Republic of the Philippines

THE THREE BRANCHES OF

GOVERNMENT
* Legislative
* Executive
* Judicial
SENATE OF THE
PHILIPPINES
THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

House of Representatives
and
Senate
 LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

• Also called Congress.

• Meet in the Capitol
Building in Jose P
Laurel Sr, San Miguel,
Manila, Metro Manila.
 LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
• Bicameral - 2 Houses
• House of Representatives
• Senate
• Responsibility is to make (create) laws.
• Dual Role - constituents needs & wants and
considering what is good for nation as a
whole.
 HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES
• 316 Seats
• Number of seats determined by population.
• Atleast 250,000 population
• Referred to as the “lower” house.
• Leader is called Speaker of the House.
 HOUSE OF
REPRESENATIVES
• Has sole power to Impeach President.
• All bills to raise money must come from the
House of Representatives.
• All bills (laws) must pass in the House
before going to the President.
 SENATE
• 12 seats –nationwide (at-large) separate
vote
• Senate Committees and sub-committees
• Referred to as the “upper” house
• The Senate President will preside over the
senate.
• Leader = President pro tempore
 SENATE
• Power to try impeachment - 2/3rd vote
• Senate approval needed on bills to becames
a LAW.
• All laws must pass in the Senate before
going to the President.
 LEGISLATIVE BRACH
• Powers of Congress
• Oversee elections
• Set rules within the legislative branch
• To tax, to borrow money
• Set rules of naturalization
• regulate commerce
 LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
• Powers continued….
• To declare war
• To raise and support armies
• To make all laws that are necessary and
proper
 QUALIFICATIONS
• The qualifications for membership in the Senate are
expressly stated in Section 3, Art. VI of the 1987
Philippine Constitution as follows:
• No person shall be a Senator unless he is a natural-
born citizen of the Philippines, and on the day of the
election, is at least 35 years of age, able to read and
write, a registered voter, and a resident of
the Philippines for not less than two years
immediately preceding the day of the election.
• The age is fixed at 35 and must be possessed on the day of the
elections, that is, when the polls are opened and the votes cast, and not
on the day of the proclamation of the winners by the board of
canvassers.
• About the residence requirements, it was ruled in the case of Lim v.
Pelaez that it must be the place where one habitually resides and to
which he, after absence, has the intention of returning.
• The enumeration laid down by the 1987 Philippine Constitution is
exclusive under the Latin principle of expressio unius est exclusio
alterius. This means that Congress cannot anymore add additional
qualifications other than those provided by the 1987 Philippine
Constitution.
 Qualifications
• The qualifications for membership in the House are
expressly stated in Section 6, Art. VI of the 1987
Philippine Constitution as follows:
• No person shall be a Representative unless he/she is
a natural-born citizen of the Philippines, and on the
day of the election, is at least 25 years of age, able to
read and write, a registered voter except for a party-
list representative, and a resident of the country for
not less than one year immediately preceding the day
of the election.
• The age is fixed at 25 and must be possessed on the day of the
elections, that is, when the polls are opened and the votes cast,
and not on the day of the proclamation of the winners by the
board of canvassers.
• With regard to the residence requirements, it was ruled in the
case of Lim v. Pelaez that it must be the place where one
habitually resides and to which he, after absence, has the
intention of returning.
• The enumeration laid down by the 1987 Constitution is
exclusive under the Latin principle of expressio unius est
exclusio alterius. This means that Congress cannot anymore
add additional qualifications other than those provided by the
Constitution.
 EXECUTIVE BRANCH
• Responsible for enforcing the laws.
• President is the head of the Executive
Branch.
• President provides leadership by setting
goals and developing policy.
 EXECUTIVE BRANCH
• Powers of the President….
• Commander and Chief of the Army and
Navy
• Can grant pardons and Can veto laws.
• Can call Congress into session.
• Make treaties, appoint Supreme Court
Justices and Ambassadors - Senate approval
 EXECUTIVE BRANCH
• Can be impeached for the following
reasons:
• Treason
• Bribery
• Other high Crimes and Misdemeanors
THE JUDICIAL BRANCH
 JUDICIAL BRANCH

• Qualifications - nothing listed in the

Constitution
• Unofficial qualifications are:
• Politically active
• Lawyer or Lower Court Judge
• Same political party as the President
 JUDICIAL BRANCH
• Civil Cases - sue, divorce, contracts, any
case that does not involve a crime
• Criminal Cases - commit a crime
• Defendant - the person on trial
• Plaintiff - person who brought case to court
• Prosecutor - represents city, state, people in
a criminal case
 JUDICIAL BRANCH
• Influences on the Court
• Precedents - past decisions
• Personal legal views - strict interpretation
means to look at intent of founding fathers -
broad interpretation means you need to take
into account changes in society
• Justices interaction
 JUDICIAL BRANCH
• Influences continued……
• Public Opinion, Congress, and the President
 Qualifications
• According to the Constitution, for a person to be
appointed to the Supreme Court, he must be:
1. a natural-born citizen of the Philippines;
2. at least forty years of age, and
3. have been for fifteen years or more a judge of a lower
court or engaged in the practice of law in the
Philippines.
• An additional constitutional requirement, though less
precise in nature, is that a judge "must be a person of
proven competence, integrity, probity, and
independence."
• Composition and manner of appointment[edit]
• Pursuant to Article VIII of the 1987 Constitution of the
Philippines, the Court is composed of the Chief Justice and of
the fourteen Associate Justices, all of whom are appointed by
the President from a list of nominees made by the Judicial and
Bar Council. An appointment to the Supreme Court needs no
confirmation of the Commission on Appointments as the
nomination is already vetted by the Judicial and Bar Council, a
constitutionally-created body which recommends appointments
within the judiciary.
• Upon a vacancy in the Court, whether for the position of Chief
Justice or Associate Justice, the President fills the vacancy by
appointing a person from a list of at least 3 nominees prepared
by the Judicial and Bar Council.
 Impeachable officials
Based on Article XI, Section 2 of the Constitution
The following officials may be subjected to impeachment:
President of the Philippines
Vice President of the Philippines
Justices of the Supreme Court of the Philippines
Members of the Constitutional Commissions:
Commission on Elections
Civil Service Commission
Commission on Audit
Ombudsman
 Impeachable offenses
• Culpable violation of the constitution
• For purposes of impeachment, "culpable violation of the Constitution" is
defined as "the deliberate and wrongful breach of the Constitution."
Further, "Violation of the Constitution made unintentionally, in good
faith, and mere mistakes in the proper construction of the Constitution,
do not constitute an impeachable offense."
• Treason
• According to the Revised Penal Code, treason is defined as "Any
Filipino citizen who levies war against the Philippines or adheres to
his/her enemies, giving them aid or comfort within the Philippines or
elsewhere."
• Bribery
• The Revised Penal Code defines bribery in two forms:
 Direct bribery is "committed by any public officer who shall agree to perform an act
constituting a crime, in connection with the performance of this official duties, in
consideration of any offer, promise, gift or present received by such officer,
personally or through the mediation of another."
 Indirect bribery is "committed by a public officer when he accepts gifts offered to
him by reason of his office."
• Graft and corruption
• Any violation of the Republic Act No. 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices
Act is an impeachable offense, on which a public official found to have acquired,
whether in his name or in the name of other persons, an amount of property and/or
money manifestly out of proportion to his salary.
• Betrayal of Public Trust
• Betrayal of public interest, inexcusable negligence of duty, tyrannical abuse of
power, breach of official duty by malfeasance or misfeasance, cronyism favoritism,
etc. to the prejudice of public interest and which tend to bring the office into
disrepute.
• Other high crimes
• Offenses which like treason and bribery, are so serious and enormous a nature as
to strike at the very life or the orderly workings of the government