1.
Parameters/Limitation of Executive Power
The Limitations of the Executive Power are prohibition against the change of their salary either
by reduction or increase during their term of office, emoluments which they may not receive
during their tenure from the government or any other source, and the prohibition against dual or
multiple offices or employment
The prohibition against changing of salaries during their term is meant to prevent the legislature
from weakening their fortitude by appealing to their avarice or corrupting their integrity by
operating on their necessities.
Emoluments refer to any compensation received for services rendered or from possession of an
office. It has been defined as the profit arising from office or employment; that which is received
as compensation for services, or which is annexed to the possession of office, as salary, fees and
perquisites; advantage, gain, public or private. This means the President cannot accept any other
employment elsewhere, whether in the government or in the private sector, and must confine
himself to the duties of his office. This limitation is to avoid conflict of interest in the conduct of
their office. However, the Vice President may be appointed to the cabinet but shall not receive
any additional compensation to such. This inhibition is in line with the principle that a public
office is a public trust and should not be abused for personal advancement.
Furthermore, the spouse and relatives by consanguinity or affinity within the 4 th civil degree of
the President shall not during his tenure be appointed as Members of the Constitutional
Commission, Office of the Ombudsman, or as Secretaries, Undersecretaries, chairmen or heads
of bureaus or offices including GOCC and their subsidiaries. This is to guaranty the citizens
against nepotism.
Lastly, the prohibition against holding dual or multiple offices must not be construed as applying
to posts occupied by the Executive Officials specified therein without additional compensation in
an ex-officio capacity as provided by law and as required by the primary functions of said
officials’ office, since these are properly an imposition of additional duties and functions of the
officials.
2. Executive Power
Executive Power, as stated in Article 7, Section 1 of the Constitution, is briefly described
as the power to enforce and administer the laws, but it is actually more than this. In the
exercise of this power, the President assumes a plentitude of authority, and the
corresponding awesome responsibility, that make him the most influential person in the
land. The potentials of these powers are tremendous for good and evil. There is no
question of the impact of the presidency upon the nation. The President is involved un
our daily existence and undeniably affects our lives and even our destinies no matter how
distant we may be from Malacanang.
In order to be elected as President, Section 2 of the same article provides the
qualifications for President and Section 3 for the Vice President. It states that he/she can
only be elected if he/she is a natural-born citizen which means he is born of Filipino
parents and he doesn’t have to perform any act to perfect or acquire his Philippines
Citizenship. He should be a registered voter, able to read and write, at least 40 y.o on the
day of the election, and a resident of the Philippines for at least 10 years immediately
preceding such election. The Vice President should possess the same qualifications as the
President, and both positions are elected at large. These qualifications are exclusive and
may not be reduced or increased by the Congress.
The Presidential elections shall be held at 6 years intervals on the 2 nd Monday of May.
No reelection shall be allowed by the President of the same position. However, the Vice
President is allowed to re-elect only once, unless his tenure is less than 4 years. Meaning,
the maximum term of the Vice President is only 2. The highest number of votes shall be
proclaimed elected, but in case two or more shall have an equal and highest votes, one of
them shall be chosen by the vote of a majority of all members of both Houses of
Congress voting separately. Once proclaimed, should there be any questions regarding
election returns and qualifications, The Presidential Electoral Tribunal shall handle these
concerns, it is composed of the Chief Justice which serves as the chairperson and the
Supreme Court Justices as the members sitting en banc. The PET may promulgate its
own rules to make them distinct, but not separate, from the Supreme Court. This is also
manifested in their change of nomenclature.
They also have this privilege called executive privilege, also called the informer’s
privilege not to disclose the identity of a person who furnish information on violations of
law to officers charged with enforcing them. Another privilege, the privilege accorded
to presidential communications, applies to decision-making of the President, rooted in
the constitutional principle of separation of powers and the President’s unique role.
However, it must relate to a quintessential and non-delegable. The deliberative process
privilege confers such upon the documents covered by the same, because if not, officials
will not communicate candidly among themselves if each remark is a potential item of
discovery and front page news. Its objective is to enhance the quality of agency decisions.
Lastly, the diplomatic negotiations privilege to protect decision-making independence
of the cabinet and to encourage open and effective discussions, which has a close
resemblance to the deliberative process and presidential communications privilege.
3. Validity Tests
Assuming the delegation has been validly made, the delegation itself must be
circumscribed by legislative restrictions. Otherwise, it will be a total abdication or total surrender
by the legislature. There are 2 tests that need to be satisfied for it to be a valid delegation, which
are the completeness test and the sufficient-standard test.
The Completeness Test
-the law must be complete in all its essential terms and conditions when it leaves the
legislature so that there would be nothing left for the delegate to do when it reaches him
except to enforce it.
-a law is complete when it sets forth the policy to be executed, carried out, and
implemented by the delegate.
1.) The Sufficient Standard Test
-A sufficient standard is intended to map out the boundaries of the delegate's authority by
defining the legislative policy and indicating the circumstances under which it is to be
pursued and effected.
-A sufficient standard is one which defines legislative policy, marks its limits, maps out
its boundaries and specifies the public agency to apply it.
-A law lays down a sufficient standard when it provides adequate guidelines or
limitations in the law to map out the boundaries of the delegate's authority and prevent
the delegation from running riot.
4. Composition & Qualifications of the HOR and Senate
Composition of senate: made up of 24 Senators elected at large by the qualified voters of the
Philippines.
Qualifications:
a. Must be a natural-born citizen of the Philippines- those who are citizens of the
Philippines from birth without having to perform any act to acquire or perfect their
Philippine citizenship.
b. Must be at least 35 years old on the day of the election- meaning, on the day when the
polls are open and votes are cast. Not on the day of the proclamation of winner by the
board of canvassers.
c. Must be able to read and write.
d. Must be a registered voter
e. Must be a resident of the Philippines for at least 2 years immediately preceding the day of
the election.
Composition of House of Representatives: not more than 250 members. Consists of two kinds of
members, which are the district representatives and the party-list representatives.
A. The District Representatives:
-legislative districts shall be made in accordance with the number of respective
inhabitants and on the basis of a uniform and progressive ratio.
-Each city with not less than 250,00 inhabitants, is entitled to at least 1 representative.
Each province, irrespective of the number of inhabitants, is entitled to at least 1
representative.
Qualifications:
a. Natural-born citizen of the Philippines
b. At least 25 years old on the day of the election.
c. Able to read and write.
d. A Registered voter in the district in which he shall be elected.
e. A resident thereof for a period of not less than 1 year immediately preceding the
day of the election.
B. The Party-list Representatives:
- Shall constitute 20% of the total membership of the body, including such
representatives.
Qualifications:
a. Natural-born citizen of the Philippines
b. At least 25 years old on the day of the election.
c. Able to read and write.
*in addition, must be a bona fide member of the party he seeks to represent at
least 90 days before election day. To be a bona fide member, one must either
belong to the sector represented or have a track record of advocacy for such
sector. The youth representative must not be more than 30 y.o but may continue
beyond that age until the end of his term.
5. Non-Legislative Powers of Congress
The non-legislative Powers of the Congress are their little-known powers, aside from
appropriation, taxation, and expropriation powers. These are the canvassing of presidential
elections, declare the existence of the state of war, review & revoke a declaration of martial law
or a suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, give concurrence to treaties and
amnesties, propose constitutional amendments, power to impeach, and power to conduct special
elections for President and Vice President.
The Constitution requires the concurrence of the Congress to an amnesty and to a treaty.
It specified that no treaty or international agreement shall be valid and effective unless concurred
in by at least ⅔ of all the members of the Senate.
The Constitution also authorizes the President to grant amnesty with the concurrence of a
majority of all the members of the Congress. The basis of the majority is not the membership of
each house, but the membership of the legislature as a whole.
The Constitution provides as well that the Congress, by a vote of ⅔ of both Houses in
joint session assembled, voting separately, shall have the sole power to declare the existence of
war. The armed forces must be raised by the Congress. Thereafter, the troops must be regulated,
fed, clothed, armed, billeted, paid and otherwise maintained, all of which will need the passage
of laws and the enactment of appropriations. Thus, the Pres must depend heavily on the Congress
for the effective exercise of his military powers.
In case of vacancies in the seat of both the President and Vice President, the Congress
shall at 10:00am on the 3rd day of vacancy, convene in accordance in accordance with its rules
without need of a call and within 7 days enact a law calling for a special election to elect a
President to be held not earlier than 45 days nor later than 60 days from the time of such call.
6. Methods in Passing a Bill into Law
A bill is introduced by any member of the Congress, signed by the authors and filed with
the Secretary of the house. May introduce in either house except appropriation, revenue or tariff
bills, bills authorizing increase of public debts, bills of local applications, and private bills (Sec.
24 Art. VI)
First reading
- Secretary reports the bill for first reading:
- Reading the title and number of bill
- Referral to appropriate committee for study and recommendation
- Committee may hold public hearings and submit its report and recommendation for Calendar
for second reading
Second reading
- bill shall be read in full with the proposed amendments by the committee
- Subject to debates, pertinent motions and amendments
- After these, bill shall be voted upon
Third reading- final vote by yeas and nay
*After a house has approved their own version, it will be transmitted to the other house, which
will follow the same procedures. If without amendments, the bill is passed by Congress and is
submitted to the President. If there are amendments, there will be a Conference Committee
Conference Committee- this is where the differences will be settled. The amendments
introduced in this level will have to be approved by both Houses for passage.
Approval and authentication - signing of the Senate President and the House Speaker and their
respective secretaries (Enrolled Bill)
Submission to the President - A bill is passed in three ways:
1. When the president signs it
2. When the president does not sign nor communicate his veto of the bill within 30 days
after his receipt
3. When the vetoed bill is repassed by Congress by two-thirds vote of all its members,
voting separately.
Enrolled bill- the bill as passed by Congress, authenticated by the House Speaker and
Senate President and approved by the President
Rule: The text of the act as passed and approved is deemed importing absolute
verity and is binding on the courts. If there has been any mistake in the printing of
the bill before it was certified, the remedy is by amendment by enacting a curative
legislation and not a judicial decree.
Presumption: It carries on its face a solemn assurance by the legislative and executive
departments of the government that it was passed by the assembly. Hence, the respect due to
coequal and independent departments requires the judiciary to act upon that assurance and to
accept all bills duly authenticated.
7. Non-Delegability Powers
Corollary to the Doctrine of Separation of Powers is the Principle of non-delegation of
powers. The rule is protestas delegati non delegata potest, what has been delegated cannot be
delegated. It is based upon an ethical principle that such delegated power constitutes not only a
right but a duty to be performed by the delegate through the instrumentality of his own
judgement and not through the intervening minds of another. A further delegation of such power,
unless permitted by the sovereign power, would constitute a negation of this duty in violation of
the trust reposed in the delegate mandated to discharge it directly.
The Principle of non-delegation of powers is applicable to all three branches of
government but is especially important in the case of the legislative department because of the
many instances when its delegation is permitted. This is due to the increasing complexity of the
task of the government and the growing inability of the legislature to cope directly with many
prohibitions demanding its attention. That being said, there exists a Principle of Permissible
Delegation of Powers:
Delegation of Tariff Powers to the President (tax imposed on goods traded
internationally) of which the President has the authority to fix tariff rates, import & export goods,
and other taxes. However, he does not have the power to negotiate treaties and international
agreements. Next is the Delegation of Emergency Powers to the President as the constitutional
dictator which is self-liquidating, which means it automatically ceases upon the end of
emergency. This delegation is not mandatory and it is up to the discretion of the Congress
whether to allow the President to continue such power regardless of the continuance of an
emergency or catastrophes affecting nation-wide. The Delegation to the people at large of
which they voluntarily surrendered upon the acceptance of the Constitution. People have
reserved the power of decision to themselves. They act only through their representatives. The
power that people have are the plebiscite, referendum, and initiative. The Delegation to the
Local Government is allowed since local legislatures have more knowledge than the national
lawmaking body on matters of purely local concerns. The powers delegated to them are eminent
domain and police power. This relieves the central government of the burden of managing local
affairs so that it can concentrate on national concerns, Lastly, the Delegation to the
Administrative bodies, which are the subordinate legislation. The rationale for this delegation is
the volume and variety of interactions in today’s society. They deal adequately with and
correspond promptly to the minutiae of everyday life. They execute laws in their specialized
fields and they have authority to promulgate rules and regulations to implement a given statute
and effectuate its policies. These are called administrative issuances. They may also issue
contingent regulations pursuant to a delegation of authority to determine facts or state of things
upon which the enforcement of law depends,
