TOPIC:

The Legislative
Branch
of Government
The Philippine
Senate
and The House of
Essential Features
of the Legislative
Branch of
Philippine
Government
 As of July 15, 2020, the webpage of The Official
Gazette of the Philippine Government mentioned the
following essential features of the Legislative Branch or
Philippine Congress as indicated in Article VI of the
1987 Philippine Constitution:
 Legislative power shall be vested in Philippine Congress.

 It is a bicameral legislature consisting of two chambers or

houses-the Upper House known as the Senate and the
Lower House which is also called the House of
Representatives.
 By a vote of two-thirds of both Houses in joint session assembled, voting
separately, Philippine Congress shall have the sole power to declare the
existence of a state of war.

 The Senate shall elect its President and the House of Representatives its
Speaker, by a majority vote of all its respective Members.

 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.

 The Senate or the House of Representatives or any of its respective

committees may conduct inquiries in aid of legislation in accordance with
its duly published rules of procedure.

 Philippine Congress confirms or rejects Presidential appointments.

Composition of
the Philippine
Senate
 As of July 15, 2020, according to the webpage
of The Official Gazette of the Philippine Government,
the following pertain to the composition of the
Philippine
Senate as indicated in Article VI of the 1987
Philippine Constitution:
 Lawmakers in the Senate are called Senators.
 The Senate shall be composed of twenty-four (24)
Senators who shall be elected at large or nationwide
through popular election by the qualified voters of
the Philippines, as may be provided by law.
 Through synchronized elections, 12 senators are
elected every three (3) years.
Terms of Office
of Philippine
Senators
 The term of office of the Senators shall be six
years and shall commence, unless otherwise
provided by law, at noon on the thirtieth day of
June next following their election.
 No Senator shall serve for more than two
consecutive terms.
 The regular election of the Senators shall be held
on the second Monday of May.
 In case of vacancy in the Senate, a special election
may be called to fill such vacancy in the manner
prescribed by law, but the Senator thus elected
shall serve only for the unexpired term.
Qualifications
of Senator
 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.

Composition of
the House of
Representative
s
 As of July 15, 2020, according to the webpage
of The Official Gazette of the Philippine
Government,the following pertain to the
composition of theHouse of Representatives as
indicated in Article VI of the 1987 Philippine
Constitution:
 Lawmakers composing the House of
Representatives are called Representatives
or Congressmen/Congresswomen.
 The House of Representatives shall be composed of
not more than two hundred and fifty members,
unless otherwise fixed by law, who shall be elected
from legislative districts apportioned among the
provinces, cities, and the Metropolitan Manila area
in accordance with the number of their respective
inhabitants. The party-list representatives shall
constitute twenty per centum of the total number
of representatives including those under the party
list.
Terms of Office
of Members of
House of
Representatives
 A Representative can serve for not more than three
consecutive terms.
 The Members of the House of Representatives shall be
elected for a term of three years which shall begin,
unless otherwise provided by law, at noon on the
thirtieth day of June next following their election.
 No Member of the House of Representatives shall
serve for more than three consecutive terms.

 The regular election of the Members of the House of
Representatives shall be held on the second Monday
of May.
 In case of vacancy in the House of Representatives, a
special election may be called to fill such vacancy in
the manner prescribed by law, but the Member of
the House of Representatives thus elected shall serve
only for the unexpired term.
Qualifications
of 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.

Legislative
Process
 According to The Official Gazette of the Philippine
Government as of July 15, 2020, the Philippine
Congress is responsible for making enabling laws. This
role is important to ensure that the spirit of the
constitution is upheld in the country and laws are
essential in regulating the interactions of people
among themselves and with the government. The
legislative body comes out with two main documents
in order to craft laws: 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 thePresident does not act on a
proposed law submitted by Congress, it will
lapse into law after 30 days of receipt.
Exclusive Role of
Philippine
Congress
 The Philippine Congress has an exclusive and a very
important role concerning the accountability of public officers
as indicated in Article XI of the 1987 Philippine Constitution
which can be found at the webpage of The Official Gazette of
the Philippine Government. Specifically, the role pertains to
the process of removing the President, the Vice-President, the
Members of the Supreme Court, the Membersof the
Constitutional Commissions, and the Ombudsman in their
respectivepositions. This process is called impeachment and
shall be grounded on the culpable violation of the
Constitution, treason, bribery, graft and corruption, otherhigh
crimes, or betrayal of public trust by the above-mentioned
public officials.
 All cases of impeachment shall be initiated at the
House of Representatives. The Senate tries and shall
decide on all cases and if the President of the
Philippines is facing the impeachment case, the Chief
Justice of the Philippine Supreme Court will preside
but shall not vote. If the case involves the Vice-
President, the Members of the Supreme Court, the
Members of the Constitutional Commissions, and the
Ombudsman, the Senate President shall preside. No
person shall be convicted without the concurrence of
two-thirds of all the Members of the Senate.