TABLE OF CASES RE: CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS AND CHANGES IN GOVERNMENT
A. WHO MAY EXERCISE LEGISLATIVE POWER POWER
Q: What is legislative power?
A: Legislative power is the authority to make laws and to alter and repeal them.
A.1. CONGRESS
Legislative power is vested in the Congress, which consists of a Senate and a House of Representatives. (Art. VI, Sec. 1) Grant of legislative power to Congress is plenary.
Congress may legislate on any subject matter provided that constitutional limitations are observed.
A.2. REGIONAL/LOCAL LEGISLATIVE POWER
N.B. A regional assembly exists for the ARMM
21 Initiative
i. Local initiative; voter requirements
Region Not less than X
registered voters
Autonomous regions 2,000
Provinces 1,000
Municipalities 100
Barangays 50
Where to file – Regional Assembly, local legislative body, as the case may be. (Sec. 13, RA 6735)
ii. Limitations on local initiative
Cannot be exercised more than once a year;
extends only to subjects or matters which are within the legal powers of the local legislative bodies to enact; and if at any time before the initiative is held, the local legislative body should adopt in toto the proposition presented, the initiative shall be cancelled. (Sec. 15, RA 6735)
Referendum – the power of the electorate to approve or reject legislation through an election called for that purpose (Sec. 3c, RA 6735)
Referendum: Classes
(1) Referendum on statutes – petition to approve or reject an act or law, or part thereof, passed by Congress;
(2) Referendum on local laws – legal process whereby the registered voters of the LGUs may approve, amend, or reject any ordinance enacted by the Sanggunian (Sec.
126, LGC)
Q: Is the power of to hold a referendum plenary?
A: No, the following cannot be the subject of an initiative or referendum petition –
(1) No petition embracing more than one subject shall be submitted to the electorate;
and
(2) Statutes involving emergency measures, the enactment of which is specifically vested in Congress by the Constitution, cannot be subject to referendum until 90 days after their effectivity. (Sec. 10, RA 6735)
A.4. THE PRESIDENT UNDER MARTIAL LAW OR IN A REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENT
Sec. 23. (1) The Congress, by a vote of two-thirds of both Houses in joint session assembled, voting separately, shall have the sole power to declare the existence of a state of war.
(2) In times of war or other national emergency, the Congress may, by law, authorize the President, for a limited period and subject to such restrictions as it may prescribe, to exercise powers necessary and proper to carry out a declared national policy. Unless sooner withdrawn by resolution of the Congress, such powers shall cease upon the next adjournment thereof.
Congress may delegate legislative powers to the president in times of war or in other national emergency. [Bernas]
B. HOUSES OF CONGRESS
B.1. SENATESee comparison below
B.2. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES i. Composition, qualifications, term of office
Senate (art. VI, sec. 2-4)
House of Representatives (art. VI, sec. 5-8) Composition
24 senators elected at large
Not more than 250 members, unless otherwise provided by law, consisting of:
(3) District
Representatives
22
(1) Natural-born citizen (2) At least 35 years old
on the day of the election
(3) Able to read and write (4) A registered voter (5) Resident of the
Philippines for at least 2 years immediately preceding the day of the election
(1) Natural-born citizens (2) At least 25 years old the district he seeks to represent
(5) A resident of the said district for at least 1 year immediately preceding the day of the election
Term of Office
6 years 3 years
Term Limits
2 consecutive terms 3 consecutive terms ii. District representatives and questions of apportionment
District Representatives - Elected from legislative districts apportioned among the provinces, cities, and Metro Manila area.
Rules on Apportionment of Legislative Districts:
(1) Apportionment of legislative districts must be by law which could be a:
(a) General Apportionment Law; or
(b) Special Law (i.e. creation of new
reapportionment do not require a plebiscite.
[Bagabuyo v. COMELEC, 576 SCRA 290 (2008)]
(2) Proportional representation based on number of inhabitants
(a) Each city with a population of at least 250,000 shall have at least 1 representative.
(b) Each province, irrespective of the number of inhabitants, shall have at least 1 representative.
(3) Each legislative district shall comprise, as far as practicable, contiguous, compact, and adjacent territory. (N.B. Anti-gerrymandering provision)
(4) Re-apportionment by Congress within 3 years after the return of each census.
N.B. – “Apportionment”: The determination of the number of representatives which a State, county, or other subdivision may send to a legislative body; compare with
“reapportionment”, i.e., Realignment or change in legislative districts brought about by changes in population and mandated by the constitutional requirement of equality of representation. (Bagabuyo v COMELEC);
iii. Party-list system
Party-List Representatives – shall constitute 20% of the total number of representatives, elected through a party-list system of registered national, regional, and sectoral parties or organizations
See Sectoral Representatives - For 3 consecutive terms from 2 February 1987, ½ of the party-list seats shall be allotted to sectoral representatives to be chosen by appointment or election, as may be provided by law. Until a law is passed, they are appointed by the President from a list of nominees by the respective sectors.
[Art. XVIII, Sec. 7]
23 N.B. The party-list system is not synonymous with sectoral representation. [Atong Paglaum v.
COMELEC, G.R. No. 203766, Apr. 3, 2013, citing 1986 Constitutional Commission Records]
Atong Paglaum Guidelines
(1) Three different parties or organizations may participate in the party-list system:
(a) national;
(b) regional;
(c) or sectoral;
(2) National and regional parties or orgs do not need to (a) organize along sectoral lines, or (b) represent any “marginalized or underrepresented” sector;
(3) Political parties may participate in the party-list system provided:
(a) they register under the party-list system;
(b) they do not field candidates in legislative district elections.
(i) A party that participates in the legislative district elections may still participate in the party-list through a sectoral wing.
(ii) The sectoral wing can be part of the political party’s coalition, but the former must be registered independently in the party-list system.
(4) Sectoral parties or orgs may either be (a)
“marginalized or underrepresented” (e.g.
labor, peasant, fisherfolk); or (b) “lacking in well-defined political constituencies” (e.g.
professionals, women, elderly, youth) (5) The nominees of sectoral parties or orgs, of
either type, must (a) belong to their respective sectors, or (b) have a track record of advocacy for their respective sectors.
Majority of the members of a sectoral party, of either type, must belong to the sector they represent.
(6) National, regional, or sectoral parties or orgs shall not be disqualified if some of their nominees are disqualified, provided
they have at least 1 nominee who remains qualified. [Atong Paglaum, supra]
Disqualifications and Qualifications
See R.A. 7941, An Act Providing For The Election Of List Representatives Through The Party-List System, And Appropriating Funds Therefor Disqualified Parties:
(1) Religious Sects (2) Foreign Organizations
(3) Advocating Violence or Unlawful Means (4) Receiving support from any foreign
government, foreign political party, foundation, organization, whether directly or through any of its officers or members or indirectly through third parties for partisan election purposes.
(5) Violates or fails to comply with laws, rules or regulations relating to elections;
(6) Declares untruthful statements in its petition;
(7) Ceased to exist for at least one (1) year; or (8) Fails to participate in the last two (2)
preceding elections or fails to obtain at least 2 per centum of the votes cast under the party-list system in the two (2) preceding elections for the constituency in which it has registered.
Qualified Sectors:
N.B. This qualification applies only to sectoral parties. Participating national or regional parties need not fall under any of these sectors.
[See Atong Paglaum, supra]
(1) Labor (2) Peasant (3) Fisherfolk (4) Urban Poor
(5) Indigenous Cultural Communities (6) Elderly
(7) Handicapped (8) Women (9) Youth (10) Veterans
24 (11) Overseas Workers
(12) Professionals
Four parameters of the party-list system:
(1) 20% Allocation: 20% of the total number of the membership of the House of Representatives is the maximum number of seats available to party-list organizations.
(2) 2% Threshold: Garnering 2% of the total votes cast in the party-list elections guarantees a party-list organization one (1) seat.
(3) Additional Seats: The additional seats, that is, the remaining seats after allocation of the guaranteed seats, shall be distributed to the party-list organizations including those that received less than two percent of the total votes.
N.B. The continued operation of the 2%
threshold to the allocation of the additional seats is unconstitutional because this threshold mathematically and physically prevents the filling up of the available party-list seats.
(4) 3-Seat Cap: The three-seat cap is constitutional.
N.B. It is intended by the Legislature to prevent any party from dominating the party-list system. There is no violation of the Constitution because the 1987 Constitution does not require absolute proportionality for the party-list system. [BANAT v. COMELEC, G.R. No. 179271, Jul. 8, 2009 Resolution on the Motion for Clarificatory Judgment]
Rules on Computation of Seats: Two-Round Allocation
Step 1: Compute total number of seats allocated for party-list representatives
Step 2: Rank all party-list candidates from highest to lowest based on the number of votes they garnered
Step 3: Compute for each party-list candidate’s percentage of votes garnered in relation to the
total number of votes cast for party-list candidates.
Step 4: Round 1 – Allocate one (1) seat each for party-list that garnered at least 2% of the total number of votes.
Step 5: Round 2 – Assign additional seats from the balance (i.e. total number of party-list seats minus Round 1 allocations) by:
(a) Allocating one (1) seat for every whole integer (e.g. if a party garners 2.73% of the vote, assign it two [2] more seats; if 1.80%, assign it one [1] more seat); then
(b) Allocating the remaining seats (i.e. total seats minus Round 1 and Round 2a allocations) to those next in rank until all seats are completely distributed.
Step 6: Apply the 3-Seat Cap, if necessary. [See BANAT v. COMELEC, supra]