LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT
LEGISLATIVE POWER
 Legislative power is vested in the Congress, except to the
extent reserved to the people by the provision on initiative
and referendum. (Section 1, Art. VI)
CONGRESS (bicameral)
 Congress consists of a Senate and a House of
Representatives.
SENATE
 Senate composes of 24 senators who shall be elected at
large.
 Qualifications (Section 3, Art. VI):
a. Natural-born citizen of the Philippines
b. At least 35 years old on the day of the election
c. Able to read and write
d. Registered voter
e. Resident of the Philippines for not less than 2
years immediately preceding the day of the
election
 TERM OF OFFICE (Section 4, Art. VI):
 Term of office shall be 6 years. It shall commence,
unless otherwise provided by law, at noon at the
30th 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.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 House of Representatives composes of not more than 250
members, unless otherwise fixed by law, who shall be
elected from legislative districts, and those who, as
provided by law, shall be elected through a party-list system
of registered national, regional and sectoral parties or
organizations.
 PARTY-LIST REPRESENTATIVES constitute twenty per
centum of the total number of representatives including
those under the party list.
 Qualifications (Section 6, Art. VI):
a. Natural-born citizen of the Philippines
b. At least 25 years old on the day of the election
c. Able to read and write
d. Except the party-list representatives, a
registered voter in the district in which he shall
be elected.
e. Except the party-list representatives, a resident
thereof for a period of not less than one year
immediately preceding the day of the election.
 TERM OF OFFICE (Section 7, Art. VI):
 The members of the House of Representatives shall
be elected for a term of 3 years.
 No Member of the House of Representatives shall
serve for more than 3 consecutive terms.
 Voluntary renunciation of the office for any length
of time shall not be considered as an interruption in
 LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT

the continuity of his service for the full term of  No member shall be questioned nor be held liable in any
which he was elected. other place for any speech or debate in the Congress or in
any committee thereof.

FULL DISCLOSURE OF THEIR FINANCIAL AND BUSINESS

ELECTION (Section 8, Art. VI)
INTERESTS (Section 12, Art. VI)
 Unless provided by law, the regular election of the Senators
 All members of the Congress shall, upon assumption of
and the Members of the House of Representatives is held
office, make a full disclosure of their financial and
on the second Monday of May.
business interests.
VACANCY (Section 9, Art. VI)  They shall notify the House concerned of a potential
conflict of interest that may arise from the filing of a
 In case of vacancy in the Senate or in the House of proposed legislation of which they are authors.
Representatives, a special election may be called to fill such
vacancy in the manner prescribed by law. NO HOLDING OF OFFICE OR EMPLOYMENT IN THE GOVERNMENT
 But, the Senator or Member of the House of
 No member of Congress may hold any other office or
Representatives thus elected shall serve only for the
employment in the Government, or any subdivision, agency
unexpired term.
or instrumentality thereof, including government-owned or
EMOLUMENTS (Section 10, Art. VI) controlled corporations or their subsidiaries, during his term
without forfeiting his seat.
 The salaries of Senators and Members of the House of
Representatives shall be determined by law.
 No increase in said compensation shall take effect until after
the expiration of the full term of all the Members of the
Senate and the House of Representatives approving such
increase.

PRIVILEGED FROM ARREST AND PRIVILEGED SPEECH

 A Senator or Member of the House of Representatives shall,

in all offenses punishable by not more than 6 years
imprisonment, be privileged from arrest while the Congress
is in session. (Section 11, Art. VI)