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Composition
24 senators who shall be elected at large by the qualified voters of the Philippines, as may be provided by law.
Qualifications
1. Natural-born citizen;
2. At least 35 years old on the day of election;
3. Able to read and write;
4. A registered voter; and
5. Philippine resident for at least 2 years immediately preceding the day of the election.
Term and Limitations:
6 years, commencing (unless otherwise provided by law) at noon, 30 June next following their election.
1. No Senator shall serve for more than 2 consecutive terms.
2. Voluntary renunciation of office for any length of time shall not be considered as an interruption in the continuity of his service for the full term for which he was elected.
Composition:
1. Not more than 25 members, unless otherwise fixed by law; and
2. Party-list Representative
Election of 250 members
1. They shall be elected from legislative districts apportioned among the provinces, cities and the Metropolitan Manila area.
2. Legislative districts are apportioned in accordance with the number of inhabitants of each area and on the basis of a uniform and progressive ratio.
1. Each district shall comprise, as far as practicable, contiguous, compact and adjacent territory;
2. Each city with at least 250,000 inhabitants will be entitled to at least one representative.
3. Each province will have at least one representative.
4. Legislative districts shall be re-apportioned by Congress within 3 years after the return of each census. According to Jack, however, while the apportionment of districts is NOT a political question, the judiciary CANNOT compel Congress to do this.
5. The standards used to determine the apportionment of legislative districts is meant to prevent ‘gerrymandering’, which is the formation of a legislative district out of separate territories so as to favor a particular candidate or party.
Qualifications
1. Natural born citizen of the Philippines;
2. At least 25 years old on the day of the election;
3. Able to read and write;
4. Registered voter in the district he seeks to represent; and
5. A resident of such district for at least one year immediately preceding the day of the election.
THE SPEAKER, in the hierarchical order of political leadership, is the fourth highest official in the Philippine government. He presides over the session; decides on all questions of order, subject to appeal by any member; signs all acts, resolutions, memorials, writs, warrants and subpoenas issued by or upon order of the House; appoints, suspends, dismisses or disciplines House personnel; and exercise administrative functions.
The Speaker is elected by a majority vote of all the Members at the commencement of each Congress.
The Majority Leader is elected in a party caucus of the majority ruling party. His primary function, aside from being the spokesman of the majority party, is to direct the deliberations on the floor.
In the present set-up of the House, the Majority Leader is concurrently the Chairman of the Committee on Rules. As such, all matters relevant to the Rules of the House, specifically the calendar of bills, preparation of Order of Business and Calendar of Business are within his responsibilities.
The Minority Leader is the acknowledged spokesman of the minority party in the House. But it does not necessarily follow that he is also the leader of the party because the minority party in the House may be composed of one or more political groupings.
Like the Majority Leader, the Minority Leader is elected in party caucus of all Members of the House in the minority party. He is an ex-officio member of all standing Committees.
Terms and Limitations:
1. Each member of the House shall be elected for a term of three (3) years which shall commence (unless otherwise provided for by law) at noon on 30 June next following their election.
2. Voluntary renunciation of office for any length of time shall not be considered as an interruption in the continuity of his service for the full term for which he was elected.
No member of the House of Representatives shall serve for more than three (3) consecutive terms.
The qualifications of both Senators and Members of the House are limited to those provided by the Constitution. Congress cannot, by law, add or subtract from these qualifications.
1.) Congress convenes once every year on the 4th Monday of July (unless otherwise provided for by law)
2.) Continues in session for as long as it sees fit, until 30 days before the opening of the next regular session, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays.
1.) The Journal is conclusive upon the courts.
2.) BUT an enrolled bill prevails over the contents of the Journal.
3.) An enrolled bill is the official copy of approved legislation and bears the certifications of the presiding officers of each House. Thus where the certifications are valid and are not withdrawn, the contents of the enrolled bill are conclusive upon the courts as regards the provision of that particular bill.
The Constitution provides that the Senate and the House of Representatives shall each have an Electoral Tribunal which shall be the sole judge of all contests relating to the election, returns, and qualifications of their respective Members.
The Electoral Tribunals shall be constituted within thirty days after the Senate and the House of Representatives shall have been organized with the election of the President and the Speaker.
Composition:
1.) Senate President as ex-officio chairman;
2.) 12 Senators; and
3.) 12 Members of the House.
Voting/Action
1.) The chairman shall only vote in case of a tie.
2.) The CA shall act on all appointments within 30 session days from their submission to Congress.
3.) The Commission shall rule by a majority vote of all the Members.
Jurisdiction
1.) CA shall confirm the appointments by the President with respect to the following positions:
1. Heads of the Executive Departments (except if it is the Vice-President who is appointed to the post).
2. Ambassadors, other public ministers or consuls.
3. Officers of the AFP from the rank of Colonel or Naval Captain: and
4. Other officers whose appointments are vested in him by the Constitution (e.g. COMELEC members).
2.) Congress CANNOT by law prescribe that the appointment of a person to an office created by such law shall be subject to confirmation by the CA.
3.) Appointments extended by the President to the above-mentioned positions while Congress is not in session shall only be effective until disapproval by the CA or until the next adjournment of Congress.
Limitations:
1) The rule of taxation should be UNIFORM
2) It should be EQUITABLE
3) Congress should evolve a PROGRESSIVE system of taxation.
4) The power to tax must be exercised for a public purpose because the power exists for the general welfare
5) The due process and equal protection clauses of the Constitution should be observed.
Constitutional tax exemptions:
1) The following properties are exempt from REAL PROPERTY taxes
a) Charitable institutions
b) Churches, and parsonages or convents appurtenant thereto
c) Mosques
d) Non-profit cemeteries; and
e) All lands, buildings and improvements actually, directly and exclusively used for religious, charitable, or educational purposes.
2) All revenues and assets of NON-STOCK NON-PROFIT EDUCATIONAL institutions are exempt from taxes and duties PROVIDED that such revenues and assets are actually, directly and exclusively used for educational purposes. (Art. XIV Sec 4 (3))
3) Grants, endowments, donations or contributions used actually, directly and exclusively for educational purposes shall be exempt from tax. This is subject to conditions prescribed by law. (Art. XIV. Sec 4 (4))
1) No money shall be paid out of the National Treasury EXCEPT in pursuance of an appropriation made by law.
a) This places the control of public funds in the hands of Congress.
b) BUT: This rule does not prohibit continuing appropriations. e.g. for debt servicing. This is because the rule does not require yearly, or annual appropriation.
2) Limitations.
a) Appropriations must be for a PUBLIC PURPOSE
b) Cannot appropriate public funds or property, directly or indirectly, in favor of
(i) Any sect, church, denomination, or sectarian institution or system of religion or
(ii) Any priest, preacher, minister, or other religious teacher or dignitary as such.
EXCEPT if the priest, etc is assigned to:
- the Armed Forces; or
- any penal institution; or
- government orphanage; or
- leprosarium
c) BUT the government is not prohibited from appropriating money for a valid secular purpose, even if it incidentally benefits a religion, e.g. appropriations for a national police force is valid even if the police also protects the safety of clergymen.
d) ALSO, the temporary use of public property for religious purposes is valid, as long as the property is available for all religions
3) Special Funds
a) Money collected on a tax levied for a special purpose shall be treated as a special fund and paid out for such purpose only.
b) Once the special purpose is fulfilled or abandoned, any balance shall be transferred to the general funds of the Government
There are two houses of congress namely the Senate and the House of Representatives. They are co- equal bodies of the congress.
1. Substantive – limitations on the content of laws. E.g. no law shall be passed establishing a state religion.
2. Procedural – limitations on the manner of passing laws. E.g. generally a bill must go through three readings on three separate days.
1. Original – Possessed by the people in their sovereign capacity
2. Delegated – Possessed by Congress and other legislative bodies by virtue of the Constitution
3. Constituent – The power to amend or revise the Constitution
4. Ordinary – The power to pass ordinary laws
The authority to make laws and to alter or repeal them.
Called by the President at any time when Congress is not in session.
The Journal is regarded as conclusive with respect to matters that are required by the Constitution to be recorded therein. With respect to other matters, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, the Journals have also been accorded conclusive effects.
Matters mandated by the Constitution to be entered into the Journal.
1. Yeas and Nays on the third and final reading of the bill
2. No bill passed by either House shall become a law unless it has passed three readings on separate days, and printed copies thereof in its final form have been distributed to its Members three days before its passage, except when the President certifies to the necessity of its immediate enactment to meet a public calamity or emergency. Upon the last reading of a bill, no amendment thereto shall be allowed, and the vote thereon shall be taken immediately thereafter, and the yeas and nays entered in the Journal. (Article 6 Section 26 (2))
3. Veto message of the President (Article 6 Section 27 (1))
4. Yeas and Nays on re-passing a bill vetoed by the President
5. Yeas and Nays on any question at the request of ½ of the members present.
6. The vote of each member of the House of Representatives in impeachment cases.
The Senate and the House shall each have an Electoral Tribunal which shall be composed of:
1. 3 Supreme Court Justices to be designated by the Chief Justice; &
2. 6 Members of the Senate or House, as the case may be.
...The senior Justice in the Electoral Tribunal shall be its Chairman.
Note: The 12 Senators and 12 Representatives are elected on the basis of proportional representation from the political parties and party-list organizations.
House of Representatives, Majority Leader, 2010 - 2013
House of Representatives, Representative Lone District of Mandaluyong, 2007 - 2013
City Government of Mandaluyong, City Mayor, 2004 - 2007
House of Representatives, Majority Leader, 1998 - 2004
House of Representatives, Representative Lone District of Mandaluyong, 1995 - 2004
Gonzales Batiller Leabres & Reyes Law Offices, Partner, 1986 - 1995
House Speaker (2010 - Present)
House of Representatives
Mayor of Quezon City, 2001-2010
Speaker of the House of Representatives, 2001
Congressman, 4th District of Quezon City, 1992-2001
District Representative San Juan City, Lone District
1. 2/3 of both Houses, in joint session
2. Voting separately
PURPOSE AMOUNT
Salary P35,000 a month
Published expenses P200,000 a month
Allowance from the Speaker P50,000-100,000 a month
Christmas gift from the Speaker P100,000-200,000
Occasional gift from Malacañang (Christmas) P100,000-150,000
Election for the speakership as much as P200,000
Attendance in a plenary session to vote on selected national bills P50,000 (can go up to 500,000 for urgent, controversial measures)
Special occasions (e.g. barangay elections) P50,000
Foreign travel $300 per diem
As officer or committee chairman Varies, depending on expenses
Pork barrel (Priority Development Assistance Fund and Public Works Fund) P65 million a year
1. During times of war or other national emergency, Congress may, BY LAW, authorize the President to exercise powers necessary and proper to carry out a declared national policy.
1. Limitations:
1. Powers will be exercised for a limited period only; and
2. Powers will be subject to restrictions prescribed by Congress
1. Expiration of emergency powers
1. By resolution of Congress or
2. Upon the next adjournment of Congress
If approved, the bill is then referred to the other House where substantially the same procedure takes place.
The bill is read for the second time in its entirely, together with the amendments, if any, proposed by the committee.
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
Any member of either house may present a proposed bill
and the principal author of the bill may propose the inclusion of additional authors thereof
Congress may, BY LAW, authorize the President to fix the following:
a) Tariff rates
b) Import and Export Quotas
c) Tonnage and wharfage dues
d) Other duties and imposts
After the First Reading, the bill is referred to the proper committee or committees for study and consideration.
A general debate is then opened after the Second Reading and amendments may be proposed by any member of Congress.
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.
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.
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.
When the president signs it
When the president vetoes it but the veto overridden by two-thirds of all the members of each House
When the president does not act upon the measure within 30 days after the date of receipt thereof (Art. VI, Sec 27(1))
Under the salary standardization law, a senator receives a salary of P90,000 a month. But according to Sen Miriam Defensor Santiago, lawmakers receive between P600,000 to P5 million monthly — depending on the positions they hold.