REPUBLIC OF THE

PHILIPPINES
PHILIPPINES Public
Administration Country Profile

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Government type
Republic

Independence
12 June 1898 (from Spain)

Constitution
2 February 1987, effective 11
February 1987 (click here)
Source: Gov't Portal - General Information

Legal system
Mixed Roman Civil Law and
Anglo-American Common Law
Source: Tilburg University - Paper
 2. Legal Structure

The 1987 Constitution of the Philippines, as in past constitutions, vested the

power of government on the legislative, executive, and the judiciary.

The Legislative Power is vested in the Congress of the Philippines which shall
consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives, except to the extent reserved
to the people by the provision on initiative and referendum;

The Executive Power is vested in the President of the Philippines, and;

The Judicial Power is vested in one Supreme Court and in such lower courts as
may be established by law.

The Constitution ensures the separation of powers among the three branches. The
set-up provides a system of check-and-balance to prevent abuses and unbridled
discretion of a branch of government

2.1 Legislative Branch

Bicameral Congress or Kongreso consists of the Senate or Senado (24 seats -
one-half elected every three years; members elected by popular vote to serve
six-year terms) and
the House of Representatives or Kapulungan Ng Mga Kinatawan (250 seats; -
members elected by popular vote to serve three-year terms

The Senate is composed of twenty-four Senators. The term of office of the

Senators is six years. No Senator shall serve for more than two consecutive terms.

The Constitution provides that the House of Representatives shall be composed

of not more than two hundred and fifty (250) members, unless otherwise fixed
by law, who shall be elected from legislative districts apportioned among the
provinces, cities, and the Metropolitan Manila area in accordance with the
number of their respective inhabitants, and on the basis of a uniform and
progressive ratio, and those who, as provided by law, shall be elected through a
party-list system of registered national, regional, and sectorial parties or
organizations.

The party-list representatives shall constitute twenty per cent (20%) of the total
number of representatives including those under the party list. The Members of
the House shall be elected for a term of three years, and shall serve for no more
than three consecutive terms. 5

All Members of the Senate and the House of Representatives shall, upon
assumption of office, make a full disclosure of their financial and business interests.
 There shall be a Commission on Appointments consisting of the President of the
Senate, as ex officio Chairman, twelve Senators, and twelve Members of the
House of Representatives, elected by each House on the basis of
proportional representation from the political parties and parties or organizations
registered under the party-list system represented therein.
Source: 1987 Constitution
Unicameralism- have only one legislative chamber;
Disadvantages:
- control government spending and the elimination of redundant work done by
both chambers.
- Double checks and balances that a bicameral affords, forcing a greater level
of consensus on legislative issues.
- Urban areas with large populations have more influence than sparsely
populated rural ones.

BICAMERAL- consisting of 2 chambers of the legislative branch ( Upper House and

Lower house of the House of Representatives-Philippines)

ADVANTAGES:
- to check hasty and ill- considered legislation,
- training ground for future leaders
- provides a representation for both regional and national interests
- less susceptible to bribery and control of big interest groups or lobbyists
DISADVANTAGES:

- no assurance of better considered and better deliberated legislation

- produces duplication of efforts and serious deadlocks in the enactment of
important measures
- all things being equal, it is more expensive to maintain than a unicameral.
- The excessive costs of senatorial elections have made it possible for only
wealthy individuals to make it to the Senate.

FUNCTIONS OF LAWS
- defines the rights and duties of the citizens
- imposes taxes
- appropriates funds
- defines crimes and provides for their punishments
- creates and abolishes government offices
- determines jurisdiction and function of created government offices
- regulates human conduct and the use of properly for the promotion of the
common good

CLASSIFICATION OF POWER OF CONGRESS

- general legislative power
- Specific power ( to impeach; impose taxes; declare the existence of a state
of war)
- Implied powers( indirect)
 SESSIONS OF CONGRESS
-Regular- Congress shall convene once every year on the 4th Monday of July for
its regular session until 30 days before opening of its next regular session
- Special- takes place when the President class congress to a session, during
the time that it is in recess, for any important legislation
- Executive- secret meeting; or closed session if the issue involves national
security

OFFICERS OF CONGRESS
- Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives (
administrative heads and presiding officers of their respective chambers

OTHER FUNCTIONS:
- preside over their sessions
- preserve order and decorum
- decide all questions of order
- sign acts, resolutions, orders and warrants
- issue subpoenas
- appoint personnel and discipline them

ROLE OF CONGRESS IN BUDGET APPROPRIATION

- a budget is the financial program of the national government for a
designated calendar year, consisting of estimated revenues and
expenditures
- previous calendar is used as basis
- The budget of expenditures and sources of financing which the President
has to prepare and submit to Congress is intended as a guide for the
Congress to amount of appropriations and determine specific governmental
activities for which public funds should be spent.
- Appropriate public funds for the maintenance of the govt. and public needs
- Congress as direct representative of the people
- Legislative check upon the disbursing power
- government funds may be misused.

2.2 Executive Branch

The executive power is vested in the President of the Philippines. The President
and the Vice-President shall be elected by direct vote of the people for a term of six
years. The President shall not be eligible for any re-election. No Vice-President shall
serve for more than two successive terms.
The President shall nominate and, with the consent of the Commission on
Appointments, appoint the heads of the executive departments, ambassadors, other
public ministers and consuls, or officers of the armed forces from the rank of colonel
or naval captain, and other officers whose appointments are vested in him in the
Constitution.
The President controls all the executive department, bureaus and offices.

The President’s Term of Office-

6 years; election every 2nd Monday of May;

Official Place of The President- Malacañang Palace

-nominates the head of the executive departments, ambassadors, other public

ministers and consuls, and officers of the armed forces from the rank of colonel or
nava; captain and other officers but the president seeks the consent of the
Commission on Appointment.

The President and the Departments

1. Office of the Press Secretary
2. Dept. of Agrarian Reform
3. Dept. of agriculture
4. Dept of Budget and Management
5. Dept of Education
6. Dept of Energy
7. Dept of Environment and Natural Resources
8. Dept of Finance
9. Dept of Foreign Affairs
10. Dept of Health
11. Dept of Interior and Local Government
12. Dept of Justice
13. Dept of Labor and Employment
14. Dept of National Defense
15. Department of Public Works and Highways
16. Dept of Science and Technology
17. Dept of Social Welfare and Development
18. Dept of Trade and Industry
19. Dept of transportation and Communication

The President and the Armed Forces

President- commander in chief of all armed forces of the Philippines

- He can place the country under martial law for a period not exceeding 60
days.

- Section 18 of Article VII- A state of martial law does not suspend the
operation of the constitution, nor supplant the functioning of the civil courts
or legislative assemblies, nor authorize the conferment of jurisdiction on
military courts and agencies over civilians where civil courts are able to
function, nor automatically suspend the privilege of the writ.

The president should submit a report in person or in writing to the congress within
48 hours from the proclamation of martial law.

The President and the Power to Grant Amnesty

- power to grant reprieves, commutations and pardons to those who have
been convicted by the courts, amnesty ( the act of pardoning)

The President and Foreign Loans

 - may contract or guarantee loans on behalf of the country. However, this
needs prior concurrence of the Monetary Board (MB), the policy making
body of the Central Bank of the Philippines.

The President and the Country’s Policies on Treaties\

- No treaty or international agreement is valid and effective unless concurred
in by at least 2/3 of the members of the Senate.

The President and the National Budget

- the president submits to Congress, within 30 days from the opening of every
regular session, a budget of the country’s proposed expenditures and the
sources of these expenditures’ financing, including receipts from existing
and proposed revenue measures. This will be the basis of the general
appropriation act( official annual budget of the country)

2.3 Judiciary Branch

Supreme Court (justices are appointed by the president on the recommendation of
the Judicial and Bar Council and serve until 70 years of age).

The Philippines has an independent judiciary, with the Supreme Court as the
highest court of appeal. The Supreme Court also is empowered to review the
constitutionality of presidential decrees. The Supreme Court consists of a chief
justice and 14 associate justices.
It is not necessary for the entire court to convene in all cases. Justices are
appointed by the president on the recommendation of the Judicial and Bar Council
and serve until 70 years of age.
Lower-level courts include a national Court of Appeals divided into 17 divisions,
local and regional trial courts, and an informal local system to settle certain disputes
outside the formal court system. In 1985 a separate court system founded on
Islamic law (sharia) was established in the southern Philippines with jurisdiction
over family and contractual relations among Muslims. Three district magistrates
and six circuit judges oversee the Islamic law system. A special court—the
Sandiganbayan or anti-graft court—focuses exclusively on investigating charges
of judicial corruption. [Source: Library of Congress, 2006]

The Sandiganbayan, the Government's anticorruption court, hears criminal cases

brought against senior officials. A Shari'a (Islamic law) court system, with
jurisdiction over domestic and contractual relations among Muslim citizens,
operates in some Mindanao provinces.

6
2.4 Local Government
Philippine political subdivisions comprise the national government, together with what
are termed Local Government Units: provinces and independent cities, cities and
municipalities (towns) which are components of provinces, and barangays (villages or
village-sized communities) which are components of cities and municipalities.

Government structure:

Under the Local Government Code of 1991, each Unit is composed of an executive
and legislative power, together with local special bodies, as follows:

Subdivision Executive Legislative Council

Province Governor Sanggunian Panlalawigan

City Mayor Sanggunian Panlungsod

Municipality Mayor Sanggunian Bayan

Barangay Punong Barangay Sanggunian Barangay

The Code itself mandated a review after 10 years, and, as part of this, the Department of
the Interior and Local Government in partnership with the Philippines- Australia Governance
Facility published A Study on People’s Participation in Local Development Councils in
November 2001.
of corruption in the judiciary. Some 65 percent believed many lawyers could be bribed, and
57 percent believed even judges could be bribed.
Only 0.5 out of every 10,000 civil servants gets prosecuted for corrupt acts in the Philippines,
compared to 8 in Hong Kong. 1998/1999 surveys show 20-22 percent of the public has been
asked for bribes in government transactions. Only 4 percent in
1999 bothered to report the solicitation. Those who did not complain reasoned that
(1) it was futile to complain (51%); (2) the amount involved is too small (21%); there could
be retaliation (15%); and they did not know where to file the complaint (10%).
Three notable structural sources of corruption are (1) that candidates must finance their own
electoral campaigns, owing a debt of gratitude to many sponsors who call in the favors when
the candidates are elected, (2) the incredibly poor compensation and reward system for
civil servants, and (3) the poor enforcement of anti- corruption laws that renders
corruption a low risk, high reward activity. Other causes of corruption in the Philippines
are wide discretion of bureaucrats, burdensome regulations and transaction systems, weak
control mechanisms, information asymmetry between the rich and the poor, weak public
vigilance, and elements of Filipino political culture that translate into tolerance of corruption.
Studies of corruption in the Philippines point to these adverse effects of corruption: (1)
wastage of public resources, as when infrastructure projects are poor and substandard and
do not last their projected useful lifetimes; (2) low revenue collection, as when bribes are paid
in lieu of taxes and charges in revenue collecting agencies; (3) other socially undesirable
behavior such as tax evasion and smuggling; (4) increases in the cost of doing business in
the country; (5) cronyism, the highest form of corruption, expressed in cartels and monopolies
that reduce competitiveness in industry; and (6) waste in the resources for development
which postpones the poor Filipinos escape from poverty.
Source: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung - ...Transparency and Accountability in
Governance and the Civil Service

5.2 Ethics
The Philippines has a comprehensive legal and organizational infrastructure for instilling
transparency and accountability in governance. There is an Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices
Act, as well as a Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.
There are three constitutional oversight bodies: The Office of the Ombudsman, the
Commission on Audit, and the Civil Service Commission
Source: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung - ...Transparency and Accountability in
Governance and the Civil Service

The 1987 Constitution of the Philippines provides the basis of ethical and accountable
behavior in the public sector. Section 1 of Article XI states that: “Public office is a public trust.
Public officers and employees must at all times be accountable to the people, serve them with
utmost responsibility, integrity, loyalty, and efficiency, act with patriotism and justice, and lead
modest lives.” This provision requires every public official and employee to exhibit and live
certain values while in government service. In addition, the State has been mandated by the
Constitution to “maintain

honesty and integrity in the public service and take positive and effective measures against
graft and corruption”.
In 1989, the Philippine legislature passed Republic Act No. 6713, a law embodying the
Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees. The Code spells
out in fine detail the do’s and don’ts for government officials and employees in and out of the
workplace. These do’s and don’ts are encapsulated in the eight norms of conduct to be
observed by all government officials and employees. An important feature of the Code is
the requirement of disclosure of assets and business and financial interests of appointive and
elective officials and employees.
Another comprehensive law passed to address and curb the commission of malfeasance in
government is Republic Act No. 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (1960).
The legal infrastructure that prescribes ethical conduct of public servants is reinforced
by political commitment. This political commitment, while difficult to benchmark, has been
demonstrated by some policy pronouncements. Quite significant is the ten-point action
agenda of the present Administration and the Medium-Term Development Plan (2000 2004)
which embody the framework for the country’s socioeconomic development.
The agenda and the MTDP place the implementation of a sustained training and orientation
program on anti-graft and corrupt practices and laws, and on the Ethical Standards Act of
Public Officials and Employees among the Administration’s priorities to reduce graft and
corruption and exact high standards of ethics in government. Proceeding from this,
departments and agencies of the executive branch have set up and implemented various
programs that aim to eliminate bureaucratic red tape. One- stop action centers are now being
promoted and institutionalized in the agencies.
In the Philippines, the three constitutionally mandated oversight institutions are the Civil
Service Commission, the Office of the Ombudsman and the Commission on Audit.
The Civil Service Commission is the central personnel agency of the government. Under
Section 3, Article IX-B of the Constitution, the CSC is mandated to “establish career service
and adopt measures to promote morale, efficiency, integrity, responsiveness,
progressiveness, and courtesy in the civil service.”
The Office of the Ombudsman acts as a prosecutor against those charged with the violation
of RA 3019, RA 6713 and the law against ill-gotten wealth, among others. It is mandated to
investigate and prosecute the criminal liability of public officials and employees involved in
graft and corruption.
The Commission on Audit is the fiscal watchdog of the government. COA is responsible
for ensuring legal and proper disbursement of public funds and preventing irregular,
unnecessary, or extravagant expenditures or usage of public funds. It also has quasi-judicial
powers.
The heads of the Civil Service Commission, the Office of the Ombudsman and Commission
on Audit are all members of the Inter-Agency Anti-Graft and Coordinating Council
(IAAGCC). The IAAGCC was set up in 1997 to ensure coordinated efforts in investigating
and prosecuting high-profile cases on corruption. Another initiative is the lifestyle check on
government officials and employees.

January 28 and 29, 2004, the three agencies convened an anti-corruption summit. Their
assessment of their mandates, resources and constraints provided them the opportunity to
identify priority areas and doable activities and initiatives to be undertaken jointly and
individually in the next five years. The commitments are embodied in a document called the
Solana Covenant.
Source: Civil Service Commission - Assistant Commissioner Mary Ann
Fernandez-Mendoza