The state as a person of international law should possess the following qualifications: (a) a permanent population (people); (b)

a defined territory; (c) government (political authority); and (d) capacity to enter into relations with the other states (diplomat recognition or sovereignty).

A PERMANENT POPULATION
A state is an organization of human beings living together as a community. The population of a state comprises all individuals who, in principle, inhabit the territory in a permanent way. It may consist of nationals and foreigners. As has repeatedly been pointed out by doctrine, the requirement of a population is not necessarily an equivalent of the requirement of nationality. The population of a state need not be completely homogeneous in culture, language, race or otherwise. Indeed, it is even rare, except for Micro-States, to find a State with a homogeneous people. International law does not require a minimum number of inhabitants constituting a State. The smallest number of nationals in a Micro-State can be found in Nauru and in Monaco. This figure can be even lower if we take into account that theoretically Pitcairn with 52 inhabitants has the right to opt for statehood by virtue of its right to self-determination. No reservations have been made by the international community with respect to statehood because of the limited number of nationals of Micro-States, even if the nationals were outnumbered by foreign residents.

A DEFINED TERRITORY
The functions of a State, a political and legal community of human beings, must first of all be exercised in a given territory. Territory is a geographical area that is owned and controlled by a government or country to exercise such state sovereignty. Therefore, most of legal professors give and conclude the definition of the territory that territory clearly comprises and refers to land territory which belongs to state and individuals, internal waters and territorial sea (straits) which state claims for sovereignty, and the airspace above this territory. It is required that the State must consist of a certain coherent territory effectively governed and the territory of a State need not be exactly fixed by definite frontiers. A defined geographical area the existence of Micro-State with minimum land territory such as Monaco (1.95 square kilometer), and the Vatican City (0.44 square kilometer) leads to the conclusion that no minimum size is required for the territory, as this element was never a reason for denying statehood.

GOVERNMENT
The government is the executive branch of the state and has the role to administer the state uniformly in the following aspects: political, economic, social, cultural, use of natural resources, environmental protection, national defense and security, and foreign affairs. Form of state is defined depending on the constitution drafted, generally structure of state can be divided into: unitary state and federal state, this probably affects the government in exercising limit on its power.

SOVEREIGNTY

Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided. The definition of the Sovereignty is quite similar to the Independence and they mostly used along together.

Cabinet Members of the Philippines under President Noynoy Aquino

President Benigno Noynoy Aquino III named the members of his Cabinet. Here are the new official cabinet members of the Philippines (2010): Executive Secretary Paquito Jojo Ochoa Jr. Department of Foreign Affairs Alberto Romulo Department of Agriculture Proceso Alcala Department of Budget and Management Florencio Butch Abad Department of Education Rev. Armin Luistro Department of Energy Jose Rene D. Almendras Department of Environment and Natural Resources Ramon Paje Department of Finance Cesar Purisima Department of Health Dr. Enrique Ona Department of Interior and Local Government pending (Pres. Noynoy at the moment) Department of Justice Leila de Lima Department of Labor and Employment Rosalinda Baldoz Department of Agrarian Reform Virgilio de los Reyes Department of National Defense Voltaire Gazmin National Economic and Development Authority Director General Cayetano Paderanga Jr. Department of Public Works and Highways Rogelio Singson Department of Science and Technology Mario Montejo Department of Social Welfare and Development Corazon Soliman Department of Tourism Alberto Lim Department of Trade and Industry Gregory Domingo Department of Transportation and Communication Jose Ping de Jesus Commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue Kim Jacinto-Henares Chairman of Commission on Higher Education Patricia Liguanan Presidential Legal Counsel Eduardo de Mesa Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda

Presidential Management Staff Chief Julia Abad Presidential Adviser on Peace Process Teresita Deles

Branches of government
he Philippines is a democratic and republican state. As a republic state, sovereignty resides in the People and all government authority emanates from them. There are three branches of government: the executive, the legislative and the judiciary. A Republican form of government rests on the conviction that sovereignty should reside in the people and that all government authority must emanate from them. It abhors the concentration of power on one or a few, cognizant that power, when absolute, can lead to abuse, but it also shuns a direct and unbridled rule by the people, a veritable kindling to the passionate fires of anarchy. Our people have accepted this notion and decided to delegate the basic state authority to principally three branches of government the Executive, the Legislative, and the Judiciary - each branch being supreme in its own sphere but with constitutional limits and a firm tripod of checks and balances .

Executive Branch
The executive branch is headed by the President, who is elected by a direct vote of the people. The term of office of the President, as well as the Vice-President, is six (6) years. As head of the Executive Department, the President is the Chief Executive. He represents the government as a whole and sees to it that all laws are enforced by the officials and employees of his department. He has control over the executive department, bureaus and offices. This means that he has the authority to assume directly the functions of the executive department, bureau and office or interfere with the discretion of its officials. Corollary to the power of control, the President also has the duty of supervising the enforcement of laws for the maintenance of general peace and public order. Thus, he is granted administrative power over bureaus and offices under his control to enable him to discharge his duties effectively. The President exercises general supervision over all local government units and is also the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Under the existing Presidential form of government, the executive and legislative branches are entirely separate, subject only to the mechanisms of checks and balances. There were attempts

to amend the Constitution in order to shift to a parliamentary system, but these moves were struck down by the Supreme Court. The most recent petition that reached the Supreme Court is Lambino vs. COMELEC.

Legislative Branch
The legislative branch, which has the authority to make, alter or repeal laws (see also the definition of "legislative power"), is the Congress. Under a bicameral system, the Congress is composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Senate is composed of twenty-four (24) Senators, who are elected at large by the qualified voters of the Philippines. The term of office of the Senators is six (6) years. The House of Representatives, on the other hand, is composed of not more than two hundred and fifty (250) members, unless otherwise fixed by law, who are elected from legislative districts apportioned among the provinces, cities and the Metropolitan Manila area, and those who are elected through a party-list system of registered national, regional and sect oral parties or organizations. The term of office of members of the House of Representatives, also called "Congressmen," is three (3) years.

Judiciary
Judicial power is vested in the Supreme Court and in such lower courts as may be established by law. While Congress has the power to define, prescribe and apportion the jurisdiction of the various courts, Congress cannot deprive the Supreme Court of its jurisdiction provided in the Constitution. The Supreme Court is composed of a Chief Justice and fourteen Associate Justices. It may sit en banc or, in its discretion, in divisions of three, five or seven members.