A FOCUS ON SELECTED FIELDS OF POLITICAL

SCIENCE:

COMPARATIVE GOVERNMENT, POLITICAL

DYNAMICS, GOVERNMENT AND BUSINESS,
LEGISLATURE, AND GEOPOLITICS

CHARITY T. GARCIA, LPT, MAT-SOC. SCI.

INSTRUCTOR
 COMPARING SOME AREAS OF THE US
AND PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENTS
The Bill of Rights in the Philippine (Phl) Constitution is
a duplicate of that in the Constitution of the United
States (US). We shall take up the Bill of Rights soon.

Additionally, similar to the government structure of the

US, the Phl government consists of three branches– the
executive, legislative, and judiciary. The three have their
own powers and work independently. But, through a
system of checks and balances, each branch can modify
(amend) or reject (veto) actions of the other branches to
prevent any one branch from exerting too much power.
 AN EXAMPLE OF THE SYSTEM OF CHECKS
AND BALANCES
• The legislative branch makes the laws, but the
President from the executive branch can veto
those laws.
• The legislative branch makes the laws, but the
judicial branch can declare those laws
unconstitutional.
• The President can veto a law, but the legislative
branch can override/disregard that veto with
2/3rds of its members voting for the override.
So see? This composes a big part of our
national news everyday– the tension
between the three branches of
government which is mostly necessary for
a balanced government.
 THE PHL EXECUTIVE BRANCH
The executive power rests in the President, who is also
the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces (Army,
Air Force, Navy). He/she functions as both the head of
state (the country’s representative and symbol of power
and unity) and the head of government (the country’s
chief implementer of laws and decision-maker together
with his/her chosen cabinet members). The cabinet is a
body of advisers to the president who also serve as
heads or “secretaries” of government departments. The
President chooses his/her own cabinet.
Here are some of Pres. Duterte’s cabinet members.
 ARMY VS. POLICE

The Philippine National Police (PNP) enforces

laws and ordinances while the Armed Forces of the
Philippines (AFP) controls rebellion and other
threats to national security. The PNP is under the
National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM) which
is an attached agency of the Department of
Interior and Local Government (DILG). The AFP
is under the Department of Defense (DND).
Who is more powerful—the police or
military? This is an unfair question. The two
hold different jobs. The Army can never be
more powerful than civilians because its
highest official is a civilian– the Philippine
President. Police officers are civilians in the
sense that they are not members of the Armed
Forces. But in law enforcement, there is
distinction between police officers and plain
civilians.
 POLITICAL PARTIES
Political parties bring together people with the same political beliefs and
ideas. In an election, political parties hope to get as many members as
possible into government positions to influence the politics in a place.
The Philippines has a multi-party system with numerous political parties,
in which no one party often has a chance of gaining power alone, and
parties must work with each other to form alliances. The following are
some of the major political parties in the Philippines and their leaders:
PDP-Laban – Manny Pacquaio
Nationalist Party- Manny Villar
Partido Liberal- Kiko Pangilinan

These political parties have different philosophies, principles, and beliefs.

See how colorful Philippine politics is? While the US has a 2-party system
which means only the two major political parties dominate politics. Third
parties rarely win places/seats in the Legislative Department/Congress
(made up of senators and congressmen).
 PHL GOVERNMENT’S EXERCISE OF BUSINESS

In the Phl, there are government-owned and controlled

corporations (GOCC) through which the ownership of the
government of these businesses make them more responsive to the
needs of the public. The Phl government owns businesses like
banks (ex. DBP and Landbank), ports and airports (ex. CAAP,
Clark Int’l. Airport), schools (public and state universities),
manufacturing companies (ex. mines, sugar corporations,
pharmaceutical companies), real estate (ex. Subic Bay) ,retail
companies (ex. Duty Free), utilities (ex. water and electric
companies), and other businesses (ex. Boy & Girl Scouts of the
Phl, Cultural Center of the Phl., PAG-IBIG Fund, hospitals).
GOCCs are required to turn over 50% of yearly earnings to the
national government.
 GEOPOLITICS

This is the study of how politics is influenced by geography

specifically the population of a place, amount of natural resources,
climate, and topography (land and water features). Could you
think of local, national, and international political issues the Phl
face in terms of its population, natural resources, climate, and
land and water territories?
This will be the topic of the first group recitation via Google Meet.
Form a group with 5 members and brainstorm on current
Philippine geopolitical issues. Each member should tackle a
different issue than the others. The group will be informed ahead
of their schedule for recitation. Keep answers brief by sticking to
the basic information: What is the issue? Who are involved? How
does the government plan to resolve it? What is your opinion on
the issue?
-END-