WEEK 7: LESSON VI: THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT (ART.

6, 1987 PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION)

TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION (PART 1)

A. MEANING OF LEGISLATIVE POWER

ARTICLE VI - THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT

SECTION 1. The legislative power shall be vested in the Congress of the Philippines which shall consist
of a Senate and a House of Representatives, except to the extent reserved to the people by the provision
on initiative and referendum.

LEGISLATIVE POWER.

Legislative power is the power or competence of the legislature to enact, ordain, alter, or modify, repeal, or
abrogate existing laws.

Two (2) kinds of legislative power.

They are the original and derivative powers.
a) Original legislative power is possessed by the sovereign power.
b) Derivative legislative power is that which has been delegated by the sovereign people to legislative
bodies and is subordinate to the original power of the people.

Kinds of limits on legislative power.

There are two (2) kinds: Substantive and Procedural.
a) Substantive limits curtail the contents of a law. For example, no law may be passed which impairs
freedom of speech.
b) Procedural limits curtail the manner of passing laws. For example, a bill must generally be approved by
the President before it becomes a law.

B. THE SENATE AND THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SECTION 2. 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.

Composition of the Senate:

The Senate is traditionally the Upper House of the Congress. It is composed of twenty-four (24) senators
elected at large by the people. This provision is patterned after the 1935 constitution which also provided for the
24 senators. The only difference is that it is staggered under the 1935 Constitution. The first senators elected
were, in the manner provided for by law, divided equally into three groups to serve for the following terms: first
group, for six years; second group, for four years; and the third group, for two years.

C. QUALIFICATIONS, ELECTION, TERM, TENURE AND REMOVAL OF SENATORS AND CONGRESSMEN

SECTION 3. No person shall be a Senator unless he is a natural-born citizen of the Philippines and, on
the day of the election, is at least thirty-five years of age, able to read and write, a registered voter, and a
resident of the Philippines for not less than two years immediately preceding the day of the election.

Qualifications of the Members of Senate:

1) He must be a natural born citizen of the Philippines. He must be a citizen of the Philippines from birth
without having to perform any act or perfect his Philippine citizenship. Those who elect Philippine citizenship
in accordance with paragraph (3), section 1 of Article IV shall be deemed natural born citizens. A naturalized
Filipino citizen is disqualified. This provision is a guarantee that members of the Congress are going to
uphold and defend Filipino interests;
2) He must be at least thirty-five years of age on the day of the election. The “election day” is the day of the
casting of votes on voting day. Thus, if he is short of a number of days on election day, he is automatically
disqualified;
3) He must be able to read and write. It is satisfactory that a person can read in reasonably intelligent manner
and can write in fairly legible way. It is not enough that a person can only write his name and post office
address;
4) He must be registered voter in the district in which he shall be elected. A person who meets the
qualifications but fails to register is disqualified from becoming a member of the Senate; and
5) He must be a resident of the Philippines for not less than two years immediately preceding the
election. One’s residence is the place where one has his true permanent home and to which, whenever
absent, he has the intention of returning. It is therefore, not necessarily the actual place of residence.

SECTION 4. The term of office of the Senators shall be six years and shall commence, unless otherwise
provided by law, at noon on the thirtieth day of June next following their election.

No Senator shall serve for more than two consecutive terms. Voluntary renunciation of the office for any
length of time shall not be considered as an interruption in the continuity of his service for the full term
of which he was elected.

Term of Office of Senators:

It is six (6) years.

It shall commence, unless otherwise provided by law, at noon on the 30th day of June next following their
election. (Sec. 4, par. 1.) The Constitution has similar provisions limiting terms of office with respect to the
President and Vice President (Art. VII, Secs. 3 and 4.), members of the House of Representatives (Sec. 7.), and
elective local officials. (Art. X, Sec. 8.) The hour and date of commencement of the term of office of the President
and Vice President cannot be changed by law.

Maximum terms.
In line with the state policy on equal access to opportunities for public service and against political dynasties (Art.
II, Sec. 26.), a Senator is disqualified to serve for more than two (2) consecutive terms. (Sec. 4, par. 2.)
While theoretically the people are the best judge of whether an official should be reelected or not, the
Constitution has opted to impose term limits to guard against the weakness in our culture that tends to
perpetuate political dynasties. (Art. II, Sec. 26.) At any rate, a Senator can still run for reelection after a break or
interval. There is no limit as to the number of years one can serve as Senator. What is prohibited is to serve for
more than two (2) successive terms. But voluntary renunciation of the office by a Senator for any length of time
shall not be considered as an interruption in the continuity of his service for the full term for which he was
elected.

SECTION 5. (1) 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.

(2) The party-list representatives shall constitute twenty per centum 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.

Composition of the House of Representatives:

The House of Representatives. It is the lower chamber of the Congress of the Philippines. The House, often
informally called “Congress,” is composed of not more than 250 members popularly known as “Congressmen.”
They are elected from legislative or congressional districts and through a party-list system.
The party-list or sectoral representatives are filled 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. Unless otherwise provided by law, the regular election of the members of the House of
Representatives shall be held on the second Monday of May.

SECTION 6. No person shall be a Member of the House of Representatives unless he is a natural-born

citizen of the Philippines and, on the day of the election, is at least twenty-five years of age, able to read
and write, and, except the party-list representatives, a registered voter in the district in which he shall be
elected, and a resident thereof for a period of not less than one year immediately preceding the day of
the election.
Qualifications of Members of House of Representatives:

The qualifications for the members of the House of Representatives are almost the same as the Senate except
the age requirement which is 25 at the time of the election day, a registered voter in the district in which he shall
be elected, and resident of the district for not less than one year immediately preceding the day of election.

1) He must be a natural born citizen of the Philippines.

2) He must be at least twenty-five years of age on the day of the election.
3) He must be able to read and write.
4) He must be a registered voter in the district in which he shall be elected
5) He must be resident of the district for not less than one year immediately preceding the day of
election.

Classification of the members of the House of Representatives:

1) District representatives, each representing one congressional district;
2) Party-List representatives, elected through the “party-list system;” and
3) Sectoral representatives, but these will exist only for three consecutive terms after the ratification of this
Constitution. (They disappeared in 1998.)

SECTION 7. The Members of the House of Representatives shall be elected for a term of three years
which shall begin, unless otherwise provided by law, at noon on the thirtieth day of June next following
their election. No Member of the House of Representatives shall serve for more than three consecutive
terms. Voluntary renunciation of the office for any length of time shall not be considered as an
interruption in the continuity of his service for the full term for which he was elected.

Term of Office of the Members of House of Representatives:

It is three (3) years, to begin also, unless otherwise provided by law, at noon on the 30th day of June
next following their election. (Sec. 7, par. 1.)

The House of Representatives is intended to be close to the people. The shorter term of three (3) years is
expected to make the representatives more responsive and sensitive to the needs of their constituents. It is also
consistent with the constitutional policy of accountability. (Art. XI, Sec. 1.) *If the people had made a mistake in
their choice of the incumbent congressman, they would not have to wait a long time for the opportunity to correct
the mistake by withholding a new mandate.

SECTION 8. Unless otherwise provided by law, the regular election of the Senators and the Members of
the House of Representatives shall be held on the second Monday of May.

SECTION 9. In case of vacancy in the Senate or in the House of Representatives, a special election may
be called to fill such vacancy in the manner prescribed by law, but the Senator or Member of the House
of Representatives thus elected shall serve only for the unexpired term.

Election of the Senators and Members of the House of Representatives:

Kinds of election for members of Congress. – There are two (2) kinds of elections for members of Congress,
namely:
(1) Regular election – it shall be held on the second Monday of May. Congress may, by law, provide otherwise.
(Sec. 8.) If the election is held beyond the term of office, the members of Congress cannot hold over. The
purpose of a regular election is to give the people an opportunity to renew or withhold their mandate on elected
officials; and
(2) Special election – it may be called in case a vacancy arises in the Senate or House of Representatives to fill
such vacancy in the manner prescribed by law. The Senate or Representative elected shall serve only for the
unexpired term. (Sec. 9.) The authority to call a special election may be given by law to the Commission on
Elections. The holding of a special election is not mandatory by the Constitution.

SECTION 11. 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 the
Congress or in any committee thereof.
PARLIAMENTARY IMMUNITY:

Freedom from arrest of members of Congress.

The privilege from arrest of the members of Congress can be enjoyed under the following circumstances:

(1) When the Congress is in session, whether regular or special and whether or not the legislator is actually
attending a session. If the Congress is not in session, this privilege cannot be invoked. Since the purpose of the
privilege is to protect the legislator against harassment which will keep him away from legislative sessions, there
is no point in extending the privilege to the period when the Congress is not in session;

(2) When the member of Congress is actually attending a session or he is going to or returning from the same;

(3) When the offense charged is punishable by not more than six months, even if the member attends the
session, the privilege from arrest cannot be availed of. Members of the Congress cannot be immunized from
arrest in case of serious offense.

Meaning of parliamentary privileged of speech.

“No member shall be questioned nor be held liable in any other place for any speech or debate in the Congress
or any committee thereof.” (Sec. 11, second sentence.)

Scope of the privilege.

In the first place, the privilege is a protection only against forums other than the Congress itself. It does not
protect the assemblyman against the disciplinary authority of the Congress but it is an absolute protection
against suits for libel.

In the second place, “speech or debate” includes utterances made in the performance of official functions, such
as speeches delivered, statements made, votes cast, as well as bills introduced and other acts done in the
performance of official duties.