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Legislative Department
Legislative Power
Legislative power is essentially the authority
of the government to enact laws, repeal, or
amend them as well.
Legislative power in the Philippines is vested in
the Congress, which consists of bicameral
structure, namely: the Senate and the House
of Representative
Meaning of law
The term laws, as used previously, refers to
the statutes which are the written enactments
of the legislature governing the relations of the
people among themselves or between them
and the government and its agencies.
Functions of laws
Through laws, the legislative defines the
rights and duties of citizens, imposes taxes,
appropriates funds, defines crimes and provides
for their punishment, creates and abolishes
government offices, determines their jurisdiction
and functions, and in general, regulates human
conduct and the use of property for the
promotion of the common good.
2. Specific Powers
They are powers which the Constitution
expressly directs or authorizes Congress to
exercise.
Among the specific powers of Congress as
mandated by the Constitution are:
a.Power to declare the existence of the state of
war. (Art. VI, Section 23 {1});
b.Power to delegate emergency powers to the
President. (Art VI, Sec. 23 {2});
c.Power to Appropriation (Art. VI, Sec 24-25);
d.Power to Taxation (Art. VI, Sec 28 {1-2});
3. Implied Powers
From the meaning itself, implied powers are
those authority enjoyed by the legislature to
effectively exercise its constitutionally granted
powers,
like
the
power
to
conduct
investigation in aid of legislation (Sec 21), or
to determine the rules of its proceedings (Sec.
16 {3})
Composition of Congress
The Senate
(1) Composition and election
It is composed of 24 Senators. They are
elected at large (nationwide) by the qualified
voters, as may be provided by law (Sec. 2).
Unless otherwise provided by law, the regular
election of Senators shall be held on the second
Monday of May (Sec. 8)
(3) Qualifications
A Senator must be:
(a) a natural-born citizen of the Philippines;
(b) at least 35 years of age on the day of the
election (i.e., day of the balloting);
(c) able to read and write;
(d) a registered voter; and
(e) a resident of the Philippines for not less
two (2) years immediately preceding the day
of the election (Sec. 3)
c. Political Parties
These are organized groups of qualified
voters pursuing the same ideology, political
ideas, and principles for general conduct of the
government.
d. Coalitions
Coalitions refer to aggregations of duly
registered national, regional, sectoral parties,
or organizations for political and/or electoral
purposes.
Vacancy in Congress
RA 6645 provides for An Act Prescribing the
Manner of Filling A Vacancy in the Congress of the
Philippines, signed into a law by then President
Aquino on December 1987.
In case of vacancy arising in the Senate at least 18
months or in the House of Representatives at least one
year before the next regular election for members of
Congress, the COMELEC upon receipt of certification of
vacancy, shall call for special election. The Senator or
Member of the House of Representatives thus elected
shall serve only for the unexpired term.
The election shall not be earlier than 45 days nor
later than 90 days from the date of such resolution.
Power of Congress
Parliamentary Immunities
Art. VI, Sec. 2 provides two immunities,
which a member of Congress may enjoy in the
exercise of his task (while the Congress is in
session). These are:
1.A Senator or a member of the House of
Representatives shall be privileged from
arrest while the Congress is in session; and
2.No member shall be questioned nor be held
liable in any other place for any speech or
debate in the Congress or in any committee
thereof.
Sessions of Congress
Art. VI, Sec. 15 reads:
The Congress shall convene once every
year on the fourth Monday of July for its
regular session, unless a different date is fixed
by law, and shall continue to be in session for
such number of days as it may determine until
30 days before the opening of its next regular
session, exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays and
legal holidays. The President may call a
special session at any time.
1.Regular Session
The Congress shall meet or convene once in
every year beginning on the fourth Monday of
July for its regular session, unless law fixes a
different date. Once the Congress has
convened, the session continues for such
duration until thirty (30) days before the
opening of the next regular session, exclusive
of Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays.
2. Special Session
The Congress may be called upon by the President
anytime to consider some urgent and national concern.
Some peculiar characteristics include:
a.Special session has no definite or fixed date. It may
be called anytime;
b.Special session considers only one subject
matter/agendum when Congress is convened for the
purpose;
c.Special session may also be called or convened by
the Congress; and
d.Special session normally is brief and attends only to
the agenda being called for.
3. Executive Session
In some rare cases, the Congress or
the President may call for a secret or
close door session when matters
concerning national interest are to be
discussed.
Disciplinary Behavior
Under the Constitution, each House of Congress may
determine acts constituting disorderly behavior, and
whether a Member should be suspended or expelled. Each
House is authorized under its Rules to punish its member
for disorderly behavior, and with the concurrence of twothirds vote of all kits members, suspend or expel an erring
legislator. The Constitution, however, limits the suspension
to sixty days.
Internal Discipline
Internal Discipline is an inherent legislative power.
The Court once said: If the power did not exist, it
would be utterly impractible to transact the business of
the nation, either at all, or at least with decency,
deliberation, and order. The humblest assembly of men
to understood to posses this power, and would absurd
to deprive the councils of the nations of a like
authority.
Adjournment
Art. VI, Sec. 16 (5) adds, neither the House
during the session of the Congress shall without
the consent of the other, adjourn for more than
three (3) days, nor to any other place than in
which the two Houses shall be sitting.
Organization
of
the
Commission
on
Appointments
The
Congressional
and
Commission
of
Appointments (CA) shall approve all appointments
made by the Chief Executive to various
government positions. All appointments by the
President can only be pursued upon the consent of
the
Commission
on
Appointments.
The
characteristics of the Commission are as follow:
Question Hour
The question hour is a parliamentary feature
adopted under our presidential system. The
power of Congress to call any head of a
department, as its House Rules shall provide, to
appear before and be heard by the requesting.
Appropriation Powers
The Administrative Code of 1987 defined
appropriation as an organized made by law or
other legislative enactment, directing payment
out of government funds under specified
conditions and/or for special programs. Thus, an
appropriation bill aims to authorize the release
of public funds from treasury.
Budget
-refers to the financial statement or record of
the central government for an incoming fiscal
year, including the statements of the projected
receipts
from
revenue
collections
and
expenditures for the year.
Rider
-is prohibited under the Constitution. A rider is a
loose provision or enactment being inserted in the
general appropriations bill, which does not form
integral part of certain appropriation contained
therein.
Passage of a Bill
Basis of Taxation
Under the Constitution, the rule of taxation (See
Sec. 28) shall include the following:
1.The rule shall be uniform and equitable;
2.The taxation should be based on progressive
income system;
3.The Congress may authorize the President to fix
tariff rates, import and export quotas, tonnage
and wharfage dues, and other duties and
imports, subject to the limitation of the
Congress; and
End of Report
Group 2
Almazon, Ivan Christian
Dimaano, Rogiselle
Guce, Jesiree
Gutierrez, Joan Bernadette
Lazaro, Cassandra
Manabe, Maria Katrina
Reyes, Patricia
Saludo, Alyssa Marie