The Republic of the Philippines is a constitutional democracy, with the President as head of state.

The president and vice president are elected by the people for six-year terms. The national government has three coequal branches that exercise a system of checks and balances: executive, legislative, and judicial.The executive branch consists of the President and his Cabinet. The Senate and the House of Representatives make up the bicameral legislature. The Supreme Court heads the systems of courts under the judicial branch.Congress consists of a 24-member Senate and a 250-member House of Representatives. The voters of the entire nation elect senators to six-year terms. Voters from different districts elect 200 of the representatives to three-year terms. The remaining 50 representatives are selected from lists drawn up by the political parties to ensure representation of women, ethnic minorities, and certain economic and occupational groups. The number selected from each party's list is about one-fourth of the number of the party's elected representatives. All Philippine citizens who are at least 18 years old may vote. The Philippine Constitution is the fundamental basis of the laws of the land. The country has had several Constitutions, but the current one was adopted through a nationwide plebiscite in 1987. It is supported by other laws, such as the Civil Code, the Labor Code, the Omnibus Investments Code, and the National Internal Revenue Code, as well as by rules and regulations passed by government bodies. The latter include rulings, letters of instruction, circulars, memoranda, administrative orders, judicial orders, and pronouncements, as well as laws adopted by local government within the scope of the Constitution. Early Filipinos System of Government The society during our ancestors' period had two kinds of government: the Barangay and the Sultanate Government. A datu or raja was the leader of a barangay. He could make laws and implemented them so that peace and order would prevail in their community. The members of his community helped and participated in the realization of the projects in the barangay. There were two kinds of barangay laws: written and oral. The Sultanate Government was formed because of the presence of the Islam Religion in the Philippines. This was headed by a sultan. Aside from maintaining peace and order, it was the sultan's responsibility to let the Islam religion and Muslim tradition remain in the lives of his constituents. The laws of the sultanate government did not change because it was based on the Koran which is the Muslim Bible and the Sunnah which are Mohammed's traditions.

System of Government in the Spanish Period Spain introduced the Centralized form of government. It was divided into two units: the Central government and the Local government. The King entrusted the colony to the governor-general, who had the highest position in the government. The Royal Audiencia was the Supreme Court of the Philippines.

The Residencia and the Visitador were the special courts that investigated on the conduct of the governor-general and other high-ranking Spanish officials. The Local Government was responsible for the following: the provinces, cities, towns and barrios. The provinces were divided into two: the alcaldia which recognized Spain's possession over the land and the corregimiento where the people had not succumbed to its ruling power. Ayuntamiento or the city government was the center of the society, religion, culture and business. The pueblo was governed by the gobernadorcillo, the highest position for Filipino politicians. The Cabeza de Barangay governed the barrios.

System of Government in the American Period The Filipinos who continued their protest against the reign of the Americans were called "irreconcilables". The Brigandage Act intended to divide the support of the people against those who fight the Americans. The Sedition Law prohibited any persuasion in achieving independence be it through peaceful or violent means. The Flag Law, prohibited the public display of anything particularly the Philippine flag and KKK that would serve as reminder of freedom. The Filipinos acted and took steps towards independence by forming political parties, writing and painting of nationalistic materials, the staging of plays and by sending independence missions to the U.S. Congress. The Cooper Law, Jones Law, Hare-Hawes-Cutting Law, and Tydings-McDuffie Law were laws passed by the U.S. Congress for the independence of the Philippines. The members of the Philippine Assembly, which is the first lawmaking , committee, consisted of Filipinos. The Tydings-McDuffie Law provided the necessary steps that the Filipinos should take in order to prepare for the coming independence. Filipino representatives made the Constitution during the Constitutional Convention. The Representatives in the Constitutional Convention signed the 1935 Constitution on February 19, 1935. It was approved by U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt on March 23, 1935 and was ratified by the Filipino people on May 14, 1935. The plebiscite on May 14, 1935 became a very important event for women because they were allowed to vote for the first time. The Commonwealth was established under the 1935 Constitution. Manuel Quezon was elected President of the Commonwealth while Sergio Osmena was elected Vice-President.

American Tactics The American military strategy in the Philippines was carried out with little regard for the Filipinos. After the Filipinos began guerrilla warfare, the American military routinely began taking no prisoners and shooting surrendering soldiers. Civilians were forced into internment camps, after being suspected of being guerrilla sympathizers. Thousands of civilians died in these camps. The camps and slaughter of civilians was excused by the fact that the media told the American population that the savages were little children needing America's help and cleansing. The guerrilla warfare helped this case by giving a moral right to what the Americans were doing since the "savages" were cowardly uncivilized enemies. An offer of peace from Emilio Aguinaldo was completely rejected by American command.[44] Support for American actions in the Philippines was justified by those in the U.S. government and media who supported the conflict through the use of moralistic oration. Stuart Creighton Miller

writes "Americans altruistically went to war with Spain to liberate the Cubans, Puerto Ricans, and Filipinos from their tyrannical yoke. If they lingered on too long in the Philippines, it was to protect the Filipinos from European predators waiting in the wings for an American withdrawal and to tutor them in American-style democracy."[45]
Philippine war strategy Manila Filipino attack on the barracks of Co. C, 13th Minnesota Volunteers, during the Tondo Fire.

Estimates of the Filipino forces vary between 80,000 and 100,000, with tens of thousands of auxiliaries. Lack of weapons and ammunition was a significant impediment to the Filipinos. The goal, or end-state, sought by the First Philippine Republic was a sovereign, independent, socially stable Philippines led by the ilustrado (intellectual) oligarchy.[51] Local chieftains, landowners, and businessmen were the principales who controlled local politics. The war was strongest when illustrados, principales, and peasants were unified in opposition to annexation.[51] The peasants, who provided the bulk of guerrilla manpower, had interests different from their illustrado leaders and the principales of their villages. Coupled with the ethnic and geographic fragmentation, unity was a daunting task. The challenge for Aguinaldo and his generals was to sustain unified Filipino public opposition; this was the revolutionaries' strategic center of gravity.[ The Filipino operational center of gravity was the ability to sustain its force of 100,000 irregulars in the field. The Filipino general Francisco Makabulos described the Filipinos' war aim as, not to vanquish the U.S. Army but to inflict on them constant losses. They sought to initially use conventional tactics and an increasing toll of U.S. casualties to contribute to McKinley's defeat in the 1900 presidential election. Their hope was that as President the avowedly anti-imperialist William Jennings Bryan would withdraw from the Philippines. They pursued this short-term goal with guerrilla tactics better suited to a protracted struggle. While targeting McKinley motivated the revolutionaries in the short term, his victory demoralized them and convinced many undecided Filipinos that the United States would not depart precipitately

Sunshine P. Castaeda BSBA-2

Differentiation of American and Spanish government to the Philippine government

The America was one of the first republics of the modern era, and to this day possess one of the worlds longest-lasting political regimes. In America they call its cabinet members secretaries unlike most nations which use the title of minister.The US cabinet member responsible for financial affairs is called the Secretary of the Treasury and leads the Department of the Treasury. Most other nations call their equivalent official the Minister of Finance and their department the Department of Finance.Spain introduced the Centralized form of government. It was divided into two units: the Central government and the Local government. The King entrusted the colony to the governor-general, who had the highest position in the government. The Royal Audiencia was the Supreme Court of the Philippines. The provinces were divided into two: the alcaldia which recognized Spain's possession over the land and the corregimiento where the people had not succumbed to its ruling power. Ayuntamiento or the city government was the center of the society, religion, culture and business. The pueblo was governed by the gobernadorcillo, the highest position for Filipino politicians. The Cabeza de Barangay governed the barrios. While The Republic of the Philippines is a constitutional democracy, with the President as head of state. The president and vice president are elected by the people for six-year terms. The national government has three coequal branches that exercise a system of checks and balances: executive, legislative, and judicial.The executive branch consists of the President and his Cabinet. The Senate and the House of Representatives make up the bicameral legislature. The Supreme Court heads the systems of courts under the judicial branch.Congress consists of a 24-member Senate and a 250-member House of Representatives. The voters of the entire nation elect senators to six-year terms. Voters from different districts elect 200 of the representatives to threeyear terms. The remaining 50 representatives are selected from lists drawn up by the political parties to ensure representation of women, ethnic minorities, and certain economic and occupational groups. The number selected from each party's list is about one-fourth of the number of the party's elected representatives.