The Philippine Government

The Philippine Government consists of three branches: Legislative, Executive, and the Judiciary. Each of these branches have their own defined and specific roles that ensure the upholding, promotion, and protection of the Filipino’s welfare.

It is imperative, and ideally, that these branches are working in harmony with each other and with similar levels of competence. No branch is better or higher than the other, In fact, they all need each other to ensure that they achieve their main goal – furthering the betterment of the Filipino people.

Without further ado, let’s acquaint and familiarize ourselves with the three branches of the Philippine government.

The Legislative Branch

The Legislative Branch is responsible for creating and crafting the policies of the Philippines. This branch is composed of the Congress – which consists of two Chambers: the Senate (upper) and the House of Representatives (lower).

The Senate of the Philippines has 24 members who are directly elected at-large by the people. They hold a six-year term, in which they can serve for two consecutive terms. In this regard, half of their members undergo a staggered election in accordance with the election cycle of the country. Thus, there is a chance that 12 of them will be replaced every three years.

The House of Representatives, on the other hand, shall have no more than 250 members unless fixed by the law. As for the composition, 20% of its members shall come from party-lists. They are elected through parallel elections, in which the voting population only consists of the voters from their respective districts (with the exemption of the party-list). They serve a three-year term and may serve up to three consecutive terms.

Generally, these two Chambers work together in creating policies – especially the ones of national scale. They shall agree to one final version and submit it to the President for their signature.

Officially, the Congress of the Philippines is the primary composition of the Legislative Branch. Nonetheless, at the local level, we have several legislating bodies that create policies that directly cater to their constituents and domains: The Board Members, Bangsamoro Parliament, Councilors, and Barangay Kagawads.

The provincial legislating body consists of the Board Members. Elected at large by the people from their respective districts, these public officials are primarily concerned at creating the most appropriate and effective policies that would uphold, protect, and promote the welfare of the people of their province. Their group is headed by the Provincial Vice Governor, and together they concur on the policies that will be effectively legislated in their domain.

For the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, the Bangsamoro Parliament is the legislating body of the region. The Parliament has 80 seats, and each representative is voted at large by the people of the region for a three-year term. Moreover, it is composed of a majority and minority leader while being presided over by a Parliament Speaker. Together, they create policies that cater to the constituents of their region.

The municipal or city-level legislators are composed of the Councilors. Elected by the voters of their municipality and city, they are also in-charge in crafting policies for their constituents. Together with the Vice Mayor, these Council members are focused on making sure that they create policies that should empower its citizens in their municipality or city.

Finally, the barangay-level legislative body consists of the Barangay Kagawads. They are elected by the voters within the barangay and they are primarily in-charge in creating policies that would directly cater to the welfare of people in their barangay.

The Executive Branch

The Executive Branch is in-charge of implementing and executing the policies created by the legislators. This branch consists of the President, Vice President, and the Cabinet Members. The President and Vice President are elected at large by the people and serve a six-year term and cannot be reelected.

The Cabinet members are the Secretaries and Head of the Executive Departments, Bureaus, and Offices, which serve as the alter egos of the President. They are nominated and presented by the President to the Commission on Appointments. Upon approval of their nomination, they are sworn in office and begin to function as mandated.

The local level also has their chief executives that are in-charge in making sure that national and local policies are being put into action within their domains: The Governor, Chief Minister of Bangsamoro, Mayor, and Barangay Captains. By virtue of the provisions of the Local Government Code, these local chief executives enjoy relative autonomy from the national government.

The Governors are the highest chief executives of the provinces. Elected at large by the voters of the province, they serve for a three-year term, and may serve for three consecutive terms. They are primarily in-charge in the overall development of their province.

The Chief Minister of Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao is the chief executive and representative of the region. Accordingly, the chief minister has the power to execute and implement policies for their region. They are also in-charge in appointing the heads of the region’s executive departments, bureaus, and offices. Through this, the Chief Minister steers the region toward the promotion and protection of the welfare and rights of the Bangsamoro people.

The Municipal and City Mayors are the highest chief executives of the municipalities and cities. They are put in position through direct vote of the people in their domain, and they serve a three-year term and may be reelected for three consecutive terms. The prosperity of the towns and cities rests in their hands as they are responsible for the implementation of policies created by their Councilors.

Lastly, we have the Barangay Captains who heads over the executive position in their respective barangays. Similar to the governor and mayor, they are elected by the voters within their domains and they are responsible for ensuring that the policies brought down by the national and local chief executives – including theirs – are being implemented appropriately and accordingly.

Judicial Branch

The Judicial Branch of the government is responsible for the interpretation and settlement of controversies and misunderstandings that involve the laws of the Republic of the Philippines. Most importantly, they ensure that all policies and laws being implemented are in accordance with the Philippine Constitution. This branch is headed by the Supreme Court and composed of three lower courts and other specialized courts.

The Supreme Court is the highest court of the Philippines. They are the last frontier of all cases. It is composed of 14 Associate Justices and headed by a Chief Justice – all of whom are appointed by the President from the list of nominees submitted by the Judicial and Bar Council. The Associate and Chief Justices do not have any term limits, rather they are obliged to retire from office at the age of 70 or if they are no longer capable of performing their duties.

The first-level of the lower courts consist of the Metropolitan and Municipal Trial Courts – in which each court has one judge.. These courts primarily handle criminal matters and violations of the city or municipal ordinances. Nonetheless, it is important to note that there are some criminal cases that are not within the first-level courts (e.g. criminal cases of graft and corruption by a public official).

Next, the Regional Trial Court is the second-level court wherein cases from the first-level court may be appealed. Accordingly, they handle criminal matters except for cases wherein Sandiganbayan has original jurisdiction. Similar to the first-level courts, they are headed by one judge.

The Court of Appeals is where cases from the Regional Trial Court and Court of Tax Appeals are being appealed. They have the original jurisdiction of the following writs: mandamus, prohibition, injunction, certiorari, habeas corpus, quo warranto, and other auxiliary writs. Cases from this court may be appealed to the Supreme Court – the final frontier for any case in the country.

Aside from these lower courts, it is also notable that the Judicial Branch is also composed of specialized courts that tackle specific cases.

The Court of Tax Appeals, created through the Republic Act No. 1125, is a specialized court whose jurisdiction is limited towards decisions, judgements, ruling, or inaction on the National Revenue Code and the Tariff and Customs Code. This jurisdiction further expanded across matters involving criminal violation and collection of revenues under the aforementioned codes. Also, it has jurisdiction over cases involving local and real property taxes.

For cases involving corrupt public officials, the Philippines has Sandiganbayan to deal with that. Cases of corruption regarding public officials are filed by the Ombudsman – a government institution that is independently monitoring the three branches and has the ability to investigate and prosecute government officials accused of crime.

The Philippines also have Shari’a Courts which rule on Shari’a law and has limited jurisdiction over cases that relates to the Muslim. Their territorial jurisdiction is determined by the Supreme Court and they are predominantly located in Mindanao.

Those are some of the notable specialized courts that the Philippine Judiciary Branch has. Finally, it should be given attention that the country has several quasi-judicial bodies who have the capabilities to interpret the law on a specific subject matter limited to the sector or domain that the department covers. They can interpret, but they don’t have judicial powers.

Examples of quasi-judicial bodies would include: Commission on Elections on election-related matters, Commission on Audit on government expenditures, and Civil Service Commission on maintaining the integrity of government actions and processes, among others.

Lastly, the barangay-level has the Katarungang Pambarangay which was created with the intention of decongesting the regular courts. This consists of the Lupon Tagapamayapa which is presided and headed by the Barangay Captain. Though it does not have any judicial powers, the Katarungang Pambarangay serves as a mandatory mediator at the village level – thus properly identifying the issues and disputes before it goes to the first-level courts.

Conclusion

The Philippine government has the necessary branches that systematically work to promote the welfare of its citizens and country. They have the legislative branch to create policies that would better the lives of the Filipinos. Then, there is the executive branch who puts into action these crafted policies to realize what these policies are meant to accomplish for the Filipino people. Lastly, they have the judiciary whose purpose is to ensure that all policies are being implemented in accordance with its spirit and the Philippine Constitution.

In this regard, there is no branch “higher” or “more important/significant” among the three. All of them are needed to ensure that the Philippine government is achieving its main goal and objectives. They also need each other to make sure that they are appropriately performing the duties and responsibilities that they are ought to do.

A gentle reminder, good state-society relations require good understanding of the government system and functions, as well as the needs and wants of the society. Thus, together, let’s take a step towards it by understanding the government so that we may be able to communicate our thoughts and messages properly and to send it to appropriate government actors and institutions.