Politics - denotes a social activity - is the creation, maintenance and amendment of social norms or rules.

It is an art and science of the government. It is the realm of public affairs or the state.
Governance - Is the exercise of power/ authority by political leader for the well-being at their country’s
citizens or subject. It refers to the manner of steering/ governing and or directing and controlling a group
of people/ the state.

Importance of Studying Governance

Governance, the people, most especially the citizens, will be aware of the need for good governance.
Consequently, such awareness should move them to action. For their continued empowerment and
sustainable development, they have to know how to fight for their rights by knowing what to expect from
Philippine governance.

PROCESSES AND ACTORS IN GOVERNANCE

Decision-Making and Implementation
Decision-making refers to the process by which a person or group of persons, guided by socio-political
structures, arrive at a decision involving their individual and communal needs and wants. Implementation
is the process that logically follows the decision.
Actors and Structures - An actor is a sector or group or institution that participates in the process of
decision-making and implementation.
A structure refers to an organization or mechanism that formally or informally guides the decision-
making process and sets into motion the different actors and apparatuses in the implementation process.

Informal Actors and Bad Governance –

Their influence is felt more clearly in local governments, such as organized crime syndicates and
powerful families, and in rural and urban areas. Most often than not, these actors are the cause of
corruption, in that legitimate government objectives are distorted by their illegal and private interests.
Worse, they manipulate government officials and agencies, and cause widespread yet organized violence
in the community. In urban and rural areas, for example, the rich and powerful families control the
economy by controlling the local government officials. They bring about a controlled environment so that
decisions must always favor them.

INDICATORS GOOD GOVERNANCE

1. Participation - active involvement of all affected and interested parties in the decision-making process.
Participation is one of the strengths of Philippine governance. The 1987 Philippine Constitution is replete
of provisions dealing with relational and inter-sectoral governance. The Local Government Act of 1989
was borne out of the need for decentralization in Philippine governance. As such, these and other related
legislations may be considered as normative standards for good governance.

2. Rule of Law - Democracy is essentially the rule of law. - Rule of law demands that the people and the
civil society render habitual obedience to the law. It also demands that the government acts within the
limits of the powers and functions prescribed by the law. The Philippines does not fare well in this aspect
of good governance. In spite of being one of the oldest democracies in the region, the Philippines ranked
as last among seven indexed Asian countries according to the World Justice Project Rule of Law Index.
Generally, the reasons for ranking last are “lack of respect for law,” “pervasive and systemic corruption in
the government,” and “circumvention of the law.” Lack of respect for law is generally caused by distrust
on the integrity of law enforcement agencies. Order and security are compromised and criminal justice is
rendered ineffectual.
3. Effectiveness and Efficiency - actors meet the needs of the society means that there is effective
governance. That the valuable resources are utilized, without wasting or underutilizing any of them,

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means that there is efficient governance. Enhancement and standardization of the quality of public service
delivery consistent with international standards, professionalization of bureaucracy. Efforts were made to
attain effectiveness and efficiency in Philippine governance. The Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007 (ARTA), for
instance, was passed to require the setting up of Citizen’s Charter for a simplified procedure and to
facilitate governmental transactions. Also, many government departments and agencies pursued a
rationalization program to check excessive and redundant staffing.
4. Transparency - Transparency, as an indicator of good governance, means that people are open to
information regarding decision-making process and the implementation of the same. In legal terms, it
means that information on matters of public concern are made available to the citizens or those who will
be directly affected. - It also means that transactions involving public interests must be fully disclosed and
made accessible to the people. Efforts were made in pursuit of transparency in Philippine governance. As
far as the government sector is concerned, the current administration, consistent with its drive of curbing
corruption, promotes honesty and integrity in public service. It is currently pursuing the passage of the
Freedom of Information Bill and other related legislations, as well as intensifying people’s engagement in
local governance. Transparency in budget and disbursements are, however, still far from being
substantially implemented.
5. Responsiveness - means that institutions and processes serve all stakeholders in a timely and
appropriate manner. It also means that actors and structures of governance easily give genuine expression
to the will or desire of the people. Some of the important efforts made to attain responsive governance in
the Philippines are decentralization, creation of citizen’s charter in all frontline agencies (as required by
ARTA), and gender sensitivity programs. First, through decentralization, local governments, which are
more proximate to their constituents, serve more promptly the people, who in turn become more involved
in decision-making. Second, every government agency now has it Citizen’s Charter, which provides
timeframes for every step in attaining frontline services. Agencies now must also respond to written
queries sent by the stakeholders or interested parties within a period of ten days, otherwise there will be
delayed service. However, this aspect of governance still remains to be one of the causes for the decline
of public’s confidence in the public sector. Although the ARTA has been passed, there is still so much
delay in public service delivery. The failure of the government agencies to explain the charters to the
stakeholders is one of the main reasons why there is still delay.
6. Equity and Inclusiveness - Equity and inclusiveness means that all the members of the society,
especially the most vulnerable ones or the grassroots level, must be taken into consideration in policy-
making. - Social equity refers to a kind of justice that gives more opportunity to the less fortunate
members of the society. The Philippine Government has done extensive efforts in promoting equity and
inclusiveness. The Constitution makes it as one of its state policies the promotion of social justice.
Pursuant to this, the Congress has enacted social legislations like the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform
Law which aims at freeing the farmer tenants from the bondage of the soil. Also, representation in the
Congress, under the party list system, is constitutionally mandated to have sectoral representation of the
underprivileged. Gender and Development programs are in the process of being integrated with the
various structures and institutions in the country. But legislation is one thing; implementation is another.
It is in the faithful implementation of these laws that the country failed. Inequality is especially felt in the
justice system, electoral system, and even in the bureaucracy itself.
7. Consensus Oriented - Governance is consensus oriented when decisions are made after taking into
consideration the different viewpoints of the actors of the society. Among the things done by the
Philippines in promoting a consensus oriented governance are: (1) creation of a wide-based of
representation in the Congress; (2) a two-tiered legislature or bicameralism which subjects legislation to
the evaluation of national and district legislators; and (3) necessity of public hearings or consultations of
various governmental policies and actions.
8. Accountability- Accountability means answerability or responsibility for one’s action. It is based on the
principle that every person or group is responsible for their actions most especially when their acts affect
public interest. - Accountability comes in various forms: political, hierarchical, and managerial
accountability. Political accountability refers to the accountability of public officials to the people they

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represent. Hierarchical accountability refers to the ordered accountability of the various agencies and their
respective officers and personnel in relation to their program objectives. Managerial accountability refers
to employee accountability based on organization and individual performance.
The Philippines in the recent years had endeavored to comply with the requirements of accountability. It
had put in action the concept of political accountability as it held answerable erring public officials
involved in graft and corruption and for acts contrary to the mandate of the constitution. It had also
strengthened parliamentary scrutiny through legislative investigations and creation of special committees
exercising oversight functions. The Office of the Ombudsman, considered as the public watchdog, has
become ever so active in investigating and prosecuting graft and plunders cases. Citizen’s Charter, as
required by ARTA, was also an important tool in promoting professional public service values. In this
area, Philippine governance has done relatively well.

State and its Elements

The state is the most universal and most powerful of all social institutions. The state is a natural
institution. Aristotle said man is a social animal and by nature he is a political being. To him, to live in the
state and to be a man were identical.
According to Garner, State is a community of people live in a definite form of territory free of external
control and possessing an organized government to which people show habitual agreement.” 

THE ELEMENTS OF STATE

From the above definitions, it is clear that the following are the elements of the state:

1. Population
Population is the people who make the state. Population is essential for the state. Greek thinkers were of
the view that the population should neither be too big nor too small. According to Plato the ideal number
would be 5040. According to Aristotle, the number should be neither too large nor too small. It should be
large enough to be self-sufficing and small enough to be well governed.
Greek thinkers like Plato and Aristotle thinking on the number was based on small city – states like
Athens and Sparta. Modern states vary in population

2. Territory
There can be no state without a fixed territory. People need territory to live and organize themselves
socially and politically. It may be remembered that the territory of the state includes land, water and air –
space. The modern states differ in their sizes. Territory is necessary for citizenship. As in the case of
population, no definite size with regard to extent of area of the state can be fixed. There are small and big
states.

3. Government
Government is the third element of the state. There can be no state without government. Government is
the working agency of the state. It is the political organization of the state. Prof. Appadorai defined
government as the agency through which the force of the State is formulated, expressed and realized.
According to C.F. Strong, in order to make and enforce laws the state must have highest authority. This is
called the Government.
The government has three main branches the executive, the legislative and the judiciary.

4. Sovereignty

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The fourth essential element of the state is sovereignty. The word ”sovereignty” means supreme and final
legal authority above and beyond which no legal power exists Sovereignty has two aspects : 1) Internal
sovereignty which means that the State is supreme over all its citizens, and associations and 2) External
sovereignty which means that the state is independent and free from foreign or outside control.

Inherent Powers of the State

The State has three inherent power, to wit: police power, power of eminent domain and the power
of taxation.

Police power is the state authority to enact legislation that may interfere with personal
liberty or property to promote  the general welfare. It consists of (a) an imposition of
restraint upon liberty or property; (b) in order to foster the  common good. It is not capable
of an exact definition, but has been, purposely, veiled in general terms to underscore its
all comprehensive embrace. (Philippine Association of Service Exporters, Inc. vs. Drilon,
GR 81958)

Police power easily outpaces the other two powers. It regulates not only property, but also
the liberty of persons. Police power is considered the most pervasive, the least limitable,
and the most demanding of the three powers. It may be exercised as long as the activity or
property sought to be regulated has some relevance to the public welfare. (Gerochi v.
Department of Energy, G. R. 159796, July 17, 2007)  

Generally, police power extends to all the great public needs. However, its particular
aspects are the following:  
1. Public health 
2. Public morals 
3. Public safety 
4. Public welfare 

Police power is lodged primarily in the national legislature.  

Exception: By virtue of a valid delegation of legislative power, it may be exercised by
the: 
1. President  
2. Administrative bodies  
3. Lawmaking bodies on all municipal levels, including the barangay. Municipal
governments exercise this power under the general welfare clause.
(Gorospe, Constitutional Law: Notes and Readings on the  Bill of Rights, Citizenship and
Suffrage, Vol. 2.) 

Following are the requisites for the valid exercise of police power by the delegate?  

1. Express grant by law 
2. Must not be contrary to law 
3. Within territorial limits of LGUs  
     Exception: When exercised to protect water supply (Wilson v. City of Mountain Lake
Terraces, 417 P.2d 632, 1966)  

Nobody can compel the government to  exercise police power.

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The exercise of police power lies in the discretion of the legislative department. The only
remedy against legislative inaction is a resort to the bar of public opinion, a refusal of the
electorate to turn to the legislative members who, in their view, have been remiss in the
discharge of their duties.  

Courts cannot interfere with the exercise of police power. 

If the legislature decides to act, the choice of measures or remedies lies within its
exclusive discretion, as long as the requisites for a valid  exercise of police power have
been complied with.  

Following are the tests to determine the validity of a police measure:  

1. Lawful subject – The interests of the public generally, as distinguished from those of a
particular class, require the exercise of the police power 
2. Lawful means – The means employed are reasonably necessary for the accomplishment
of the purpose and not unduly oppressive upon individuals  

Power of Eminent Domain

In general, eminent domain is defined as “the power of the nation or a sovereign state to take, or to
authorize the taking of, private property for a public use without the owner’s consent, conditioned upon
payment of just compensation.” It is acknowledged as “an inherent political right, founded on a common
necessity and interest of appropriating the property of individual members of the community to the great
necessities of the whole community.”

The exercise of the power of eminent domain is constrained by two constitutional provisions: (1) that
private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation under Article III (Bill of
Rights), Section 9 and (2) that no person shall be deprived of his/her life, liberty, or property without due
process of law under Article III, Sec. 1. (Barangay Sindalan, et al. v. CA, et al., G.R. No. 150640, March
22, 2007).

Requisites of Eminent Domain

(1)  the expropriator must enter a private property;
(2)  the entry must be for more than a momentary period.
(3)  the entry must be under warrant or color of legal authority;
(4)  the property must be devoted to public use or otherwise informally appropriated or injuriously
affected;
(5)   the utilization of the property for public use must be in such a way as to oust the owner and deprive
him of beneficial enjoyment of the property.
One of the requisites of the exercise of eminent domain is payment of just compensation. Just
compensation has been defined as “the full and fair equivalent of the property taken from its owner by the
expropriator”, and that the gauge for computation is not the taker’s gain but the owner’s loss. In order for
the payment to be “just”, it must be real, substantial, full and ample.
The general rule in determining “just compensation” in eminent domain is the value of the property as of
the date of the filing of the complaint. T The general rule in determining “just compensation” in eminent
domain is the value of the property as of the date of the filing of the complaint.

There is no precise meaning of “public use” and the term is susceptible of myriad meanings depending on
diverse situations. The limited meaning attached to “public use” is “use by the public” or “public

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employment”, that “a duty must devolve on the person or corporation holding property appropriated by
right of eminent domain to furnish the public with the use intended, and that there must be a right on the
part of the public, or some portion of it, or some public or quasi-public agency on behalf of the public, to
use the property after it is condemned.” The more generally accepted view sees “public use” as “public
advantage, convenience, or benefit, and that anything which tends to enlarge the resources, increase the
industrial energies, and promote the productive power of any considerable number of inhabitants of a
section of the state, or which leads to the growth of towns and the creation of new resources for the
employment of capital and labor, which contributes to the general welfare and the prosperity of the whole
community.” In this jurisdiction, “public use” is defined as “whatever is beneficially employed for the
community.

Power of Taxation

The power to tax is the power to impose and collect taxes and charges on individuals, goods, services, and
other to support the operation of the government.

Taxes are the proportionate contribution from persons and property, imposed by the State by virtue of its
sovereignty, for the support of government and for all public needs.

Taxes are the lifeblood of the government. Without which, no government can function. The power to tax
is so important that the people must share in the expenses to be incurred by the government in protecting
them and extending them benefits in the form of public projects and services.

The power of taxation is inherently vested in the national legislature although the local legislative bodies
can already exercise said power. Example of this is the levying of loca tax in cinemas.
Funds provided by taxation have been used by states and their functional equivalents throughout history
to carry out many functions. Some of these include expenditures on war, the enforcement of law and
public order, protection of property, economic infrastructure (roads, legal tender, enforcement of
contracts, etc.), public works, social engineering, and the operation of government itself. Governments
also use taxes to fund welfare and public services. These services can include education systems, health
care systems, pensions for the elderly, unemployment benefits, and public transportation. Energy, water
and waste management systems are also common public utilities.

The Constitution

MEANING OF CONSTITUTION
In its broad sense, the term constitution refers to “that body of rules and principles in accordance with
which the powers of sovereignty are regularly exercised. As thus defined, it covers both written and
unwritten constitutions. With particular reference to the Constitution of the Philippines, it may be defined
as that written instrument by which the fundamental powers of the government are established, limited,
and defined and by which these powers are distributed among the several departments or branches for
their safe and useful exercise for the benefit of the people.

KINDS OF CONSTITUTION
As to their origin and history :

a. Conventional or enacted. – One which is enacted by a constituent assembly or granted by a

monarch to his subjects like the Constitution of Japan in 1889; and

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 b. Cumulative or evolved. – Like the English Constitution, one which is a product of growth or a
long period of development originating in customs, traditions, judicial decisions, etc., rather than
from a deliberate and formal enactment. The above classification substantially coincides with that
of written and unwritten constitutions.

As to their form :
a. Written. – One which has been given definite written form at a particular time, usually by a
specially constituted authority called a “constitutional convention”; and
b. Unwritten . – One which is entirely the product of political evolution, consisting largely of a mass
of customs, usages and judicial decisions together with a smaller body of statutory enactments of
a fundamental character, usually bearing different dates. The English Constitution is unwritten
only in the sense that it is not codified in a single document. Part of it is written – the Acts of
Parliament and judicial decisions. Indeed, there is no Constitution that is entirely written or
unwritten.

As to manner of amending them :

a. Rigid or inelastic . – One regarded as a document of special sanctity which cannot be amended or
altered except by some special machinery more cumbrous than the ordinary legislative process;
and
b. Flexible or elastic . – One which possesses no higher legal authority than ordinary laws and
which may be altered in the same way as other laws.

The Philippine constitution may be classified as conventional or enacted, written, and rigid or inelastic. It
was drafted by an appointive body called “Constitutional Commission.

THE 1987 CONSTITUTION

Framing and Ratification . – The 1987 Constitution was drafted by a Constitutional Commission created
under Article V of Proclamation No. 3 issued on March 25, 1986 which promulgated the Provisional
Constitution or “Freedom Constitution” following the installation of a revolutionary government “through
a direct exercise of the power of the Filipino people.”

Pursuant to Proclamation No. 3, the President promulgated on April 23, 1986 Proclamation No. 3, the
President promulgated on April 23, 1986 Proclamation No. 9, the “Law Governing the Constitutional
Commission of 1986,” “to organize the Constitutional Commission, to provide for the details of its
operation and establish the procedure for the ratification or rejection of the proposed new Constitution.”
Under the Proclamation, the Constitutional Commission “shall be composed of not more than fifty (50)
national, regional, and sectoral representatives who shall be appointed by the President,” As constituted,
the Commission was composed only of forty-eight (48) members --- forty-two (42) men and six (6)
women, with a preponderance of lawyers --- because of the withdrawal of an opposition appointee and
non-acceptance by the Iglesia ni Kristo of the President’s offer to submit a nominee.

The Constitutional Commission, which marked the fourth exercise in the writing of a basic charter in
Philippine History since the Malolos Constitution at the turn of the century, convened on June 2, 1986 at
the Batasang Pambansa Building in Diliman, Quezon City. With the Malolos Constitution of 1986, the
1935 Constitution and the 1973 Constitution as “working drafts,” the Commission in addition to
committee discussions, public hearings, and plenary sessions, conducted public consultations in different
parts of the country. The proposed new Constitution was approved by the Constitutional Commission on
the night of Sunday, October 12, 1986, culminating 133 days of work, by a vote of 44-2. A Commissioner
signed subsequently by affixing his thumbmark at his sickbed on October 14, 1986 so that he actually
voted in favor of the draft. Another Commissioner had resigned earlier. The two Commissioners who

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dissented also signed “to express their dissent and to symbolize their four (4) months of participation in
drawing up the new Constitution.”
The Constitutional Commission held its final session in the morning of October 15, 1986 to sign the 109-
page draft consisting of a preamble, 18 Articles, 321 Sections and about 2,000 words – after which, on the
same day, it presented to the President the original copies in English and Filipino. It was ratified by the
people in the plebiscite held on February 2, 1987. It superseded the Provisional Constitution which had
abrogated the 1973 Charter.