Schools Division Office

School District VI
ISMAEL MATHAY SR. HIGH SCHOOL
Branches Extension, Sangandaan, Quezon City

ASSIGNMENT IN POLITICS
AND GOVERNANCE

Student Name:
Auditor,John Jireh E.
Teacher: Virlo G. Estuye
Grade: 11
Strand/Track: HUMSS
 Schools Division Office
School District VI
ISMAEL MATHAY SR. HIGH SCHOOL
Branches Extension, Sangandaan, Quezon City

HAND-OUTS

SUBJECT: Philippine Politics and Governance GROUP/REPORTER’S NAME:

TRACK/STRAND: HUMSS
`` TIME: 7:30-8:30 `
DATE: 02/12/2019

Power of Legislative Inquiry

A. Congress may conduct investigations and compel private individuals to
furnish information when necessary and proper to execute Congress’
authority to legislate. When relevant to legislative ends, Congress may make
inquiries into existent and proposed statutes, as well as make surveys of
social, economic, or political defects. Where public interests outweigh private
concerns, a congressional witness may not resist inquiry into pertinent subject
matter of which the witness is apprised.

B. Limitations on Power of Inquiry Because it is not a law enforcement or

trial agency, Congress faces certain limitations on its authority to investigate.
For example, Congress may not:

1.Expose individuals’ private affairs for purposes outside the furtherance of

legislative goals;

2.Inquire into matters exclusive to another governmental branch; or

3.Compel a group’s disclosure of its membership where:

a. Such disclosure would seriously inhibit or impair exercise of

constitutional rights, and

b. The legislature has not convincingly shown a substantial relation

between the information sought and a subject of overriding and compelling
governmental interest.
Power of Impeachment

Impeachment in the Philippines is an expressed power of the Congress of the

Philippines to formally charge a serving government official with an impeachable offense.
After being impeached by the House of Representatives, the official is then tried in
the Senate. If convicted, the official is either removed from office or censured.

Enrolled Bill Doctrine

The enrolled bill rule is a principle of judicial interpretation of rules of procedure in

legislative bodies. Under the doctrine, once a bill passes a legislative body and is signed
into law, the courts assume that all rules of procedure in the enactment process were
properly followed.

A bill may become a law, even without the President's signature, if the President does not
sign a bill within 30 days from receipt in his office. A bill may also become a law without
the President's signature if Congress overrides a presidential veto by two-thirds vote.

Power of Appropriation
An express power in a trust document that enables the trustee of a trust to decide what
trust assets a beneficiary should receive, in satisfaction of his or her share of the trust.

The Party-List
A voting system used with proportional representation, in which people vote for a party
rather than a candidate. Each party is assigned several seats that reflects its share of
the vote.

A party-list system can help create a healthy democracy, providing a citizens' voice in
Congress and in local government. The Philippine party-list system aims to increase the
representation, particularly of "marginalized and underrepresented" sectors and
enhance transparency and accountability, leading to more efficient government. Political
parties are strengthened, encouraging program and platform-based politics instead of
weak affiliations between opportunists. This challenges moneyed and patronage politics
that have bred corruption and inefficiency, hindering the country's development.

In the Philippines, voters have two votes for their congressional representatives. The
first elects a district representative. The second elects a party-list representative.
Twenty percent of the 260 seats in the House of Representatives are reserved for party-
list. Every 2% of total party-list votes cast gets a seat in the House, with each party
allowed only a maximum of three seats.
Legislature
A legislature is a deliberative assembly with the authority to make laws for a political
entity such as a country or city. Legislatures form important parts of most governments;
in the separation of powers model, they are often contrasted with
the executive and judicial branches of government.
Laws enacted by legislatures are known as primary legislation. Legislatures observe
and steer governing actions and usually have exclusive authority to amend
the budget or budgets involved in the process.
The members of a legislature are called legislators. In a democracy, legislators are most
commonly popularly elected, although indirect election and appointment by the
executive are also used, particularly for bicameral legislatures featuring an upper
chamber.

Legislative
Legislation (or "statutory law") is law which has been promulgated (or "enacted") by
a legislature or other governing body or the process of making it. ... Whether a given
bill will be proposed and is generally a matter of the legislative priorities of government.

Law
Law is a system of rules that are created and enforced through social or governmental
institutions to regulate behavior. It has been defined both as "the Science of Justice"
and "the Art of Justice". Law is a system that regulates and ensures that individuals or a
community adhere to the will of the state. State-enforced laws can be made by a
collective legislature or by a single legislator, resulting in statutes, by the executive
through decrees and regulations, or established by judges through precedent, normally
in common law jurisdictions. Private individuals can create legally binding contracts,
including arbitration agreements that may elect to accept alternative arbitration to the
normal court process. The formation of laws themselves may be influenced by
a constitution, written or tacit, and the rights encoded therein. The law
shapes politics, economics, history and society in various ways and serves as a
mediator of relations between people.

Question Hour
is provided for by Article VI, Section 22 of the Constitution. Under this provision, the
head of a department of the Executive may be requested by the Senate or the House of
Representatives to appear and answer questions pertaining to their department.
Substantive Law
An area of law that focuses on people’s rights and responsibilities as they are owed to
each other and to the state. Substantive law deals with people’s rights and
responsibilities. For example, substantive law dictates the kind of punishment that
someone may receive upon being convicted at the end of his criminal trial. Substantive
law also defines types of crimes and their severity. For example, substantive law is used
to decide whether a crime was a hate crime, whether a murder was committed in self-
defense, and so on. Substantive law is then relied upon to determine the rights that are
afforded to the accused.

General Law
General law means territorial law of a country. It consists of all persons, things, acts and
events within the territory of a country which are governed by it. General law consists of
those legal rules of which the courts take judicial notice.

Special Law

These laws are called “Special Penal Laws” and they form part of Philippine
Criminal Laws. ... Thus, no criminal intent is needed to find a person liable for crimes
punished under Special Penal Laws. If the act is committed, then it is punishable as a
crime under law.

A law that applies to a place or especially to a member or members of a class of

persons or things in the same situation but not to the entire class and that is
unconstitutional if the classification made is arbitrary or without a reasonable or
legitimate justification or basis.

HOW A BILL BECOMES LAW?

1. To initiate the law-making process, the proposed bill is signed by its author and filed
with the Secretary of the either the Lower House (for congressmen) or the Senate (for
senators).

2. The bill will go through three readings. On the First Reading, the number and title of
the bill is read, followed by its referral to the appropriate committee for study.

3. On the Second Reading, the bill is read in full along with amendments proposed by
the committee who studied it. The bill is then subjected to debates and discussion by
the members of the House where it was filed. After extensive discussion, the bill will be
voted on. If approved, it would go through a third reading.

4. On Third Reading, the bill will be submitted for a final vote. If approved again, it shall
be transmitted to the other House for concurrence. The other House will go through the
same process of having three readings.

5. If the other House introduces amendments and the House from which the bill
originated does not approve of the amendments, the differences will be settled by a
meeting of the Conference Committees of both Houses, whose recommendations will
have to be approved by both Houses.

6. Once the bill is approved, it is transmitted to the President of the Philippines for
signature. The President may then either sign the bill to indicate approval or veto the bill
to indicate disapproval. If approved, the bill officially becomes a law.

7. If the President decides to exercise his veto powers, the Congress may re-pass the
vetoed bill if two-thirds of both Houses, voting separately, approve its enactment. In this
case, the bill also officially becomes a law.

Prepared by:

JOHN JIREH E. AUDITOR