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| Congress of the Philippines | |
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| Type | |
|---|---|
| Type | Bicameral |
| Houses | Senate House of Representatives |
| Leadership | |
| Senate President | Juan Ponce Enrile, PMP since 17 November 20081 |
| House Speaker | Prospero C. Nograles, Lakas-CMD since 5 February 2008 |
| Structure | |
| Members | Not more than 250 Representatives and 24 Senators Currently 242 Representatives and 23 Senators |
| Senate Political groups | Lakas-CMD + KAMPI (3) Liberal (4) Nacionalista (4) UNO (3) NPC PMP LDP (1) PDP-Laban (1) PRP (1) Independent (1) |
| House of Representatives Political groups | Lakas-CMD + KAMPI (141) NPC (28) Liberal (16) Nacionalista (8) UNO (7) PDP-Laban (4) LDP (3) PDSP (3) KBL (1) Independent (4) Party-list Groups (22) |
| Election | |
| Senate Last election | 14 May 2007 |
| House of Representatives Last election | 14 May 2007 |
| Meeting place | |
| Web site | |
The Congress of the Philippines (Filipino: Kongréso ng PilipÃnas) is the national legislature of the Philippines. It is a bicameral body consisting of the Senate (upper chamber), and the House of Representatives (lower chamber) although commonly in the Philippines the term congress refers to the latter.
The Senate is composed of 24 senators half of which are elected every three years. Each senator, therefore, serves a total of six years. The senators are elected by the whole electorate and do not represent any geographical district.
The House of Representatives is composed of a maximum of 250 congressmen. There are two types of congressmen: the district and the sectoral representatives. The district congressmen represent a particular geographical district of the country. All provinces in the country are composed of at least one congressional district. Several cities also have their own congressional districts, with some composed of two or more representatives.
The sectoral congressmen represent the minority sectors of the population. This enables these minority groups to be represented in the Congress, when they would otherwise not be represented properly through district representation. Also known as party-list representatives, sectoral congressmen represent labor unions, rights groups, and other organizations.
The Constitution provides that the Congress shall convene for its regular session every year beginning on the 4th Monday of July. A regular session can last until thirty days before the opening of its next regular session in the succeeding year. The President may, however, call special sessions which are usually held between regular sessions to handle emergencies or urgent matters.
When the Philippines was under American colonial rule, the legislative body was the Philippine Commission which existed from 1900 to 1907. The President of the United States appointed the members of the Philippine Commission.
The Philippine Bill of 1902 mandated the creation of a bicameral or a two-chamber Philippine Legislature with the Philippine Commission as the Upper House and the Philippine Assembly as the Lower House. This bicameral legislature was inaugurated in 1907. Through the leadership of then Speaker Sergio Osmeña and then Floor Leader Manuel L. Quezon, the Rules of the 59th United States Congress was substantially adopted as the Rules of the Philippine Legislature.
In 1916, the Jones Law changed the legislative system. The Philippine Commission was abolished, and a new bicameral Philippine Legislature consisting of a House of Representatives and a Senate was established.
The legislative system was changed again in 1935. The 1935 Constitution established a unicameral National Assembly. But in 1940, through an amendment to the 1935 Constitution, a bicameral Congress of the Philippines consisting of a House of Representatives and a Senate was created.
Upon the inauguration of the Republic of the Philippines in July 4, 1946, Republic Act No. 6 was enacted providing that on the date of the proclamation of the Republic of the Philippines, the existing Congress would be known as the First Congress of the Republic.
The 1973 Constitution abolished the bicameral Congress and created a unicameral Batasang Pambansa in a parliamentary system of government.
The 1987 Constitution restored the presidential system of government together with a bicameral Congress of the Philippines.
The powers of the Congress of the Philippines may be classified as:
It consists of the enactment of laws intended as a rule of conduct to govern the relation between individuals (i.e., civil laws, commercial laws, etc.) or between individuals and the state (i.e., criminal law, political law, etc.)
It is the essential to the effective exercise of other powers expressly granted to the assembly.
These are the powers which though not expressly given are nevertheless exercised by the Congress as they are necessary for its existence such as:
It has reference to powers which the Constitution expressly and specifically directs to perform or execute.
Powers enjoyed by the Congress classifiable under this category are:
Powers of the Congress that are executive in nature are:
The Congress of the Philippines exercises considerable control and supervision over the administrative branch - e.g.:
Considered as electoral power of the Congress of the Philippines are the Congress' power to:
This power of Congress will enable it to pass judgement upon certain parties/courses of action and falling under this category are the following:
The other powers of Congress mandated by the Constitution are as follows:
The Member or the Bill Drafting Division of the Reference and Research Bureau prepares and drafts the bill upon the Member's request.
The approved bill is transmitted to the Senate for its concurrence.
The bill undergoes the same legislative process in the Senate.
Copies of the bill, signed by the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives and certified by both the Secretary of the Senate and the Secretary General of the House, are transmitted to the President.
If the bill is approved the President, the same is assigned an RA number and transmitted to the House where it originated.
The bill is reproduced and copies are sent to the Official Gazette Office for publication and distribution to the implementing agencies. It is then included in the annual compilation of Acts and Resolutions.
The message is included in the Order of Business. If the Congress decides to override the veto, the House and the Senate shall proceed separately to reconsider the bill or the vetoed items of the bill. If the bill or its vetoed items is passed by a vote of two-thirds of the Members of each House, such bill or items shall become a law.
The vote requirements in the Congress of the Philippines are as follows:
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The above article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the copyrighted Wikipedia "Congress of the Philippines" article.
