political and administrative structure

Political and Administrative Structure

National and Administrative StructureThe Philippines is a republic with a unitary presidential system.

- Unitary state is a sovereign state governed as one single unit in which the central government is supreme and any administrative divisions (sub-national units) exercises only powers that the central government chooses to delegate.

- Federal states, by contrast, states or other sub-national units share sovereignty with the central government, and the states comprising the federation have an existence and power functions that cannot be unilaterally changed by the central government.

3 Branches of Government

The national government has 3 coequal branches.

The Executive Branch – consists of the President, Vice-President, 26 cabinet secretariat and equivalent ranks in specialized agencies, the national bureaucracy and the military, of which the President is Commander in Chief.

Philippine Government Organizational Chart

The Executive

Biak na Bato Constitution (1897) – Inaugurated in November 1897 represents the first attempt by Filipinos to establish a constitutional government. It provided for a supreme council composed of a president, a vice-president, and 4 deparment secretaries. The President was seen to be a Filipino version of the Spanish Governor-General. Aguinaldo betrayed the revolution when he left for Hongkong and agreed to assist the Spanish Government in pacifying the Filipinos in exchange for P400,000 that was deposited in his account in a Hong Kong bank. (Constantino, 1975:v196-203

The Constitution of Makabulos – was adopted by the Central Government of Luzon after the dissolution of the Biak na Bato Constitution. It was similar to the previous constitution in form. It had a general executive committee with a president, vice-president and 3 department secretaries

The Executive

Ponce Constitution – made by Mariano Ponce at the request of Aguinaldo provided for a president and a supreme council of government.

Apolinario Mabini – also contributed his share at constitutionalizing the presidency: His proposal provided for a president and vice-president elected by provincial delegates.

The Executive

May 1898, Aguinaldo returned from exile and proclaimed himself dictator for the duration of the war of independence. He later transformed his government into a revolutionary one with himself as president. Which he described as the personification of the Filipino People clothed with almost absolute power. Malolos Constitution actually provided for a president elected by the national assembly. It was a more responsible president with the assembly effectively checking the powers of the president.

The Executive

Tydings-McDuffie Law (1934) – It enabled the Philippine Legislature to call a Constitutional Convention to draft a government for the Commonwealth of the Philippines. The 1935 constitution was the result.

1935 Constitution – initially provided that executive power shall be vested in a president of the Philippines. It provided for a non-consecutive six-year presidential term. Amended in 1939 providing for the president whose term of office was to be 4 years, with one re-election, or a maximum of 8 consecutive years.

The Executive

Basic features of the presidency in 1935 constitution. The President is both the head of

government and head of state, His term is for 4 years, may be re-

elected only once, He is suppose to be co-equal with the

Legislature and the Judiciary.

The Executive

Manuel Luis Quezon – 1st President of the 1935 constitution.

“I prefer a government run like hell by Filipinos than a government run like heaven by Americans!”

The Executive

The 1973 constitution – adopted a parliamentary form of government. As such, executive powers was vested in the prime minister who was to be the head of government. He was, among other things, the Chief Executive, and the Chief Legislator, and the Commander in Chief of the AFP. The proclamation of Martial Law in 1972 effectively suspended the operation of this constitution.

The Executive

The powers of the Philippine President as provided for under the poposed 1986 constitution are much more circumscribed than those under the 1935 and 1973 constitutions. The term of office is 6 years, without re-election. There is an anti-dynasty provisions , his power to negotiate a loan must also be with the concurrence of the monetary board, his CIC powers are largely qualified: martial law may be imposed only for a period of 60 days, the Congress must be convened within 48 hours after imposing martial law; the supreme court must review the legal bases for the imposition of martial law or the suspension of the writ after 30 days.

The Executive


The Legislative Branch or Congress – is a two-chamber legislature. There are 24 senators in the Philippine Senate, while there are 220 Congressmen or House Representatives.

Legislative Structure The Philippine Congress is divided into two

chambers, namely the Senate and the House of Representatives referred to as the Upper House and the Lower House respectively. They are located in opposite sides of Metropolitan Manila, the Senate at the GSIS Building, Financial Center in Pasay City and the House of Representatives at the Batasan Complex in Quezon City. Each House has its own set of officers and rules to guide its daily proceedings. Each also has its own Journal which is a summary of the plenary session and a Record of Proceedings which is a verbatim output of the day's activities.


The Senate The Senate consists of 24 Senators elected at large. Under

synchronized elections, 12 Senators are elected every three (3) years. Each has a term of six years. In 1992, 24 senators were elected. The first 12 have a term of six years and the other twelve had a shorter term of three years which lasted until 1995. Starting with the 1995 elections, the 12 newly elected senators won their seats for six years (1995-2001). Another set of 12 senators was elected in May of 1998 to serve a six year term (1998-2004). The term of a senator, as provided for in the Constitution, starts at noon on the 30th day of June following their election. The Constitution also limits their stay in office to no more than two (2) consecutive terms.


The House of Representatives The 1987 Constitution provides that the House of Representatives shall be

composed of not more than 250 members, unless otherwise fixed by law, who shall be elected from legislative districts and through a party-list system. The Representatives (of legislative districts and party list) shall have a term of three years commencing at noon of the 30th day of June following their election and are limited to serving a maximum of three (3) consecutive terms. The Representatives of legislative districts are elected from the provinces, cities and the Metropoltian Manila area, which are divided into legislative districts. Seats are apportioned according to the number of inhabitants and are reapportioned within three years following the return of every census. Article VI of the Constitution specifically allocates one representative for every city with a population of at least 250,000. Article VI, Section 5 of the 1987 Constitution provides that out of the total number of Members, twenty percent (20%) shall come from Party-List (PL) representatives, one-half of which shall be filled by sectoral representatives for the first three terms of Congress (1987-1998). In response to this constitutional provision, the Ninth Congress enacted a party-list law, Republic Act 7941, which provides for a system of proportional representation in the election of Representatives from national,regional, and sectoral parties, organizations or coalitions.* Under the law, parties, organizations, and coalitions shall be entitled to a seat in the House of Representatives in proportion to the total number of votes they receive in the party-list election.


The party-list law further provides that each party, organization, or coalition shall be entitled to not more than three (3) seats. The first election under the party-list system was held in May 1998, where every voter was entitled to two (2) votes: the first vote is for a candidate to be a member of the House of Representatives in his/her legislative district, and the second vote is for the party-list representative. In the 10th Congress, 22 sectoral representatives were appointed by the President to fill the posts of party-list representatives until 1998. Among the sectors represented were the peasant, labor, women, cultural communities, urban poor and youth sectors. The 10th Congress of 201 Representatives, 82 were third termers; 70 were second termers; and 47 were first termers.


Legislative Powers and Functions Under Article VI of the Philippine Constitution, the Legislative branch is vested

with the following powers and functions: Propose, review and adopt bills for enactment into law

Conduct studies and inquiries in aid of legislation and investigations necessary in the lawmaking process and in the oversight of the execution of laws by the executive

Propose appropriations, revenue or tariff bills; bills authorizing increase of the public sector debt; bills of local application and private bills

Concur in all treaties and international agreements

Exercise the constitutional right and responsibility of advice and consent on certain presidential nominations through the Commission on Appointments


Judge the election, returns and qualifications of its members, determine the rules of its proceedings, and punish its members by suspension or expulsion for disorderly behavior

Authorize the President to exercise emergency power in times of war or national emergency

Propose amendments to the Constitution for ratification by the people

Call for a constitutional convention The power to ratify treaties belongs exclusively to the Senate while bills on

appropriations, revenue or tariff bills, bills authorizing increase of public debt, bills of local application, and private bills originate from the House of Representatives. The Constitution also provides substantive and procedural limitations on the legislative power enjoyed by Congress.


Chambers Each Chamber of the Legislature elects its own set of officers. In the

Senate, there is the President and President Pro-Tempore while in the House of Representatives , the Members elect the Speaker of the House and three (3) Deputy Speakers. They also elect their own Secretary or Secretary-General and Sergeant-at-Arms.

The Senate President and the Speaker of the House have basically the same functions: (1) preside over the sessions of the chamber; (2) preserve order and decorum during the sessions; (3) decide all questions of order; (4) sign all resolutions, memorials, joint and concurrent resolutions; (5) issue warrants, orders of arrest, subpoenas and subpoenas duces tecum; (6) increase or decrease the number of authorized personnel by consolidating or splitting positions.

The President Pro-Tempore, on the other hand, much like the Deputy Speakers assume the duties and powers of the Senate President/Speaker of the House in case they are absent or otherwise incapacitated. Other officers of each House include the Majority Leader, Assistant Majority Leader, Minority Leader, and Assistant Minority Leader.


Committees Each Congress has its own committees which are expected to study and

make recommendations on every prosposed measure before it is presented to the whole chamber for deliberation and voting. Committees thus serve an important role in policy-making, as well as oversight of executive agencies and public education, largely through the hearings they hold.

At the start of each Congress, the Senate and the House of Representatives each determines in the Rules of Procedure, the number of permanent and special committees it will create. Standing or permanent committees are often created on the basis of political, economic, and social policy issues such as environment, banking, social welfare, women, youth, and housing among many others. They continue from Congress to Congress, except in those instances where they are eliminated or new ones created. A standing committee may also create sub-committees as it deems necessary to support its performance or divide its work among its members.

Special or select committees , on the other hand, are usually temporary panels that cease to exist after the term of the Congress in which they were created. These committees may be created to address priority or special concerns of Congress, e.g. bases conversion, food security, or to accommodate individual concerns of members which in effect attract publicity and enhances their political careers.


Congress also creates joint congressional committees and commissions as these members deem it necessary to exercise their oversight of executive agencies and their performance in implementing the law.

The Rules of Procedure of the House also states that any member, who is the author of a bill referred to a committee, is considered a member of the committee insofar as the consideration of said bill is concerned, but s/he has no vote in the committee.

After several meetings and hearings in which the Senate and House committees gather and consider information from those who will be affected by the proposed measure, they are expected to come out with a committee report. A committee report states the committee's recommendations, and in itself contains any amendments or changes made in the language or content of a bill or bills. In both houses, a committee, which fails to render a report on a bill or resolution referred to it within a prescribed period in the Rules (e.g. 30 session days in the Senate and 50 session days in the House) may be discharged by the chamber to do so through a motion in writing by any member.


Senate Committees In the 12th Congress, the Rules of Procedure

followed by the Senate provides for the creation of 36 standing committees. The Senate leadership chooses the heads of the committees, who in turn pick their vice-chairpersons. The President Pro-Tempore, Majority and Minority Leaders are ex-officio members of all standing committees. The Senate Rules also provides for the number of members alloted to each committee, which often range from seven (7) to 17 members.


House Committees There are 51 standing committees in the House of

Representatives with their respective chairpersons, and seven (13) special committees such as Poverty Alleviation, Export Promotion, Reforestation, Food Security, Northwest Luzon Growth Quadrangle, Overseas Contract Worker, and 20 Priority Provinces. In the 10th Congress, there were as many as 20 special committees. There are several standing committees with at least 15 members, while the largest is the Committee on Appropriations with 145 members. The number of vice chairpersons may vary depending upon the total number of members. Every member of the House may belong to an unlimited number of standing committees but no member can hold a chair in more than one committee. The Speaker, Deputy Speakers and chairpersons, vice chairpersons and ranking minority member of the Committee on Rules have "voice and vote" in all other committees.


The Electoral Tribunal and the Commission on Appointments

At the start of each Congress, the Senate and the House of Representatives each creates its own Electoral Tribunal to judge all contests relating to the election, returns and qualifications of its members. Each tribunal is composed of nine (9) members, three (3) of whom are Justices of the Supreme Court, and the remaining six (6) are chosen by each chamber. The senior Justice in the tribunal serves as the chairperson. Each chamber also appoints its members to the Commission on Appointments, which acts on all appointments submitted to it by the President of the Philippines. It is composed of the Senate President as ex officio Chair, 12 Senators and 12 Representatives, elected by each chamber on the basis of proportional representation from the political parties or organizations. A member of the Tribunal and of the Commission cannot be a chairperson of any standing committee.



The Judicial Branch – consists of the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, Regional Trial Courts and other special courts (i.e. juvenile, family or sharing courts).

The Constitution The Constitution of the Philippines ordains that judicial power shall be vested in one Supreme Court and such lower courts as may be established by law. [Section 1, Art. VIII, 1987 Constitution). The Law Under Philippine laws [Judiciary Reorganization Act of 1980 (Batas Pambansa Bilang 129) which took effect on January 18, 1983 and other laws] the Philippine judicial system consists of the following courts:

I. Lower Courts I. Municipal Trial Courts and Municipal Circuit Trial Courts

Every municipality in the Philippines has its own Municipal Trial Court. It is referred to as such if it covers only one municipality; otherwise, it is called Municipal Circuit Trial Court if it covers two or more municipalities.


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


IV. Shari'a Courts Equivalent to the Regional Trial Courts in rank are the Shari'a District Courts which were established in certain specified provinces in Mindanao where the Muslim Code on Personal Laws is being enforced. Equivalent to the Municipal Circuit Trial Courts are the Shari'a Circuit Courts which were established in certain municipalities in Mindanao. There are five Shari'a District Courts and fifty one Shari'a Circuit Courts in existence.

V. Court of Tax Appeals A special court, the Court of Tax Appeals, composed of a Presiding Judge and two Associate Judges, is vested with the exclusive appellate jurisdiction over appeals from the decisions of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue and the Commissioner of Customs on certain specific issues.


VI. Sandiganbayan A special court, the Sandiganbayan, composed of a Presiding Justice and eight Associate Justices, has exclusive jurisdiction over violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act [Republic Act No. 3019], the Unexplained Wealth Act [Republic Act No. 1379] and other crimes or felonies committed by public officials and employees in relation to their office, including those employees in government-owned or controlled corporations.

VII. Court of Appeals The Court of Appeals, composed of one Presiding Justice and sixty eight Associate Justices is vested with jurisdiction over appeals from the decisions of the Regional Trial Courts and certain quasi-judicial agencies, boards or commissions.

The Highest Court - Supreme Court The Supreme Court is the highest Court in the Philippines. There is only one Supreme Court composed of one Chief Justice and fourteen Associate Justices. It is the final arbiter of any and all judicial issues. When so deciding, it may sit en banc or in divisions of three, five or seven members.


Constitutional Commissions

The Philippine Constitution of 1987 also provides for the creation of the following constitutional commissions:

Civil Service Commission; Commission on Audit; Commission on Elections; and Ombudsperson

Multiparty Democracy

The Philippines has a multiparty democracy. It has a multiparty system with numerous political parties, in which no one party often has a chance of gaining power alone, and parties must work with each other to form coalition governments. There are two types of parties in the Philippines and these are: Major parties, who correspond typically to traditional political parties, and minor parties or party-list organizations, who rely on the party-list system to win Congressional seats.

Evolution of Philippine Parties

Parties represented in the present government

Name Abbr. Leader Seats in the House Seats in the Senate

Liberal Party LP President P-noy 118 4Lakas-Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino-Christian Muslim Democrats

Lakas-Kampi CMD

Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo 45 4

Nationalist People's Coalition NPCEduardo Cojuangco Jr. 32 2

Nacionalista Party NP Manuel Villar Jr. 22 4

Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino PMP Joseph Estrada 5 2

Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino LDP Edgardo Angara 1 1

Kilusang Bagong Lipunan KBL Imelda Marcos 1 0

Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan PDP-LabanAquilino Pimentel Jr. 2 0

People's Reform Party PRPMiriam Defensor Santiago 0 1

Workers and Peasants Party WPPJose Malvar Villegas 1 0

Administrative Regions

For the purpose of administration and development planning, the Philippines is divided into 18 administrative regions. In each regional capital, the 26 departments of the national government have their regional offices.

18 Administrative Regions

Region Regional Center Component local government unitsNational Capital Region Manila Caloocan City Las Pinas City Makati City Mandaluyong City Malabon City Manila Muntinlupa City Navotas City Paranaque City Pasay City Pasig City Pateros Quezon City San Juan City Taguig City

Valenzuela City


Region Regional CenterComponent local government

units

Cordillera Administrative Region Baguio City Abra

Apayao

Baguio City

Benguet

Ifugao

Kalinga

Mountain Province



units

Ilocos Region (Region I)San Fernando City,

La Union Dagupan City

Ilocos Norte

Ilocos Sur

La Union

Pangasinan



units

Cagayan Valley (Region II) Tuguegarao City Batanes

Cagayan

Isabela

Nueva Viscaya

Quirino



units

Central Luzon (Region IIISan Fernando City,

Pampanga Aurora

Bataan

Bulacan

Nueva Ecija

Pampanga

Tarlac

Zambales

Angeles City



units

CALABARZON (Region IV-A) Calamba City Batangas

Cavite

Quezon

Rizal

Laguna

Lucena City



units

MIMAROPA (Region IV-B) Calapan City Marinduque

Occidental Mindoro

Oriental Mindoro

Palawan

Romblon



units

Bicol Region (Region V) Legazpi City Albay

Camarines Norte

Camarines Sur

Catanduanes

Masbate

Sorsogon



units

Western Visayas (Region VI) Iloilo City Aklan

Antique

Bacolod City

Capiz

Guimaras

Iloilo

Iloilo City

Negros Occidental


Region Regional Center Component local government units

Central Visayas (Region VII) Cebu City Bohol

Cebu

Cebu City

Lapu-Lapu City

Mandaue City

Negros Occidental

Siquijor



units

Eastern Visayas (Region VIII) Tacloban City Biliran

Eastern Samar

Leyte

Northern Samar

Ormoc City

Samar

Southern Leyte

Tacloban City



units

Zamboanga Peninsula (Region IX) Zamboanga City Isabela City

Zamboanga City

Zamboanga del Norte

Zamboanga del Sur

Zamboanga Sibugay



units

Northern Mindanao (Region X) Cagayan de Oro City Bukidnon

Cagayan de Oro City

Camiguin

Iligan City

Lanao del Norte

Misamis Occidental

Misamis Oriental



units

Davao Region (Region XI) Davao City Compostella Valley

Davao City

Davao del Norte

Davao del Sur

Davao Oriental



units

SOCCSKSARGEN Koronadal City Cotabato

Cotabato City

General Santos City

Sarangani

South Cotabato

Sultan Kudarat



units

Caraga Region (Region XIII) Butuan City Agusan del Norte

Agusan del Sur

Butuan City

Dinagat Islands

Surigao del Norte

Surigao del Sur



units

Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Cotabato City Basilan (excluding Isabela City)

Lanao del Sur

Maguindanao

Sulu

Tawi-Tawi

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