Modern Political Science

SS-211
Philippine Political System

1. Cite the privileges and limitations of the office of the president.

The President of the Philippines, who is the Chief Executive Officer, serves both as Head
of State and Head of Government of the Philippines. The constitution enshrines the
executive authority of the president, who subsequently leads the executive branch of the
government, including the Cabinet and all the executive departments.
The President has the right to issue reprimands, commutations and pardons, and to remit
fines and forfeitures on conviction by final judgment, except in the case of prosecution.
The President can grant an amnesty to the majority of the members of the Congress. The
President shall be empowered to contract or guarantee international loans on behalf of the
Country, but only with prior competition from the Monetary Board and subject to such
restrictions as may be given by statute.
The President also exercises general oversight of local government units.
The President also serves as Commander-in-Chief of the Philippines Armed Forces. This
includes the authority to suspend the writ of habeas corpus and to proclaim martial law.
The President shall also designate, with the approval of the Commission on
Appointments, the heads of the executive departments, the members' boards and their
representatives from all national government agencies, ambassadors, other ministers and
consuls, senior officers of the armed forces and other officials. The judges of the
Supreme Court and the lower courts shall also be named by the President, but only from
the list of candidates prepared by the Judicial and Bar Council. Such appointments do not
require the approval of the appointments of the Commission.

2. Determine the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.

Under Article VIII, Sec1, the judicial power shall be vested in one Supreme Court and in
such lower courts as may be provided by law. This power includes the duty to settle
actual controversies involving rights that are legally demandable and enforceable and to
determine if any branch or instrumentality of government has acted with grave abuse of
discretion amounting to lack of excess of jurisdiction.

The Supreme Court has both original and appellate jurisdictions. It exercises original
jurisdiction (cases are directly filed with the SC in the first instance without passing
 through any of the lower courts) over cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers
and consuls, and over petitions for certiorari, prohibition, mandamus, quo warranto, and
habeas corpus. (Art. VIII, Sec 5(1)). It also has original jurisdiction over writs of amparo,
habeas data and the environmental writ of kalikasan. It exercises appellate jurisdiction to
review, revise, reverse, modify, or affirm final judgments, and orders of the lower courts
in:

(a) All cases in which the constitutionality or validity of any treaty, international or
executive agreement, law, presidential decree, proclamation, order, instruction,
ordinance, or regulation is in question.
(b) All cases involving the legality of any tax, impost, assessment, or toll, or any
penalty imposed in relation thereto.
(c) All cases in which the jurisdiction of any lower court is in issue.
(d) All criminal cases in which the penalty imposed is reclusion perpetua or higher.
(e) All cases in which only an error or question of law is involved. (Art. VIII, Sec
5(1), (2))

The Supreme Court has administrative supervision over all courts and court personnel.
(Article VIII, Sec 6) It exercises this power through the Office of the Court
Administrator.

3. Differentiate the role of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

The Senate is composed of 24 senators who are elected as one district in the majority of
the nation. Senators serve six-year terms with a limit of two consecutive terms, with half
of the senators elected every three years to ensure that the Senate remains a constant, but
staggered, body. Apart from competing for each bill in order to pass the President's
signature in order to become a statute, the Senate is the only body that can comply with
the treaties and prosecute the case of the prosecution while the House of Representatives
of the Philippines is the lower house of the Philippine Congress. It is generally referred to
as the Congress, the House of the People, and informally referred to as the Chamber or
the Kamara. Members of the House shall be officially nominated as senators and often
informally nominated as congressmen or congresswomen and shall be elected for a three-
year term. They may be re-elected, but may not serve more than three consecutive terms.
Approximately eighty per cent of congressmen are district members, serving a particular
geographical region. There are 243 legislative districts in the 18th Congress, each
containing about 250,000 residents. There are also party-list representatives elected by a
party-list system who do not represent more than 20% of the total number of
representatives. Apart from the need to consent to each bill in order to submit the
 President's signature to become law, the House of Representatives has the right to
question those officials, and all bills of money must come from the lower house.

4. Briefly explain the functions of the legislative branch.

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 Congress of the Philippines is the country's highest
lawmaking body.

5. Based on your own opinion, how Pres. Duterte handles crisis, controversy during his
presidency?

Crisis and dispute are never in short supply to the presidents of the Philippines. But it is
how the chief executives deal with them that determines their presidency and spells out
their legacy. From the outset, Duterte projected himself to be a "man of action" and not a
bureaucrat, leaving that position to his Cabinet. He's still on the scene, delivering relief
supplies to typhoon-stricken cities, or traveling home from Russia to call the shots during
the Marawi siege. But Duterte is also a man of words, using his distinct style of speech to
weave narratives about his enemies. His crude language, medium-finger bluster, and
metaphor-rich slurs are the weaponization of language, used to have a dramatic effect.
His behavior and comments give insight into how he dealt with the conflicts in his
presidency. Other conflicts that hounded his presidency are mere "image repair" obstacles
for him. These include the "God is stupid comment, a kiss with a married OFW,
mischievous remarks, and his "unpresidential" conduct. In Duterte's opinion, these
disputes pose no real problems, other than that they damage his reputation. That's why
some Filipinos are outraged by his crisis-causing actions, while some, including his core
group of supporters, think the indignation is over the top. For Duterte and his loyal
followers, his most surprising pronouncements and acts are not out of the ordinary" and
therefore not a crisis.

Submitted by:

JAY MARIE A. SARANILLO