Date post: | 03-Jul-2015 |
Category: |
News & Politics |
Upload: | angeline-hellera |
View: | 792 times |
Download: | 1 times |
The Philippine Congress is divided into two chambers :
1. Senate - The Upper House
2. House of Representatives - The Lower House
The Senate
► consists of 24 Senators elected at large.
► 12 Senators are elected every three (3) years.
► Each has a term of six years.
Qualifications :
►No person shall be a Senator unless he is a natural-born
citizen of the Philippines, and on the day of the election, is at
least 35 years of age, able to read and write, a registered
voter, and a resident of the Philippines for not less than two
years immediately preceding the day of the election.
►The age is fixed at 35 and must be possessed on the day of
the elections, that is, when the polls are opened and the votes
cast, and not on the day of the proclamation of the winners by
the board of canvassers.
►With regard to the residence requirements, it was ruled in the
case of Lim v. Pelaez that it must be the place where one
habitually resides and to which he, after absence, has the
intention of returning.
►The enumeration laid down by the 1987 Philippine
Constitution is exclusive under the Latin principle
of expressio unius est exclusio alterius. This means
that Congress cannot anymore add additional qualifications
other than those provided by the 1987 Philippine
Constitution.
Organizations :◙ The Senate shall elect its President and the House of
Representatives its Speaker by a vote of all its respective
members.
◙ Each House shall choose such other officers as it may deem
necessary.
◙ Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings
The 15th
Congress Senators :
The list of standing committee chairmanships for the 15th
Congress:
Committee Party Chair PartyMinority
leader
Accountability of Public
Officers and Investigations*Liberal Teofisto Guingona III Lakas-Kampi Joker Arroyo
Accounts Independent Panfilo Lacson
Agrarian Reform Independent Gregorio Honasan Nacionalista Pia Cayetano
Agriculture and Food Liberal Francis Pangilinan Lakas-Kampi Joker Arroyo
Banks, Financial Institutions
and CurrenciesIndependent Sergio Osmeña III Lakas-Kampi Joker Arroyo
Civil Service and Government
ReorganizationIndependent Antonio Trillanes IV Nacionalista Pia Cayetano
Climate Change NPC Loren Legarda
Constitutional Amendments,
Revision of Codes and LawsPRP
Miriam Defensor
Santiago
Cooperatives Lakas-Kampi Juan Miguel Zubiri Nacionalista Pia Cayetano
Cultural Communities NPC Loren Legarda
Economic Affairs Nacionalista Manny Villar Nacionalista Pia Cayetano
Education, Arts and Culture LDP Edgardo Angara Lakas-Kampi Joker Arroyo
Energy Independent Sergio Osmeña III Lakas-Kampi Joker Arroyo
Environment and Natural
ResourcesLakas-Kampi Juan Miguel Zubiri Nacionalista Pia Cayetano
Ethics and Privileges Nacionalista Alan Peter Cayetano Lakas-Kampi Joker Arroyo
Finance Liberal Franklin Drilon Lakas-Kampi Joker Arroyo
Foreign Relations NPC Loren Legarda
Games, Amusement and Sports Lakas-Kampi Lito Lapid
Government Corporations and
Public EnterprisesLiberal Franklin Drilon Lakas-Kampi Joker Arroyo
Health and Demography Nacionalista Pia Cayetano
Justice and Human Rights Independent Francis Escudero Lakas-Kampi Joker Arroyo
Labor, Employment and Human
Resources DevelopmentPMP Jinggoy Estrada Nacionalista Pia Cayetano
Local Government Nacionalista Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. Nacionalista Pia Cayetano
National Defense and Security Independent Francis Escudero
The salaries of members of the Senate isgoverned by Article VI of the Constitution asfollows:
◙ Sec. 10. The salaries of Senators and Members of the House of
Representatives shall be determined by law. No increase in said
compensation shall take effect until after the expiration of the
full term of all the members of the Senate and the House of
Representatives approving such increase.
◙Sec. 20. The records and books of accounts of Congress
shall be preserved and be open to the public in accordance
with law, and such books shall be audited by the
Commission on Audit which shall publish annually an
itemized list of amounts paid to and expenses incurred for
each Member.
◙Until the Congress provides otherwise, the President shall receive an
annual salary of three hundred thousand pesos; the Vice-President, the
President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives,
and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, two hundred forty thousand
pesos each; the Senators, the members of the House of Representatives,
the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court, and the Chairmen of the
Constitutional Commissions, two hundred four thousand pesos each; and
the Members of the Constitutional Commissions, one hundred eighty
thousand pesos each.
The house of the Representatives :
† shall be composed of not more than 250 members, unless
otherwise fixed by law.
† shall have a term of three years commencing at noon of the
30th day of June following their election.
† limited to serving a maximum of three (3) consecutive terms.
Legislative 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
Non-legislative Functions:
☻Non-legislative functions are powers and responsibilities not
related to passing laws
☻Include impeachment power, confirmation power,
investigative power
☻Congress has important electoral powers, but they are only used if the
regular electoral practices fail to produce clear results.
☻Congress also has the power of impeachment
☻power to confirm or deny all major appointments made by the president.
The Constitution also requires that the president seek the Senate's "advice and
consent" on all international treaties, demanding a two-thirds vote of the Senate for
any treaty to acquire the force of law.