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NAME: __________________________________
FINAL NOTES/HANDOUT
in PHIL. GOVT. AND CONSTITUTION
Sherr y Lyn F . Lamsen-Or jalo
CONSTITUTION OF GOVERNMENT
Our government is a tripartite system ofgovernment composed of three great branches:
Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Department
(Judiciary)
ART. VI: LEGISLATI VE DEPARTMENT
Sections 1 to 7:
The legislative department is more popularlyknown as the CONGRESS. It is the department
granted by our Constitution the exercise of
legislative power.
LEGISLATIVE POWER is the authority tomake, alter and repeal laws.
Hence, the law-making body of the Philippine
Government is vested in Congress. LAWS refer to the rules and regulations enacted
by the legislature to guide our actions in society,
to govern our relations with our fellow Filipinosand our relation with our government.
CLASSIFICATION OF LEGISLATIVE
POWER:
CONSTITUENT power to amend and
revise the Constitution ORDINARY power to pass ordinary laws
The Congress of the Philippines is a bicameralbody. It consists of two houses/bodies:
1. SENATE the upper Chamber of the
Congress.Composition: The Senate consists of 24Senators elected at large by qualified voters,
which means that they are national elected
officials.
Qualifications:
i.
Natural-born Filipino citizenii. At least 35 years of age on the day of the
electioniii. Able to read and write
iv. A registered voter
v. A resident of the Philippines for not lessthan two years immediately preceding the
day of election
Term of Of fi ce:
TERM OF OFFICE refers to the period
fixed by law/constitution during which a
member of Congress or an elective
official will hold office.
TENURE OF OFFICE speaks of theactual number of years during which the
official holds the office.
The term of office of senators is 6 yearswhich shall begin unless otherwise
provided by law at noon on the 30thday
of June after their election. No senator can serve for more than 2
consecutive term of office. (12 years)
Voluntary renunciation of office for any
length of time (i.e. resignation) shall notbe considered as an interruption in the
continuity of his service for the full term
for which he was elected.
2.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES consists of men and women who are elected
representatives of the Filipino people.Composition: TWO KINDS OFREPRESENTATIVES:
i. DISTRICT REPRESENTATIVES elected from legislative districtsapportioned among the provinces, cities
and the Metropolitan Manila area. They
constitute the majority members of the
House of Representatives.
ii.
PARTY-LIST REPRESENTATIVES
elected through the party-list system of
registered national, regional, and sectoralparties or organization. They shal
constitute 20% of the total number of
representatives.
Qualifications:
Di str ict Representativesi. Natural-born Filipino citizen
ii. At least 25 years of age on the day of the
election
iii.
Able to read and writeiv. A resident of the district in which he shall
be elected for a period of not less than 1year immediately preceding the election
v. A registered voter in the district in which
he shall be elected
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Party-li st Representatives
i. Natural-born Filipino citizen
ii. At least 25 years of age on the day ofelection
iii. Able to read and write
iv. A resident anywhere in the Philippinesv. A registered voter anywhere in the
Philippines
Term of Off ice:
The term of office of congressmen is 3years which shall begin unless otherwise
provided by law at noon on the 30thday
of June after their election. No representative can serve for more than
3 consecutive term of office. (9 years).
Voluntary renunciation of office for any
length of time (i.e. resignation) shall notbe considered as an interruption in the
continuity of his service for the full term
for which he was elected. Sec. 5. (3) and (4): APPORTIONMENT OF
LEGISLATIVE DISTRICTS is dividing
provinces, cities and the Metropolitan Manila
into legislative districts. RULES IN REAPPORTIONMENT:
Legislative districts shall be apportioned
among the provinces, cities and theMetropolitan Manila area in accordance with
the number of their respective inhabitants, on
the basis of a uniform and progressive ratio.
Uniform ratiomeans that each districtmust be equal in population, or as equal
as possible.
Progressive ratio means that theincrease in population in relation to thesize of the House of Representatives must
be considered.
Each city/municipality with a population ofnot less than 250,000 shall be entitled to at
least one representative and each province,
irrespective of population is entitled to one
representative. Each legislative district shall comprise, as far
as practicable, contiguous (immediate;
connected without break), compact (closely
united or packed together), and adjacent(immediately adjoining without intermediate
space) territory. This is intended to prevent
gerrymandering, which means creating
legislative district out of separate territories
for the purpose of obtaining partisanadvantage. The word gerrymandering came
from the name of Governor Elbridge Gerry of
Massachusetts and the salamander shaped
district that was created to favor his party inthe election.
Sec. 11: The members of Congress are accorded
under the Constitution two parliamentaryimmunities of privileges:
1. Privilege from Arrest applies while Congress
is in session in all offenses punishable by notmore than 6 years imprisonment. This
includes both civil and criminal offenses
provided it is not punishable by
imprisonment of six years or a member ofCongress can only invoke the immunity from
arrest for relatively minor offenses.
2. Privilege of Speech and Debate applies for
any speech or debate in Congress or in any ofits committee. This privilege means that
members of Congress cannot be sued or
prosecuted for anything they say or write inconnection with their legislative duties.
WHAT ARE THE ACTIVITIES A MEMBER
OF CONGRESS IS PROHIBITED OF? Sec. 13: Holding any other office or
employment in the government, or any
subdivision, agency, or instrumentality
thereof, including government owned and
controlled corporations (GOCCs) or theirsubsidiaries, during his term without
forfeiting his seat in, or what is known asincompatible office.
Being appointed to any office, which may
have been created, or the emoluments thereof
increased during the term for which he waselected, or blown asforbidden office.
Sec. 14: Personally appearing as counsel
before any court of justice or before the
electoral tribunals, or quasi-judicial and other
administrative bodies. Being financially interested, directly or
indirectly in any contract with, or in anyfranchise or special privilege granted by the
Government, or any subdivision, agency, or
instrumentality thereof, including GOCCs, orits subsidiary during their term of office.
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Intervening in any matter before any office of
the Government for their pecuniary benefit orwhere they may be called upon to act on
account of their office.
Sec. 16: ORGANIZATION OF THE
CONGRESS:
A.Off icers of the Congress:
The Senate shall elect its President
and the House of Representatives itsSpeaker.
The Senate President is the presiding
officer of the Senate elected by majorityvotes of all its members. He holds office at
the pleasure of his members and may be
replaced at any time. In the political
hierarchical order of leadership, the SenatePresident is the third highest official of the
government.
The Speaker of the House, who
presides over the House, is elected bymajority votes of all members of the House,
but in practice is chosen by the majority
party. As the presiding officer of the House,the Speaker decides on all questions of order,
refer bills introduced in the House to the
proper standing committees, signs all acts,resolutions, orders issued by or upon order of
the House, appoints members of joint
committees and conference committees, and
exercises administrative functions over house
personnel. Like the Senate President, heholds office at the pleasure of his members
and may be replaced at any time.
B.Congressional /Legislati ve Committees:
i. Standing Committees are permanently
established legislative committees that
review proposed legislation. They are theonly ones who proposed legislation by
reporting a bill out to the full House or
Senate. In Congress, each standing
committee is given a specific area of concern.
ii.
Select Committees are those that arecreated for a specific purpose and usually for
a limited period only such as conducting aninvestigation or addressing matters of great
national concern.
iii. Joint Committees are those created byboth Houses of Congress with members
coming from both. An example is the
Bicameral Conference Committee, which
irons out differences in the versions of billspassed by the Senate and the House.
C.Sessions.
The House of Representatives holds
its session in Batasang Pambansa Complexwhile the Senate in GSIS Complex.
i. Regular Session is convened once every
year starting on the fourth Monday of Julyunless a different date is fixed by law. It may
continue for such number of days or may las
as long as Congress wishes until 30 daysbefore the opening of its next regular session
exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays and legal
holidays.
ii.Special Session is called by the Presidentwhile the Congress is in recess, generally to
consider a legislation he may designate in his
call, like the session called by President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to pass into lawthe power reform bill.
The Constitution requires that neither
House during the sessions of the Congressshall, without the consent of the other
adjourn for more than 3 days, nor to any other
place than that in which the two Houses shalbe sitting.
D.Quorumnumber of members of the body
which, when legally assembled in their
proper places, will enable the body to transac
its proper business, or in other words, thatnumber that makes a lawful body and gives it
power to pass a law. A majority of each shalconstitute a quorum to do business.
E.Rules of Procedure rules made by any
legislative body as to the mode and manner
of conducting the business of the bodyHence, rules of procedure are clearly
mandatory for the orderly functioning of
either House or Congress.
F .Journal and Record of Proceedings.
Journal is a record of what is doneand passed in a legislative assembly. It is a
day-to-day record of the proceedings ofCongress.
Record is a word for word transcript
of the deliberations of Congress or theproceedings taken during session.
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G.
Discipli ne of M embers
Suspension can be imposed as asanction to a Member of Congress for
disorderly behavior. It can only be imposed
with the concurrence of two-thirds of all
members of Congress. It should not exceed60 days.
Expulsion can also only be imposed
with the concurrence of two-thirds of allmembers of Congress. The Constitution,
however, does not provide ground for
expulsion. Sections 17-19: AGENCIES IN CONGRESS
A. Electoral Tribunal sole judge of all
contests relating to election, returns and
qualifications of the members of the legislativehouses, and, as such, are independent of
congress. It was created to function as a
nonpartisan court although two-thirds of its
members are politicians. Each electoral tribunalshall be composed of 9 members:
TheHRET is composed of 3 Justices of
the Supreme Court to be designated by the ChiefJustice and 6 members of the Senate chosen on
the basis of proportional representation from the
political parties and the parties or organizationsregistered under the party-list system therein.
The SET is likewise composed of 3
Justices designated by the Chief Justice and 6
members of the House of Representatives also
chosen on the basis of proportionalrepresentation.
The most senior Justice in each electoraltribunal shall be its chairman.
B. Commission on Appointments
created by the Constitution as an independent
commission in Congress although its membersare confined to members of Congress, to function
as a check on the appointing power of the
President. Like the electoral tribunals, the
Commission shall also be constituted within 30
days after the Senate and the House ofRepresentatives shall have been organized with
the election of the President and Speaker.The Commission is composed of 25
members, the Senate as ex-officio chairman, 12
Senators and 12 members of the House ofRepresentatives. Like in the electoral tribunal,
the members of the Commission are also chosen
on basis of proportional representation from the
political parties and the parties or organizationsregistered under the party-list system.
The Commission functions as a check on
the appointing power of the President, by
approving or disapproving appointments toimportant offices in the government submitted to
it by the President. It shall act on all appointment
with 30 days from their submission. Inconsidering nominations submitted to it by the
President, the Chairman (Senate President) shall
not vote except in case of a tie. POWERS OF CONGRESS
Classifications:
1. Enumerated Powers refer to those
specifically or expressly conferred to theCongress by the Constitution. The
enumerated powers of the Congress
includes the power to impose taxes, the
power of appropriations, declare theexistence of war, power to meet as board
of canvassers in the election of President
and Vice President, the power ofimpeachment, the power to propose
amendments to the Constitution among
many others.2. Implied Powersrefer to such powers as
are necessarily implied from the given
powers. This includes the power to
punish witness for contempt in the
conduct of legislative investigation andoversight, to elect such the formal
leadership of both Houses, to determinethe rules of its proceedings, etc.
3. Inherent Powers are those that are
neither granted nor implied therefrom
but rather they refer to those that grow oufrom the very existence of Congress. It is
sometimes referred to as incidental
powers of the State, which are primarily
exercised by the Congress such as the
police power, power of eminent domainand power to taxation.
Power of Legislative Investigation [Sec. 21]
Power of Appropriation [Sections 24, 25, 29]
Power of Taxation [Sec. 28(1)]
Non-Legislative Powers Power to declare the existence of war
[Sec. 23(1), Art.VI]
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Power to concur in presidential amnesties
[Sec. 21, Art VII] Power to impeach the President [Sec. 3,
Art. XI]
Board of Canvasser [Sec. 4, Art. VII]
Call Special Election (SNAP) for theOffice of the President [Sec. 10, Art. VII]
ART. VII : EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT Executive power is the power to enforce and
execute the laws faithfully.
The President of the Philippines is theExecutive of the Government of the Philippines.
The whole of executive power is vested to only
one person, hence the President is the most
powerful officer of our Government. Roles of the President: As Chief of State, the
President stands as the head of our government
and such he represents the nation. As Chief
Executive of the Government, the President is thehead of the executive department, the largest
bureaucracy of the government. As Chief
Diplomat, the Constitution empowers thePresident to receive ambassadors and initiate
diplomatic relations with other nations, as well as
to appoint diplomatic representatives of thecountry abroad. Finally, as Commander-in-
Chief, the Constitution grants the President
command of the nations Military.
Qualifications:
i.
Natural-born Filipino citizenii. Registered voter
iii. Able to read and writeiv. At least 40 years of age on the day of the
election
v. Resident of the Philippines for at least 10
years immediately preceding the election
Term of Off ice:
The president is elected by direct vote of
the people and shall serve for a term of 6 years.
Voluntary renunciation of the office for any
length of time shall not be considered as aninterruption in the continuity of the service of the
full term for which he was elected. The Presidentshall not be eligible for any reelection.
No person who has succeeded as
President and has served as such for more than 4years shall be qualified for election to the same
office at any time.
Privileges:
Official residence Salary
Immunity from Suit
Prohibitions:
The President during his tenure isprohibited under the Constitution from:
1. Receiving any other emolument from the
Government or any other source.2. Holding any other office of employment
unless otherwise provided in this
Constitution.3. Directly or indirectly, practicing any other
profession, participating in any business, or
being financially interested in any contract
with, or in any franchise, or special privilegegranted by the Government or any
subdivision, agency, or instrumentality
thereof, including GOCCs or their
subsidiaries.4. Strictly avoiding conflict of interest in the
conduct of his office.
5. Appointing spouse and relatives byconsanguinity or affinity within the fourth
civil degree as members of the Constitutiona
Commissions, of the Office of theOmbudsman, or as Secretaries
Undersecretaries, chairmen or heads of
bureaus or offices, including GOCCs and
their subsidiaries.
Our Constitution does not specify the role as wellas the powers of the Vice President except to
succeed as President as provided in the order ofPresidential Succession. Since the Constitution
allows the Vice President to be appointed as
member of the Cabinet with the privilege of not
being subject to confirmation by the Commissionon Appointments, the Vice President is usually
appointed as a Cabinet Secretary.
The Vice President has the same qualification
and is elected in the same manner as the
President. Likewise, the Vice President has aterm of 6 years. However, unlike the President
the Vice President is entitled to one immediatere-election.
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RULE ON PRESIDENTIAL SUCCESSION:
Vacancy in the Office of the President
at the beginning of hi s term:
1. If the President-elect fails to qualify,
the Vice President-elect shall act as
President until the President-electshall have qualified.
2. If a President shall not have been
chosen, the Vice President elect shallact as President until a President shallhave been chosen and qualified.
3. If at the beginning of the term of the
President, the President-elect shallhave died or have become
permanently disable, the Vice
President elect shall become
President.4. Where no President and Vice
President shall have been chosen or
shall have qualified, or where bothshall have died or become
permanently disabled, the President
of the Senate or, in case of his
inability, the Speaker of the House ofRepresentatives shall act as President
until a President or Vice President
shall have chosen and qualified.
duri ng his term:When the office of the President
becomes vacant as a result of death,
permanent disability, removal fromoffice, or resignation, the Vice President
will become President to serve for the
unexpired term.
In case the vacancy resulted from thecauses mentioned when the former Vice
President turned President existed, the
Senate President or, in case of inability,the Speaker of the House shall act as
President until a President or a Vice
President shall have been elected and
qualified. Vacancy in the Office of the Vice President
at the beginning of his term:-it is the Senate President or, in case of his
inability the Speaker shall act until theVice President shall have been chosen
and qualified.
during his term:
The President shall nominate a Vice
President to serve for the unexpired termamong the members of the Senate or
House of Representatives. The nominee
shall assume office upon confirmation ofa majority vote of all the members of both
Houses of the Congress, voting
separately.
POWERS OF THE PRESIDENT:1. Executive power(Sec. 1, Art. VII)
2. Power of Appointmentthe selection of an
individual who is to exercise the functions ofa given office. (Sections 14-16)
3. Power of Removal power to remove
officials appointed by the President. The
President, however, cannot remove thoseofficials even if appointed by him when the
Constitution provides for the manner of their
removal from office.4. Power of Control(Sec. 17) power to alter
modify, nullify, or set aside what a
subordinate officer had done in the
performance of his duties and to substitutethe judgment of the former to that of the
latter.
5. Military powers(Sec. 18)
President as Commander-in-Chief
Power to suspend the privilege ofHabeas Corpus
Power to declare martial law6. Pardoning Power (Sec. 19) or the power
of executive clemency includes the granting
of the following with the concurrence of the
majority of the members of Congress:
Pardon is an act of grace, proceedingfrom the power entrusted with the
execution of the laws, which exempts an
individual on whom it is bestowed from
the punishment the law inflicts for acrime he has committed
Absolute Pardon is grantedwithout any conditionswhatsoever. An absolute pardon
not only blots out the crime
committed, but removes aldisabilities resulting from the
conviction.
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Conditional Pardon is grantedsubject to such conditions or
qualifications, as he may deem
necessary or see fit.
Commutationis a remission of a part ofthe punishment, a submission of a lesspenalty for the one originally imposed
Reprieveis a postponement of execution
or a temporary suspension of execution Remit Fines and Forfeiture mean
exoneration of fines and forfeited
property
Amnestycommonly denotes the generalpardon to rebels for their treason andother high political offenses, of the
forgiveness which one sovereign grants
to the subjects of another, who have
offended some breach of the law ofnations.
7.
Diplomatic Power8. Borrowing Power(Sec. 20)9. Informing Power(SONA) (Sec. 23)
10.Residual Powersor other powers neither
legislative nor judicial
ART VII I : JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT
Judicial poweris the power to apply the laws to
contests or disputes concerning legallyrecognized rights or duties between the State and
a private person, or between individual litigants,
in cases properly brought before the judicialtribunals, which includes the power to ascertainwhat the valid and binding laws of the State are
and interpret and construe them.
Judicial power is clarified in Sec. 1, Art VIII Judicial power is vested in the Supreme Court
and other lower courts established by law.
The Supreme Court is a body composed of 15members (1 Chief Justice and 14 Associate
Justices). They are appointed by the President
from a list of at least 3 nominees prepared by the
Judicial and Bar Council.
Qualifications for Members of the Supreme
Court:1. Natural-born Filipino citizen
2. At least 40 years of age
3. A judge of lower court or engages in the
practice of law in the Philippines for 15 yearsor more
4. Must be of persons of proven competence
integrity, probity and independenceThis enumeration is exclusive; Congress may no
add additional qualifications through ordinary
legislation
Qualifications for Members of the Lower
Collegiate Court:
1. Natural-born Filipino citizen
2. Member of the Philippine Bar3. Other qualifications that Congress may
prescribe
4. Must be of persons of proven competence
integrity, probity and independence Qualifications for Members of the Lower
Courts:
1. Citizen of the Philippines2. Member of the Philippine Bar
3. Other qualifications that Congress may
prescribe4. Must be of persons of proven competence
integrity, probity and independence
POWERS OF THE SUPREME COURT:
1. Judicial reviewis the power to declare act of
the Executive and Legislative departmentsunconstitutional in the light of its conformity
with the Constitution.2. Jurisdiction refers to the authority of the
court to hear and decide a particular case.
3. Power to temporarily assign judges of
lower courts to other stations as publicinterests may require provided that it shall not
exceed 6 months without the consent of the
judge concerned.
4. Power to order a change of venue or place
of trial to avoid miscarriage of justice.5. Rule-making power6. Appoint officials and employees of the
judiciary
7. Administrative supervision over court and
personnel
Study hard! Good luck and God bless you!