HOW A BILL BECOMES A LAW

FORMAL
PARTS OF THE
LAW
 PROCEDURE

Section 26 of Article VI:

Every bill passed by the Congress shall embrace only one subject which shall be expressed in
the title thereof.

No bill passed by either House shall become a law unless it has passed three readings on
separate days, and printed copies thereof in its final form have been distributed to its Members
three days before its passage, except when the President certifies to the necessity of its
immediate enactment to meet a public calamity or emergency. Upon the last reading of a bill,
no amendment thereto shall be allowed, and the vote thereon shall be taken immediately
thereafter, and the yeas and nays entered in the Journal.
Section 27 (1) of Article VI:
Every bill passed by the Congress shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the President.
If he approves the same he shall sign it; otherwise, he shall veto it and return the same with his
objections to the House where it originated, which shall enter the objections at large in its
Journal and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration, two-thirds of all the
Members of such House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the
objections, to the other House by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by
two-thirds of all the Members of that House, it shall become a law. In all such cases, the votes
of each House shall be determined by yeas or nays, and the names of the Members voting for
or against shall be entered in its Journal. The President shall communicate his veto of any bill
to the House where it originated within thirty days after the date of receipt thereof, otherwise,
it shall become a law as if he had signed it.

A bill is introduced by any member of the House of Representatives or the Senate

except for some measures that must originate only in the former chamber.

The first reading involves only a reading of the number and title of the measure and its
referral by the Senate President or the Speaker to the proper committee for study. The bill may
be "killed" in the committee or it may be recommended for approval, with or without
amendments, sometimes after public hearings are first held thereon. If there are other bills of
the same nature or purpose, they may all be consolidated into one bill under common
authorship or as a committee bill.

Once reported out, the bill shall be calendared for second reading. It is at this stage that
the bill is read in its entirety, scrutinized, debated upon and amended when desired. The
second reading is the most important stage in the passage of a bill. The bill as approved on
second reading is printed in its final form and copies thereof are distributed at least three days
before the third reading.

On the third reading, the members merely register their votes and explain them if they
are allowed by the rules. No further debate is allowed. Once the bill passes third reading, it is
sent to the other chamber, where it will also undergo the three readings. If there are
differences between the versions approved by the two chambers, a conference committee
representing both Houses will draft a compromise measure that if ratified by the Senate and
the House of Representatives will then be submitted to the President for his consideration.
 The bill is enrolled when printed as finally approved by the Congress, thereafter
authenticated with the signatures of the Senate President, the Speaker, and the Secretaries of
their respective chambers, and approved by the President.

The title does not have to be a complete catalogue of everything stated in the bill. It is
sufficient if the title expresses the general subject of the bill and all the provisions of the statute
are germane to that general subject.

A bill which repeals legislation regarding the subject matter need not state in the title
that it is repealing the latter. Thus, a repealing clause in the bill is considered germane to the
subject matter of the bill.

One Subject, One Title Rule must be observed in passing a law;

General Rule:

Three readings on separate days must be observed, printed copies of bill in its final form
shall be distributed to the Members of either house three days before its passage, and once
passed, this shall be referred to the other house for their consideration.

Exception:

However, this can be dispensed with if the President will issue a Presidential
Certification which certifies a bill to be urgent and that the immediate enactment of the
proposed law is necessary to meet a public calamity or emergency. What can be dispensed with
here are the readings on separate days. There should still be readings but can be done in a day.
Upon last reading, no amendment allowed, and vote thereon taken immediately and yeas and
nays entered in the Journal [Sec. 26, Art. VI].

Simply put, the presidential certification dispensed with not only the requirement that
printed copies of a bill in its final form must be distributed to the members three days before its
passage but also the requirement that before a bill can become a law, it must have passed
three readings on separate days.

APPROVAL OF BILL

Article VI Section 27; two steps are required before a bill becomes a law.
 First, it must be approved by both Houses of Congress
 Second, it must be presented to and approved by the President. In the
absence of presentment to the President, no bill passed by Congress can
become a law.

The constitution provides for three methods by which a bill may become a law, to wit:
(1) When the President signs it;
(2) When the President vetoes it but the veto is overridden by two-thirds vote of all the
members of each House; and
(3) When the President does not act upon the measure within thirty days after it shall have
been presented to him.

By actually signing a bill presented to him, the President identifies himself with it and
indicates his approval of its purposes and provisions.
 The President may disapprove or veto a measure upon any ground sufficient for him, as
where he considers it unconstitutional or merely inefficacious or unwise. In every case, he
should, in returning the measure to the House of origin, indicate his objections thereto in what
is known as a “veto message” so that the same can be studied by the members for possible
overriding of his veto. Two-thirds of each House will be sufficient to invalidate the veto and
convert the bill into law over the President’s objections. On the other hand, the Congress may
agree with the President’s objections and decide to revise the measure as he suggests.

Partial Veto: The general rule is that the President must approve entirely or disapprove in
toto. The exception applies to appropriation, revenue and tariff bills, any particular item or
items of which may be disapproved without affecting the item or items to which he does not
object.

Effectivity of laws:
[Art. 2, Civil Code]
Laws shall take effect after fifteen days following the completion of their publication either
in the Official Gazette, or in a newspaper of general circulation in the Philippines, unless it
is otherwise provided.

See Tanada v. Tuvera, supra., and Executive Order No. 200, June 18,1987.