WEEK 8: ARTICLE VI LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT

TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION (PART 2)

D. POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF CONGRESS AND THE SEPARATE HOUSES

OTHER POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF CONGRESS.

 To act as a canvassing body for the Presidential and Vice-Presidential elections and proclaim the
persons duly elected. (Sec. 4[4], Art. VII)

…The returns of every election for President and Vice-President, duly certified by the board of
canvassers of each province or city, shall be transmitted to the Congress, directed to the President of
the Senate. Upon receipt of the certificates of canvass, the President of the Senate shall, not later than
thirty days after the day of the election, open all the certificates in the presence of the Senate and the
House of Representatives in joint public session, and the Congress, upon determination of the
authenticity and due execution thereof in the manner provided by law, canvass the votes.

 2) To concur to amnesty granted by the President (Sec. 19[2], Art. VII)

…He (President) shall also have the power to grant amnesty with the concurrence of a majority of all the
Members of the Congress.

 3) The Senate shall concur to treaties or international agreements entered into by the President.
(Sec. 21, Art. VII)

No treaty or international agreement shall be valid and effective unless concurred in by at least two-
thirds of all the Members of the Senate.

 4) The House of Representatives shall initiate the impeachment process. (Sec. 2, Art. XI)

The House of Representatives shall have the exclusive power to initiate all cases of impeachment.

 5) The Senate shall try and decide all impeachment cases. (Sec. 3[6], Art. XI).

The Senate shall have the sole power to try and decide all cases of impeachment. When sitting for that
purpose, the Senators shall be on oath or affirmation. When the President of the Philippines is on trial,
the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court shall preside, but shall not vote. No person shall be convicted
without the concurrence of two-thirds of all the Members of the Senate.

THE POWERS OF THE CONGRESS OF THE PHILIPPINES MAY BE CLASSIFIED AS:

General Legislative Powers Implied Powers
It consists of the enactment
of laws intended as a rule of
conduct to govern the
relation between individuals
(i.e., civil laws, commercial
laws, etc.) or between
individuals and the state (i.e.,
criminal law, political law,
etc.)
Inherent Powers Specific Legislative Powers
These are powers These are the powers These are powers which
essential to the effective which though not the Constitution expressly and
exercise of other powers expressly given are specifically directs to perform or
expressly granted to the nevertheless exercised execute.
assembly. by the Congress as
Powers enjoyed by the
they are necessary for
Congress classifiable under this
its existence, such as:
category are:
 to determine the
 Power to appropriate;
rules of
proceedings;  Power to act as constituent
assembly; (The Senate and
 to compel
the House of
attendance of
Representatives must
absent members to
convene and vote on joint or
obtain quorum to do
separate session to do this.
business;
 Power to impeach; (to initiate
 to keep journal of its
all cases of impeachment is
proceedings; etc.
the power of the House of
Representatives;
 To try all cases of
impeachment is the power of
the Senate.)
 Power to confirm treaties;
 (Only the Senate is
authorized to use this
power.)
 Power to declare the
existence of war; (The
Senate and the House of
Representatives must
convene in joint session to
do this.)
 Power to concur amnesty;
and
 Power to act as board of
canvasser for
presidential/vice-presidential
votes. (by creating a joint
congressional committee to
do the canvassing.)
 Power to contempt
 Blending of power
 Delegation of power
 Budgetary power
 Power to taxation
Executive Powers Supervisory Powers Electoral Powers Judicial Powers
Powers of the Congress The Congress of the Considered as Constitutionally, each house
that are executive in nature Philippines exercises electoral power of the has judicial powers:
are: considerable control and Congress of the
supervision over the Philippines are the  To punish its Members for
 Appointment of its administrative branch - e.g.: Congress' power to: disorderly behavior, and, with
officers; the concurrence of two-thirds
 Affirming treaties;  To decide the creation of  Elect its presiding of all its Members, suspend
 Confirming presidential a department/agency/ officer/s and other or expel a Member
appointees through office; officers of the House;  To concur and approve
the Commission on  To define powers and  Act as board of amnesty declared by
Appointments; duties of officers; canvassers for the the President of the
 Removal power; etc.  To appropriate funds for canvass of Philippines;
governmental operations; presidential/vice-  To initiate, prosecute and
 To prescribe rules and presidential votes; thereafter decide cases of
procedure to be followed; and impeachment; and
etc.  Elect the President in  To decide electoral protests
case of any electoral of its members through the
tie to the said post. respective Electoral Tribunal.
Miscellaneous Powers
The other powers of Congress mandated by the Constitution are as follows:
 To authorize the Commission on Audit (COA) to audit funds and property;
 To authorize the President of the Philippines to fix tariff rates, quotas, and dues;
 To authorize the President of the Philippines to formulate rules and regulations in times of emergency;
 To reapportion legislative districts based on established constitutional standards;
 To implement laws on autonomy;
 To establish a national language commission;
 To implement free public secondary education;
 To allow small scale utilization of natural resources;
 To specify the limits of forest lands and national parks;
 To determine the ownership and extent of ancestral domain; and
 To establish independent economic and planning agency.
E. THE COMMISSION ON APPOINTMENTS AND ELECTORAL TRIBUNAL

SECTION 17. The Senate and the House of Representatives shall each have an Electoral Tribunal which
shall be the sole judge of all contests relating to the election, returns, and qualifications of their
respective Members. Each Electoral Tribunal shall be composed of nine Members, three of whom shall
be Justices of the Supreme Court to be designated by the Chief Justice, and the remaining six shall be
Members of the Senate or the House of Representatives, as the case may be, who shall be chosen on the
basis of proportional representation from the political parties and the parties or organizations registered
under the party-list system represented therein. The senior Justice in the Electoral Tribunal shall be its
Chairman.

THE ELECTORAL TRIBUNAL

 Function of the Electoral Tribunal:

The sole judge of all contests relating to the election, returns, and qualifications of the members of Congress. –
When there is an election contest, that is, when a defeated candidate challenges the qualification and claims the
seat of a proclaimed winner, the respective Electoral Tribunal of each House is the sole judge, and neither the
Supreme Court nor each House of Congress nor the Commission on Elections can interfere. In the absence of
an election contest, however, the Electoral Tribunals are without jurisdiction. Thus, the power of each House to
defer the oath-taking of members until final determination of election contests filed against them has been
retained by each House. (Angara vs. Electoral Commission, 63 Phil. 139, 1936.)

 Composition of The Electoral Tribunal

Electoral Tribunal in each House. – An Electoral Tribunal is created in each House of Congress.

It is composed of nine (9) members – three (3) Justices of the Supreme Court designated by the Chief Justice
and six (6) members of the Senate or the House of Representatives, as the case may be, chosen on the basis of
proportional representation from the political parties and the parties or organizations registered under the party-
list system represented therein.

 Formation of the Electoral Tribunal

The Electoral Tribunal shall be constituted within 30 days after the Senate and the House of Representatives
shall have been organized with the election of the President and the Speaker. (Sec. 19.)

SECTION 18. There shall be a Commission on Appointments consisting of the President of the Senate,
as ex officio Chairman, twelve Senators, and twelve Members of the House of Representatives, elected
by each House on the basis of proportional representation from the political parties and parties or
organizations registered under the party-list system represented therein. The chairman of the
Commission shall not vote, except in case of a tie. The Commission shall act on all appointments
submitted to it within thirty session days of the Congress from their submission. The Commission shall
rule by a majority vote of all the Members.

THE COMMISSION ON APPOINTMENTS

 Composition of the Commission on Appointments

It is composed of the Senate President as ex officio chairman, twelve Senators and twelve Members of the
House of Representatives elected by each House according to proportional representation of the parties or
organizations registered under the party-list system represented therein. The total composition will thus be
twenty-five, but the Chairman votes only to break a tie.

 Function of the Commission on Appointments.

The Commission on Appointments acts as a legislative check on the appointing authority of the President. For
the effectivity of the appointment of certain key officials enumerated in the Constitution, the consent of the
Commission on Appointments is needed. The power of the Commission on Appointments is to approve or
disapprove appointments submitted to it by the President. It must act on all such appointments, by a majority
vote of all the members, within 30 session days of Congress from their submission.
SECTION 19. The Electoral Tribunals and the Commission on Appointments shall be constituted within
thirty days after the Senate and the House of Representatives shall have been organized with the
election of the President and the Speaker. The Commission on Appointments shall meet only while the
Congress is in session, at the call of its Chairman or a majority of all its Members, to discharge such
powers and functions as are herein conferred upon it.

The Electoral Tribunals and the Commission on Appointments shall be constituted within 30 days after the
Senate and the House of Representatives shall have been organized with the election of the President and the
Speaker. The Commission on Appointments shall meet only when the Congress is in regular session.

F. THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS

SECTION 26. (1) Every bill passed by the Congress shall embrace only one subject which shall be
expressed in the title thereof.

(2) 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.

Meaning of Bill.

A bill is a draft of the legislative before it becomes a law. It is a proposed law. No bill may be embraced in more
than one subject to be expressed in the title. The subject referred to here is the main subject. As long as the bill
contains only one main subject, the constitutional requirement is met even if the bill covers supplementary
details. It is a draft of a law submitted to the consideration of a legislative body for its adoption. (Bouvier’s Law
Dictionary.)

Steps in the passage of a bill.

1. First Reading:
Any member of either House may present a proposed bill (Sec. 24.), signed by him, for First Reading and
reference to the proper committee. The bill is filed with the Office of the Secretary where it is given a
corresponding number and calendared for first reading. During the First Reading, the principal author of
the bill may propose the inclusion of additional authors thereof. The bill is read by its number and title and
the name/names of the author or authors.
2. Referral to appropriate committee
Immediately after the First Reading, the bill is referred to the proper committee or committees for study
and consideration. It may conduct hearings and consultation meetings. It then approves the bill with or
without amendments or recommends substitution or consolidation with similar bills filed. If disapproved in
the committee, the bill dies a natural death unless the House decides otherwise following the submission
of the report.
3. Second Reading:
If the committee reports the bill favorably, the bill is forwarded to the Committee on Rules so that it can be
calendared for deliberation on Second Reading. At this stage, the bill is read for the second time in its
entirety together with the amendments, if any, proposed by the committee unless the reading is
dispensed with by a majority vote of the House.
4. Debates:
A general debate is then opened after the Second Reading and sponsorship speech of the author of the
bill. Amendments may be proposed by any member of Congress. The insertion of changes or
amendments shall be done in accordance with the rules of either House. The House may either “kill” or
pass the bill. A bill is approved on Second Reading shall be included in the calendar of bills for Third
Reading.
5. Printing and distribution:
After approval of the bill on Second Reading, the bill is then ordered printed in its final form or version and
copies of it are distributed among the members of the House three days before its passage except in
case of bills certified by the President (Sec. 26[2].)
6. Third Reading:
At this stage, only the title of the bill is read on the floor: Nominal voting is held. Upon the last reading of a
bill, no amendment thereto is allowed and the vote thereon is taken immediately thereafter, and yeas and
 nays entered in the journal. A member may abstain. As a rule, a majority of the members constituting a
quorum is sufficient to pass a bill.
7. Referral to the other House:
If approved, the bill is then referred to the other House where substantially the same procedure takes
place. If the other House approved the bill without changes or amendments, the final version is signed by
the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
8. Submission to joint bicameral committee:
Differences, if any, between the House’s bill and the Senate’s amended version, and vice versa are
submitted to a conference committee of members of both Houses for compromise or to reconcile
conflicting provisions. If either House accepts the changes made by the other, no compromise is
necessary.
9. Submission to the President:
A bill approved on Third Reading by both Houses shall be printed and forthwith transmitted to the
President for his action – approval or disapproval that is, he either signs it into law or vetoes and sends it
back with his veto message. If the President does not communicate his veto of any bill to the House
where it originated within 30 days from receipt thereof, it shall become a law as if he signed it. Bills
repassed by Congress over the veto of the President automatically becomes a law. (Sec. 27[1].)

Section 27. (1) 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.

(2) The President shall have the power to veto any particular item or items in an appropriation, revenue,
or tariff bill, but the veto shall not affect the item or items to which he does not object.

When bill may become a law.

A bill passed by Congress may become a law in any of the following ways:
1. When the President approves the bill by signing it;
2. When he vetoes the bill and returns the same with his objections to the House where it originated,
and the same is repassed over his veto by a vote of two-thirds of all the members (not merely two-
thirds of all the members present constituting a quorum) of both Houses; and
3. If the President does not communicate his veto of any bill to the House where it originated within
thirty (30) days after the date of receipt thereof, in which case it shall become a law as if he had
signed it. (Sec. 27[1].)

Veto power of the President.

The word veto is the Latin term for “I forbid” or “deny.” It is the power vested in the President to disapprove acts
passed by Congress. The veto message to the House where the bill originated explains his objections to the bill.
(Sec. 27[1].)

Purpose of veto.
Two fundamental reasons have been given to the grant of the veto power to the President, namely:
1. To enable the executive department to protect its integrity as an equal branch of the government and thus
maintain an equilibrium of governmental powers; and
2. To provide a check on hasty, corrupt, or ill-considered legislation.
G. LIMITATIONS TO THE POWERS OF CONGRESS

SECTION 29. (1) No money shall be paid out of the Treasury except in pursuance of an appropriation
made by law.

(2) No public money or property shall be appropriated, applied, paid, or employed, directly or indirectly,
for the use, benefit, or support of any sect, church, denomination, sectarian institution, or system of
religion, or of any priest, preacher, minister, other religious teacher, or dignitary as such, except when
such priest, preacher, minister, or dignitary is assigned to the armed forces, or to any penal institution,
or government orphanage or leprosarium.

(3) All money collected on any tax levied for a special purpose shall be treated as a special fund and paid
out for such purpose only. If the purpose for which a special fund was created has been fulfilled or
abandoned, the balance, if any, shall be transferred to the general funds of the Government.

The power of appropriation.

The power to appropriate public funds for the maintenance of the government and other public needs is a vital
government function which is vested in Congress. Section 29 [1] is based upon the principle that the people’s
money be spent only with their consent. That the consent may be expressed either in the Constitution itself or in
valid acts of Congress as the direct representatives of the people. It acts as a legislative check upon the
disbursing power of the President, or the heads of departments and other executive officials. Without the
restriction, government funds would be misused. (V.G. Sinco, Note 10, op. Cit., page 205.) In case a special
election for President and Vice-President is called by Congress, the appropriations for the same shall be charged
against any current appropriations and shall exempt from the requirement of Section 29[1]. (Art. VII Sec. 10.)

Meaning of “appropriation made by law.”

An appropriation is per se nothing more than the authorization by law that money may be paid out of the public
treasury. (Campagna vs. U.S., 26 Ct.) It is the setting part or assigning to a particular use a certain sum of the
public funds. The provision of the Constitution does not speak of an “appropriation made by Congress” but rather
“by law,” a term which vouches both statutes and the Constitution. In case of failure on the part of the Congress
to pass the general appropriations bill for the ensuing fiscal year, the general appropriations law for the
preceding fiscal year shall be deemed reenacted and shall remain in force and effect until the general
appropriation bill is passed by Congress. (Section 25[7].) Such general appropriations for the preceding year fall
under “an appropriation made by law.”

*Expenditure of special fund.

A tax may be imposed for a special public purpose. In such case, the money raised from such tax shall be
treated as a special fund and paid out for such purpose only. It cannot be spent for any other public purpose. If
the special purpose has been fulfilled or abandoned, the balance, if any, shall be transferred to the general funds
of the government. (Sec. 20[3].) The special fund then ceases to exist. (*Textbook on the Philippine Constitution
2011 by Hector S. De Leon and Hector M. De Leon).

Case analysis. – Are not “pork barrel” provisions in the annual budget a violation of separation of powers in that
it allows members of Congress to perform the executive function of spending money appropriated? The
controversy over the Countrywide Development Fund of 1994, which is deodorized appellation of the traditional
“pork barrel,” was resolved by the Court in a manner which might be described as tongue-in-cheek. The General
Appropriation Act set aside an amount to be used for “infrastructure, purchase of ambulances and computers
and other priority projects and activities, and credit facilities to qualified beneficiaries as proposed and identified
by officials concerned.” The “officials concerned” were Representatives, Senators and the Vice-President who
were each allocated an amount. The law was challenged on the ground that the authority given to the
enumerated officials to propose and identify projects and activities was an encroachment into legislative power.
In upholding the validity of the law, the Court said that Congress itself had specified the uses of the fund and that
the power given to the enumerated officials was merely recommendatory to the President who could approve or
disapprove the recommendation. The Court praised the scheme as “imaginative” and “innovative!” (Philippine
Constitution Association vs. Enriquez, 54 SCAD 561, 235 SCRA 506, 521, 1994.).
SECTION 30. No law shall be passed increasing the appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court as
provided in this Constitution without its advice and concurrence.

The exclusive appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court refers to cases of great interest or of serious concern
to individual rights. They are enumerated in Section 5 of Article VII. The only power which the Congress may
exercise with respect to this jurisdiction as thus provided is to determine whether the elevation of cases from the
lower courts should be done through appeal or certiorari matters of procedure which may also be determined by
the rules of the court itself.

SECTION 31. No law granting a title of royalty or nobility shall be enacted.

*Reason for prohibiting the State from granting titles of royalty or nobility.

The Federalist (No. 84), speaking of the importance of the prohibition against titles of nobility in the Federal
Constitution, says: “This may truly be denominated the cornerstone of republican government; for so long as they
are excluded there can never be serious danger that the government will be any other than that of the people.”
This provision was in the Bill of Rights of both the 1935 and 1973 Constitutions. (*The 1987 Philippine
Constitution, A Reviewer-Primer, Fourth Edition by Fr. Joaquin G. Bernas, S.J.).

“Nobility” or “Royalty” refers to an order of men, in several countries, to whom special privileges are granted. In
English law, this refers to a “division of the people, comprehending dukes, marquises, earls, viscounts, and
barons.” They had ancient duties annexed to their respective honors. The prohibition against the enactment of
law granting a title of royalty or nobility is intended primarily to keep and maintain equality among citizenry. While
perfect equality among people of a nation, especially a democratic country, cannot be attained, the lawmaking
body should not become a tool towards creating a mode of fostering inequality. The law treats all as “equals”
whether in the grant of opportunities or the imposition of duties.