate of control over all the
executive departments, bureaus, and offices. This includes restructuring,
reconfiguring, and appointments of their respective officials. The
Administrative Code also provides for the President to be responsible for
the abovementioned offices’ strict implementation of laws.
14. POWERS OF THE PRESIDENT
2. Power ordinance power
The President of the Philippines has the power to give executive issuances, which are means to streamline the policy and programs of
an administration. There are six issuances that the President may issue. They are the following as defined in the Administrative Code
of 1987:
Executive orders — Acts of the President providing for rules of a general or permanent character in implementation or execution of
constitutional or statutory powers shall be promulgated in executive orders.
Administrative orders — Acts of the President which relate to particular aspects of governmental operations in pursuance of his duties
as the administrative head shall be promulgated in administrative orders.
Proclamations — Acts of the President fixing a date or declaring a status or condition of public moment or interest, upon the existence
of which the operation of a specific law or regulation is made to depend, shall be promulgated in proclamations which shall have the
force of an executive order.
Memorandum orders — Acts of the President on matters of administrative detail, or of subordinate or temporary interest which only
concern a particular officer or government office shall be embodied in memorandum orders.
Memorandum circulars — Acts of the President on matters relating to internal administration, which the President desires to bring to the
attention of all or some of the departments, agencies, bureaus, or offices of the government, for information or compliance, shall be
embodied in memorandum circulars.
General or special orders — Acts and commands of the President in his capacity as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the
Philippines shall be issued as general or special orders.
