EXECUTIVE BRANCH

Article Vii
of the
1987 Philippine constitution
Primary Functions
1. Rule-execution

2. Rule-administration

3. Relationship with other branches of government

President v. Presidency
 President (individual)
A. unique personalities
B. peculiar cluster of issues and crises they face
C. leadership style (i.e. mobilization of public support)
D. leadership skills (i.e. administration)

 Presidency (institution)
-“fleshing‟ out the office

Presidency: Institutionalist Approach

 Legal foundation of presidential power (i.e. constitutional basis)
 “Presidential power is the power to persuade” (Neustadt): personalized vs. institutionalized
presidency
 Presidential primacy: president as center of governmental activity
The Presidency: Constitutional Functions (Rossiter)
The Presidency: Additional Functions (Rossiter)

Presidential Duties: A Summary of Approach (Romani)

 Executive
-Chief Executive (law execution)
-Commander-in-Chief (peace and order)

 Administrative
-Chief Administrator (bureaucracy as extension of president’s personality)

 Legislative
-Chief Legislator (policy initiation and right to veto)

 Diplomatic
-Chief Diplomat

 Political
-Political Chief (partisan political leader; heads a political organization that owes its primary
allegiance to her/him, personally)

The Presidency: Elite Approach (Mills)

 Power to make decisions with major consequences
 Has command over major hierarchies and organizations in society
 Rule big corporations
 Run state machinery and claims its prerogatives
 Direct military establishment
 Centralization of power and wealth

Executive Machinery

Characterizing the Philippine Presidency

 Began from a position of strength and dominance (Tongco)
 President is the personification of the “Filipino idea of leadership residing in one man with
broad powers exercised in a highly personalized manner” (Grossholtz)
 Power bloc-presidency relationship is operationalized through various institutions, both
formal (i.e. military, church, media, business) and informal (i.e. NGOs, POs and political
clans)

Agpalo’s Pangulo Regime

 Executive is “super-ordinate‟ to the legislature, owing to the principle of the dominance of

the executive
 Cultural value of pagdamay (or sharing with and caring for one another)

LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
Article Vi
of the
1987 Philippine constitution
Unicameralism v. Bicameralism in 1986 Constitutional Commission
(Philippines)
Unicameral Bicameral
• More economical & • 2nd chamber direct
efficient representatives of over-
• Would be more open to all interest of the
the pressure of “people people
power” • Healthy check against
• Greater role of media hastily passed
as a partner in politics legislations
• Check against abuse of
power
• Importance of national
figures; thus, anti-
parochial

The House of Representatives of the Philippines

 The lower house of the Congress of the Philippines. It is often commonly referred to
as Congress.
 Members of the House are officially styled as Representative (Kinatawan) and
sometimes informally called Congressmen/Congresswomen (mga kongresista)
 Elected to a three-year term. They can be re-elected, but cannot serve more than three
consecutive terms. Around eighty percent of congressmen are district representatives,
representing a particular geographical area..
 There are 234 legislative districts in the country, each composed of about 250,000
people.
 There are also party-list representatives elected through the party-list system who
constitute not more than twenty percent of the total number of representatives.
 Total members: 269
 Representation:
 217 (81%) District;
 52 (19%) Sectoral
 Organization: Speaker, Deputy Speakers, Majority Leader, Minority Leader
 Committees: 58 Standing Committees; 12 Special Committees

Qualifications for the House of Representatives (Congressmen)

 a natural-born citizen of the Philippines;
  at least 25 years old;
 able to read and write;
 a registered voter, and
 a resident of the province where he is running for at least one year immediately prior to
the election.

Philippine Senate
 24 Senators elected nationally
 Organizationally: Senate President, Senate Pro Tempore, Majority Leader, Minority
Leader
 Committee System

Qualifications for the Senate

 a natural-born citizen of the Philippines;
 a least 35 years of age;
 able to read and write;
 a registered voter; and
 a resident of the Philippines for at least two years prior to his election.

Characterizing the Philippine Legislature
 Patronage politics

- political families

- familial kinship by blood or ritual (compadrazgo)

 Economic power begets political power

- land owning class: traditional source

- entrepreneurial & ‘yuppie’ class: new source

 Political turncoatism or balimbing

- Intra-elite conflict

-
HOW A BILL BECOME A LAW?
(Various steps in the Passage of a BILL)

1. First Reading - Any member of either house may present a proposed bill, signed by him, for
First Reading and reference to the proper committee. During the First Reading, the principal
author of the bill may propose the inclusion of additional authors thereof.

2. Referral to Appropriate Committee - Immediately after the First Reading, the bill is referred
to the proper committee or committees for study and consideration. If disapproved in the
committee, the bill dies a natural death unless the House decides other wise, following the
submission of the report.

3. Second Reading - If the committee reports the bill favorably, the bills is forwarded to the
Committee on Rules so that it may be calendared for deliberation on Second Reading. At this
stage, the bill is read for the second time in its entirely, 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 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.

5. Printing and Distribution - After approval of the bill on Second Reading, the bills is then
ordered printed in its final form and copies of it are distributed among the members of the House
three days before its passage, except when the bill was certified by the President. A bill approved
on Second Reading shall be included in the calendar of bills for Third Reading.

6. Third Reading - At this stage, only the title of the bill is read. 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.

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. 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. 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. Bill repassed by Congress over
the veto of the President automatically becomes a law.

 Additional Information:
Senate President and a Speaker of the House, who are both elected by
a viva voce majority vote of all the members of their respective houses,
at the beginning of the regular session. The two preside over the sessions
 in their houses, they also considered as legislative leaders; and they are
often called to Malacanang Palace to discuss important legislative
measures with the President.

THE JUDICIARY
Article VIii
of the
1987 Philippine constitution

Constitutional Jurisdiction
Resolve conflicts arising between the state & citizens over basic liberties;
Ruling whether specific laws are constitutional; and
Resolving conflicts between different institutions or levels of government

Societal Function
Maintaining social control;

Legitimizing the regime; and

Indirectly involving itself in public policy (as judicial decisions may influence public
opinion)

Big Idea!
In the 1987 Philippine Constitution, judicial power was vested to one Supreme Court; the Supreme
Court was the only court created by the Constitution and thereby CANNOT be abolished by any
law/legislation. It is the highest Court in the Philippines and thus called the ‘Court of Last Resort’

Structure of Supreme Court

15 appointed justices (with 1 Chief Justice and 14 Associate Justices)
No fix term of office (Art. VIII, Sec. 11); stay in office based on good conduct and behavior
& until they reach the age of 70
Appointed by the President from a list 3 nominees prepared by the Judicial & Bar Council
Appointment NOT subject to confirmation by the Commission on Appointments (Art. VIII,
Sec. 9)
SC members can only be removed by impeachment (Art. XI, Sec. 2)

Cases filed/appealed to/in the Supreme Court

 The Supreme Court “has the power to review, revise, reverse, modify, or affirm on
appeal…final judgments and orders of lower courts in:
-all cases in which constitutionality or validity of any treaty, international or executive
agreement, law, presidential decree, proclamation, order, instruction, ordinance, or regulation is
in question;
-all cases involving the legality of any tax, impose, assessment, or toll or any penalty imposed
in relation thereto;

-all cases in which the jurisdiction of any lower court is in issue;

-all criminal cases in which the penalty imposed is reclusion perpetuator higher; and
-all cases in which only an error or question of law is involved

The Lower Courts

 Court of Appeals
Composed of 1 Presiding Justice and 68 Associate Justices is vested with jurisdiction over
appeals from the decisions of the Regional Trial Courts and certain quasi-judicial agencies,
boards or commissions

 Sandiganbayan
Composed of a Presiding Justice and 8 Associate Justices, has exclusive jurisdiction over
violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (RA 3019), the Unexplained Wealth Act
(RA 1379), and or other crimes or felonies committed by public officials and employees in
relation to their office, including those employees in government-owned or controlled companies

 Court of Tax Appeals

Composed of 1 Presiding Judge and 2 Associate Justices is vested with exclusive appellate
jurisdiction over appeals from the decisions of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue and the
Commissioner of Customs

 Regional Trial Courts

The law provides for 720 RTCs. The Philippines is divided into 13 regions –the National Capital
Region (NCR) and Regions I to XII. In these regions are found many RTCs to which decided
cases coming from the MTC, MCTC, MTCC and MetroTC are appealed.

 Shari’a Courts and Shari’a Circuit Courts

In some provinces in Mindanao where the Muslim Code on Personal Laws is enforced, the law
provides for 5 Shari'a District Courts which are equivalent to the Regional Trial Courts in rank
and for 51 Shari'a Circuit Courts in the municipalities therein which gave the rank and level of
Municipal Circuit Trial Courts.

 Municipal Trial Courts and Municipal Circuit Trial Courts

Every municipality has its own Municipal Trial Court. It is referred to as such if it covers only 1
municipality; it is called Municipal Circuit Trial Court if it covers 2 or more municipalities.

 Metropolitan Trial Courts and Municipal Trial Courts in Cities

Municipal Trial Courts in towns and cities in the Metropolitan Manila area, as distinguished from
other political subdivisions in the Philippines, are referred to as Metropolitan Trial Courts. In
cities outside of the Metropolitan Area, the equivalent of the Municipal Trial Courts are referred
to as Municipal Trial Courts in Cities.

NOTE: The Supreme Court can decide on cases that have not been tried in the lower courts (see
Art. VIII, Sec. 5 of 1987 Constitution)

The Regular Courts

 Supreme Court
 Court of Appeals
 Regional Trial Courts
 Metropolitan Trial Courts
 Municipal Trial Courts in Cities
 Municipal Trial Courts
 Municipal Circuit Trial Courts

The Special Courts

 Sandiganbayan
 Court of Tax Appeals
 Shari’a District Courts
 Shari’a Circuit

Points

 Judicial independence or freedom from the intrusion by the 2 branches of government;

 It is possible to file charges against specific offices, personnel, offices or Justices of the
Supreme Court;

 If a party wishes to question a Supreme Court decision, it may file a motion for
reconsideration; and

 In a so called ‘democracy’, then actual test of liberty is an EFFICIENT and CLEAN

judiciary