COMPOSITION OF THE PHIL CONGRESS

Congress of the Philippines. Congress has two chambers or houses - the House of
Representatives and the Senate.

The Senate of the Philippines (Filipino: Senado ng Pilipinas, also Mataas na Kapulungan
ng Pilipinas or "upper chamber") is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the
Philippines, the Congress; the House of Representatives is the lower house. The Senate is
composed of 24 senators who are elected at-large with the country as one district under plurality-
at-large voting.

Senators serve six-year terms with a maximum of two consecutive terms, with half of the
senators elected every three years to ensure that the Senate is maintained as a continuous body,
though staggered. When the Senate was restored by the 1987 Constitution, the 24 senators who
were elected in 1987 served until 1992. In 1992 the 12 candidates for the Senate obtaining the
highest number of votes served until 1998, while the next 12 served until 1995. Thereafter, each
senator elected serves the full six years.

Aside from having its concurrence on every bill in order to be passed for the president's signature
to become a law, the Senate is the only body that can concur with treaties, and can try
impeachment cases. The Senate Presidency is currently held by Tito Sotto.

The House of Representatives of the Philippines (Filipino: Kapulungan ng mga Kinatawan ng

Pilipinas, Spanish: Cámara de Representantes de Filipinas) is the lower house of the Congress of
the Philippines. It is often commonly referred to as Congress and informally referred to as the
Cámara or Kamara.

Members of the House are officially styled as representative (Kinatawan) and sometimes
informally called Congressmen or Congresswomen (mga kongresista) and are elected to a three-
year term. They can be re-elected, but cannot serve more than three consecutive terms. Around
eighty percent of congressmen are district representatives, representing a particular geographical
area. The 18th Congress has 242[1] legislative districts, each composed of about 250,000 people.
There are also party-list representatives elected through the party-list system who constitute not
more than twenty percent of the total number of representatives.

Aside from needing its agreement to every bill in order to be sent for the President's signature to
become law, the House of Representatives has power to impeach certain officials and all money
bills must originate from the lower house.

The House of Representatives is headed by the Speaker, currently Alan Peter Cayetano of
Taguig-Pateros. The Speaker of the House is the third in the presidential line of succession, after
the Vice President and Senate President. The official headquarters of the House of
Representatives is at the Batasang Pambansa (literally, national legislature) located in the
Batasan Hills in Quezon City in Metro Manila. The building is often simply called Batasan and
the word has also become a metonym to refer to the House of Representatives.

QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE MEMBERS OF THE PHIL. CONGRESS

The qualifications to become a senator, as stipulated in the constitution, are:

1. a natural-born citizen of the Philippines;

2. at least thirty-five years old;
3. is able to read and write
4. a registered voter; and
5. a resident of the Philippines for not less than two years before election day.

Meanwhile, the constitution provides for the following criteria to become a member of the
House of Representatives:

1. a natural-born citizen of the Philippines;

2. at least twenty-five years old;
3. is able to read and write; and
4. except the party-list representatives, a registered voter and a resident for at least one year
in the district where s/he shall be elected.

COMMON PROVISIONS FOR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS

Parliamentary Immunities

A. Privilege from Arrest

One of the privileges that a member of Congress enjoys is the privilege from arrest. In this
regard, Section 11, Article VI, of the Constitution provides as follows:

A Senator or Member of the House of Representatives shall, in all offenses punishable by not
more than six years imprisonment, be privileged from arrest while the Congress is in session. No
member shall be questioned nor be held liable in any other place for any speech or debate in
Congress or in any committee thereof.
This privilege is intended to insure representation of the constituents by the members of
Congress. In Vera vs. Avelino, the Supreme Court, quoting a decision of the United States
Supreme Court, explained for whose benefit the right to parliamentary immunity is secured:

These privileges are thus secured not with the intention of protecting the members against
prosecutors for their own benefit, but to support the rights of the people, by enabling their
representatives to execute the function of their office without fear of prosecution, civil or
criminal.

A member of Congress could only be suspended by the House of which he is a member and only
for the purpose of self-preservation or self-protection. To protect a member of Congress from
oppression, even this power has been circumscribed by the 1935 Constitution and further limited
by the 1987 Constitution.

The rationale for this was expressed by the Supreme Court as early as 11 September 1924 in
Alejandrino vs. Quezon:

It is noteworthy that the Congress of the United States shall not in all its long history suspend a
member. And the reason is obvious. Punishment by way of reprimand or fine vindicates the
outraged dignity of the House without depriving the constituency of representation; expulsion,
when permissible, likewise vindicates the honor of the legislative body while giving to the
constituency an opportunity to elect a new; but suspension deprives the electoral district of
representation without that district being afforded any means by which to fill the vacancy. By
suspension, the seat remains filled, but the occupant is silenced.

B. Privilege of Speech and Debate

1. Bases of the Privilege

1.1. Constitutional Basis

Privilege speech is a parliamentary privilege enjoyed by a Member of Congress provided for in

Section 11, Article VI of the Constitution. It states as follows:

Sec. 11. A Senator or Member of the House of Representatives shall, in all offenses be
punishable by not more than six years imprisonment, be privileged from arrest while the
Congress is in session. No Member shall be questioned nor be held liable in any other place for
any speech or debate in Congress or in any committee thereof.

1.2 Rules of the Senate

This is contained in Section 110, Rule XL, Rules of the Senate, which provides as follows:
Sec. 110. After the consideration of the matters contained in the Calendar for Special Orders, a
Senator may forthwith request for and avail of the privilege to speak for one (1) hour on any
matter of public interest.

If more than one (1) Senator wish to avail of the same privilege, the Senator who first announced
his intention shall be given priority.

The period of time allowed in this section may, upon motion of the Senator on the floor be
extended for such time as may be necessary for him to finish his speech unless a majority of all
the Senators vote against such extension.

Obligations
The primary duty of Members is to legislate. In order to fulfill this duty, Members shall:

a. prepare, introduce and work for the passage of legislative measures to effectively address
social, political and economic needs and concerns;

b. attend plenary sessions and meetings of committees of which they are members or where their
proposed legislative measures are under consideration;

c. participate actively in deliberations on legislative measures;

d. articulate faithfully the demands and interests of their constituencies as well as those of other
sectors that are affected by proposed legislative measures or by conditions, issues and concerns
requiring legislative action;

e. secure, through every lawful means possible, any and all data and information relevant and
necessary for the determination and formulation of appropriate legislative actions and measures
on public issues and concerns;

f. make information pertaining to the performance of their legislative and constituent functions
and duties available and accessible to the public; and

g. perform such other functions and activities as may be lawful and necessary to ensure the swift
passage of legislative measures needed to effectively address social, political and economic
needs and promote national development, as well as the efficient and timely conduct of
legislative oversight.
Powers

1. General legislative

It consists of the enactment of laws intended as a rule of conduct to govern the

relation between individuals (i.e., civil laws, commercial laws, etc.) or between
individuals and the state (i.e., criminal law, political law, etc.)[15]

2. Implied

It is essential to the effective exercise of other powers expressly granted to the

assembly.[citation needed]

3. Inherent

These are the powers which though not expressly given are nevertheless exercised
by the Congress as they are necessary for its existence such as:

 to determine the rules of proceedings;

 to compel attendance of absent members to obtain quorum to do business;
 to keep journal of its proceedings; etc.
4. Specific legislative

It has reference to powers which the Constitution expressly and specifically directs
to perform or execute.

 Powers enjoyed by the Congress classifiable under this category are:

 Power to appropriate;
 Power to act as constituent assembly; (The Senate and the House of
Representatives must convene and vote on joint or separate session to do
this.[citation needed])
 Power to impeach; (to initiate all cases of impeachment is the power of the
House of Representatives; To try all cases of impeachment is the power of
the Senate.)
 Power to confirm treaties;(Only the Senate is authorized to use this power.)
 Power to declare the existence of war; (The Senate and the House of
Representatives must convene in joint session to do this.)
 Power to concur amnesty; and
  Power to act as board of canvasser for presidential/vice-presidential votes.
(by creating a joint congressional committee to do the canvassing.)
 Power to contempt
 Blending of power
 Delegation of power
 Budgetary power
 Power to taxation
5. Executive

Powers of the Congress that are executive in nature are:

 Appointment of its officers;

 Affirming treaties;
 Confirming presidential appointees through the Commission on
Appointments;
 Removal power; etc.
6. Supervisory

The Congress of the Philippines exercises considerable control and supervision

over the administrative branch - e.g.:

 To decide the creation of a department/agency/office;

 To define powers and duties of officers;
 To appropriate funds for governmental operations;
 To prescribe rules and procedure to be followed; etc.
7. Electoral

Considered as electoral power of the Congress of the Philippines are the Congress'
power to:

 Elect its presiding officer/s and other officers of the House;

 Act as board of canvassers for the canvass of presidential/vice-presidential
votes; and
 Elect the President in case of any electoral tie to the said post.
 8. Judicial

Constitutionally, each house has judicial powers:

 To punish its Members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of
two-thirds of all its Members, suspend or expel a Member
 To concur and approve amnesty declared by the President of the Philippines;
 To initiate, prosecute and thereafter decide cases of impeachment; and
 To decide electoral protests of its members through the respective Electoral
Tribunal.

9. Miscellaneous

The other powers of Congress mandated by the Constitution are as follows:

 To authorize the Commission on Audit to audit fund and property;

 To authorize the President of the Philippines to fix tariff rates, quotas, and
dues;
 To authorize the President of the Philippines to formulate rules and
regulations in times of emergency;
 To reapportion legislative districts based on established constitutional
standards;
 To implement laws on autonomy;
 To establish a national language commission;
 To implement free public secondary education;
 To allow small scale utilization of natural resources;
 To specify the limits of forest lands and national parks;
 To determine the ownerships and extent of ancestral domain; and
 To establish independent economic and planning agency