PHILIPPINES AS A STATE: BASIC CONCEPTS
The Philippine Political Structure
What is a STATE?
– State is a community of persons more or less
numerous, permanently occupying a definite
portion of territory, having a government to
which a great majority of people render
obedience and enjoys freedom or sovereignty
from external control.
IS THE PHILIPPINES A STATE?
ARTICLE I: National Territory
– The national territory comprises the Philippine
archipelago, with all the islands and waters
embraced therein, and all other territories over
which the Philippines has sovereignty or
jurisdiction, consisting of its terrestrial, fluvial,
and aerial domains, including its territorial sea,
the seabed, the subsoil, the insular shelves, and
other submarine areas. The waters around,
between, and connecting the islands of the
archipelago, regardless of their breadth and
dimensions, form part of the internal waters of
the Philippines.
– Territorial waters (12 nautical miles)
– Exclusive Economic Zones (200 nautical miles)
The Philippine government
Article 2, Section 1 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution:
The Philippines is a democratic and republican State.
Sovereignty resides in the people and all government
authority emanates from them.
Republic: "A state in which supreme power is held by
the people and their elected representatives, and which
has an elected or nominated president rather than a
monarch."
Democracy: "A system of government by the whole
population or all the eligible members of a state,
typically through elected representatives."
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 Philippine government
The current structure of the Philippine national
government is the result of the 1986 People Power
Revolution that removed the longtime Philippine
dictator, Ferdinand Marcos. The resulting 1987
Constitution created a democratic republic modeled
after the U.S. national system. The executive branch is
headed by the Philippine president, who is directly
elected by the Philippine people and serves one six-year
term in office.
Note: Philippine presidents cannot run for re-election.
THE THREE BRANCHES OF PHILIPPINE
GOVERNMENT
I. THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH
Article VII, Section 1, of the 1987 Constitution vests
executive power on the President of the
Philippines. The President is the Head of State and Head
of Government, and functions as the commander-in-
chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. As chief
executive, the President exercises control over all the
executive departments, bureaus, and offices.
The President of the Philippines is elected by direct vote
by the people for a term of six years. He may only serve
for one term and is ineligible for reelection. The term of
the President of the Philippines starts at noon of the
30th day of June after the election.
THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH: QUALIFICATIONS FOR
PRESIDENCY
The qualifications for an individual aspiring to become
the President of the Philippines are outlined in Article
VII, Section 2 of the 1987 Constitution. According to the
constitution, an individual may become President
provided he meets the following criteria:
– NATURAL BORN FILIPINO;
– A REGISTERED VOTER;
– MUST BE ABLE TO READ AND WRITE;
– 40 YEARS OF AGE AT THE DAY OF THE
ELECTION; AND
– MUST HAVE RESIDED IN THE PHILIPPINES TEN
YEARS BEFORE THE ELECTION IS HELD.
 II. THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
According to the 1987 Constitution, legislative power
shall be vested in the Congress of the Philippines,
which shall consist of a Senate and a House of
Representatives.
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; the House
of Representatives shall be composed of not more than
250 (unless otherwise fixed by law), 20 percent of
whom must be Party-list representatives.
When Filipinos cast their votes they cast two votes for
the House of Representatives, one for a district
representative and one for a political party. Political
parties receiving at least 2 percent of the national vote
will earn a seat in the House. No political party can earn
more than 3 seats through the party list voting process.
The party list voting method is a form of proportional
representation and is intended to provide third parties
and underrepresented groups representation in the
legislature. Each representative serves a three-year
term and can serve not more than three consecutive
terms.
The legislative branch
When Filipinos cast their votes they cast two
votes for the House of Representatives, one for a
district representative and one for a political party.
Political parties receiving at least 2 percent of the
national vote will earn a seat in the House. No political
party can earn more than 3 seats through the party list
voting process. The party list voting method is a form of
proportional representation and is intended to provide
third parties and underrepresented groups
representation in the legislature. Each representative
serves a three-year term and can serve not more than
three consecutive terms.
The legislative branch:
THE PHILIPPINE SENATE
– The Philippine Senate consists of 24 members
elected from at-large from the entire
Philippines. Senators serve six-year terms and
can serve no more than two consecutive terms.
The qualifications to become a senator, as
stipulated in the constitution, are:
– - a natural-born citizen of the
Philippines;
- at least thirty-five years old;
- is able to read and write
- a registered voter; and
- a resident of the Philippines for not less than
two years before election day.
The legislative branch:
THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
The constitution provides for the following criteria to
become a member of the House of Representatives:
- a natural-born citizen of the Philippines;
- at least twenty-five years old;
- is able to read and write; and
- except the party-list representatives, a registered
voter and a resident for at least one year in the district
where s/he shall be elected.
III. THE JUDICIAL BRANCH
– The Philippines has an independent judicial
branch headed by the Philippine Supreme
Court. The Supreme Court is comprised of 15
justices. Supreme Court justices are appointed
by the Philippine President from a list of
candidates prepared by the Philippine Judicial
and Bar Council.
–
– The Judicial branch 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.
– express in a permanent manner what the
– 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.
– The Philippine sovereignty
The sovereignty of the Philippines refers to the
status of the Philippines as an independent
nation.
Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme,
independent authority over a territory. It can be
found in a power to rule and make law that
rests on a political fact for which no purely legal
explanation can be provided.
A sovereign state is a political association with
effective internal and external sovereignty over
a geographic area and population which is not
dependent on, or subject to any other power or
state.
powers of government should be, what the
limitations are, how the people who are to
exercise the powers of sovereignty are to be
chosen and what the extent and limits of their
power are. As presently found in the
Constitution, powers are divided among three
departments. Succinctly, this means that the
legislature makes the law, the executive
implements the law and the Constitution, and
the judiciary determines what the law and
Constitution mean, thereby achieving orderly
checks and balances.
The sovereign people assert their sovereignty in
two distinct processes.
The second is through the sovereign
people’s vote in an election. This vote is not an
unlimited grant of power. Nor is it a grant of
power to navigate outside of the limits of the
will of the sovereign people as expressed in the
Constitution. To assume that an overwhelming
vote of the people in an election or a high
approval rating in a periodic survey is an
expression of popular revision of what they
have expressed in a constitutional plebiscite is
an invitation to disaster.

The sovereignty of the Filipino people

Government officials have only so much
authority as is given to them by law and the
“The Philippines is a democratic and republican Constitution.
State. Sovereignty resides in the people and all
government authority emanates from them.”
The PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT IS A GOVERNMENT BY
THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE AND OF THE PEOPLE.

The sovereign people assert their sovereignty in

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two distinct processes.

The first is through their vote in a

plebiscite ratifying or amending the
Constitution. Through this process the people