PHILIPPINES
Hopefully, through this page, a certain identity could be given to Philippine politics...what our system is and what branches of government should be doing...
The Three Branches of Government
Executive
ex sequi - to follow out/ carry out (rules, policies, laws)
oversees the implementation of rules, policies, laws and directives
should ensure proper implementation
Composition
Head of State and Head of Government - the President - He or she performs both symbolic and operational functions of the state (fused executive).
Cabinet - heads of different departments (Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Education...)
Functions or Roles of the President
1. leadership role - 'chief executive'; 'chief legislator'; 'chief dispenser of justice'
As chief executive, the President holds all executive functions. As chief legislator, he or she has VETO POWER meaning he or she could refuse a law if he or she wants to. The President could also initiate laws. As chief dispenser of justice, the President could grant presidential pardon to a criminal, amnesty for rebels, or commutation for convicts. These are just some of the President's powers.
2. symbolic and ceremonial role - head of state
3. supervision of the military - commander-in-chief of the armed forces
4. supervision of foreign affairs - chief diplomat; has the power to sign international agreements/treaties
5. supervision of the administration - chief administrator
Legislature
parler- to talk
legis- law
latio- bringing or proposing
in charge of the formulation of policies, rules or laws
Structure (Bicameral)
House of Representatives - congressmen, party-list representatives
Senate - senators
Functions
1. enactment of legislation - enact actual laws (from "bill" to "law" or Republic Act); come up with positions on major issues (resolution); "power of the purse" (control matters on expenditures through the annual budget); declare war
2. representation of the citizenry
3. oversight of the executive - capacity to monitor executive performance
a. approve major executive appointments - Commission on Appointments
b. scrutinize executive performance
c. investigate anomalies in government - Blue Ribbon Committee
d. overturn the government - impeachment
Judiciary
for the purpose of interpreting laws and policies to specific situations
Functions
1. dispute settlement - citizen vs. citizen; civil law
2. law enforcement - state vs. citizen; criminal law
3. Judicial review - citizen vs. state/government officials; rule on the constitutionality of government actions
**like in the recent plan of implementing an ID system...the Supreme Court ruled that doing so is unconstitutional, that is why the plan didn't push through
Form of Government
Democracy
elections
civil and political rights
free media
people's participation in governance
Constitutional
enacted - deliberately enacted by a constitutional assembly
written - it has a definite written form contained in a single document
rigid - needs a special mechanism or process to amend
operate in terms of the rule of law
ensures effective restraint on the power holders
Amendment
Congress convenes itself for a constitutional assembly (3/4 vote)
Congress can call for a constitutional convention (2/3 vote) wherein people will vote for delegates from each district
People's initiative by gathering the support of 12% of the entire voting population with at least 3% support from each electoral district
**Any one of these three shall be followed by a plebescite wherein the electorate will vote on whether they agree with the amendment or not
Unitary
characterized by central government that holds all legitimate power
constitution gives them the authority to govern
may be highly centralized where central government hold virtually all power, or highly decentralized with local governments having substantial power
Presidential
separation of powers - executive performs policy implementation, legislature performs policy-making
no overlap of personnel
fused executive (the Head of State is also the Head of Government - The President)
Electoral System
single member plurality - "first past the post," the one with the most votes wins
quasi party-list system
**Actually, our party-list system is a modification of the real party-list system...This is what's supposed to happen:
'Party lists' are submitted by each political party. The list contains the names of the candidates or representatives for each political party. It must be in the order of preference.
On the day of elections, citizens vote for the party, not the candidates.
The votes for each party will then be counted, and their percentage share of the votes will be considered.
For the delegation of winners, the percentage of the share of votes will be equal to the percentage of seats the party will get.
FOR EXAMPLE, Bayan got a share of 30% of the votes, and there are 100 seats up for grabs. Then, they will get the top 30 from their submitted list and put these people in the seats.
This system enables even the parties with a little percentage get some seats. Each political party then has the opportunity to have candidates. It also discourages party-switching, because if a person who is in a seat switches parties, he or she loses his or her seat in the house and the person next in line will replace him or her.
**This is how our party-list system works
First three steps are the same as above.
For the delegation of winners, if a party gets 3% of the vote, they get 1 seat. This is good, however, each party can only occupy at most 3 seats.
FOR EXAMPLE, Bayan got a share of 30% of the votes, and there are 50 seats up for grabs. Then, they will get 3 seats in the house, not 10. All their other votes will be wasted. That is why only a few marginalized sectors are represented, because most of them got only 2% of the votes not enabling them to have seats.
I suggest changing our current system to the system above. We won't lose anything anyway. And we can make sure that even the 'little people' get to have a say in policy-making, no matter how few their seats may be.
mars_mg
