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Three Branches of
Government
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How the Philippine

Government Is
Organized
The Philippines is a republic with a presidential
form of government wherein power is equally
divided among its three branches: executive,
legislative, and judicial.

One basic corollary in a presidential system of

government is the principle of separation of
powers wherein legislation belongs to
Congress, execution to the Executive, and
settlement of legal controversies to the
Judiciary.

The Legislative branch is authorized to

make laws, alter, and repeal them through
the power vested in the Philippine
Congress. This institution is divided into
the Senate and the House of
Representatives.
The Executive branch carries out laws. It
is composed of the President and the
Vice President who are elected by direct
popular vote and serve a term of six
years. The Constitution grants the
President authority to appoint his
Cabinet. These departments form a large
portion of the country’s bureaucracy.
The Judicial branch evaluates laws. It
holds the power to settle controversies
involving rights that are legally
demandable and enforceable. This
branch determines whether or not there
has been a grave abuse of discretion
amounting to lack or excess of
jurisdiction on the part and
instrumentality of the government. It is
made up of a Supreme Court and lower
courts.

The Philippine government seeks to act in the

best interests of its citizens through this
system of checks and balances.

The Constitution expressly grants the Supreme

Court the power of Judicial Review as the
power to declare a treaty, international or
executive agreement, law, presidential decree,
proclamation, order, instruction, ordinance or
regulation unconstitutional.

Legislative Department
The Legislative Branch enacts legislation,
confirms or rejects Presidential appointments,
and has the authority to declare war. This
branch includes Congress (the Senate and
House of Representatives) and several
agencies that provide support services to
Congress.

Senate – The Senate shall be composed

of twenty-four Senators who shall be
elected at large by the qualified voters of
the Philippines, as may be provided by
law.
House of Representatives – The House of
Representatives shall be composed of
not more than two hundred and fifty
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 sectoral parties or
organizations.

The party-list representatives shall constitute

twenty per cent of the total number of
representatives including those under the
party list. For three consecutive terms after the
ratification of this Constitution, one-half of the
seats allocated to party-list representatives
shall be filled, as provided by law, by selection
or election from the labor, peasant, urban poor,
indigenous cultural communities, women,
youth, and such other sectors as may be
provided by law, except the religious sector.

Executive Department
The executive branch carries out and enforces
laws. It includes the President, Vice President,
the Cabinet, executive departments,
independent agencies, and other boards,
commissions, and committees.

Key roles of the executive branch include:

President – The President leads the

country. He/she is the head of state,
leader of the national government, and
Commander in Chief of all armed forces
of the Philippines. The President serves a
six-year term and cannot be re-elected.
Vice President – The Vice President
supports the President. If the President is
unable to serve, the Vice President
becomes President. He/she serves a six-
year term.
The Cabinet – Cabinet members serve as
advisors to the President. They include
the Vice President and the heads of
executive departments. Cabinet members
are nominated by the President and must
be confirmed by the Commission of
Appointments.

Judicial Department
The judicial branch interprets the meaning of
laws, applies laws to individual cases, and
decides if laws violate the Constitution. The
judicial power shall be vested in one Supreme
Court and in such lower courts as may be
established by law.

Judicial power includes the duty of the courts

of justice to settle actual controversies
involving rights which are legally demandable
and enforceable, and to determine whether or
not there has been a grave abuse of discretion
amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction on
the part of any branch or instrumentality of the
Government. The judicial branch interprets the
meaning of laws, applies laws to individual
cases, and decides if laws violate the
Constitution.

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The Philippine Information Agency is the
official public information arm of the
Government of the Republic of the Philippines.
It is an attached unit of the Presidential
Communications Operations Office (PCOO).
The PIA works with the Office of the President
through PCOO, national government agencies,
and other public sector entities in
communicating their programs, projects, and
services to the Filipino people. The agency has
a regional office in all 15 regions and has an
information center in 79 provinces across the
Philippines.

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