Senate of the Philippines From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search This article needs

additional citations for verification. Please help im prove this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material m ay be challenged and removed. (June 2012) Senate of the Philippines Senado ng Pilipinas 15th Congress of the Philippines Coat of arms or logo Type Type Upper house Term limits 2 terms (12 years) Leadership President of the Senate Juan Ponce Enrile, UNA Since November 17, 2008 President pro tempore Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada, UNA Since July 23, 2007 Majority Leader Vicente C. Sotto III, NPC Since July 26, 2010 Minority Leader Alan Peter S. Cayetano, Nacionalista Since July 26, 2010 Structure Seats 24 Senators Philippine Senate composition.svg Political groups Majority Bloc: Liberal (4) UNA (3) Lakas (2) Nacionalista (2) NPC (2) PDP-Laban (2) LDP (1) PRP (1) Independent (3) Minority Bloc: Nacionalista (3) Lakas (1) Vacant (1) Committees See list Length of term 6 years Authority Article VI, Constitution of the Philippines Elections Voting system Plurality-at-large voting Last election May 10, 2010 Next election May 13, 2013 Meeting place Senate Session Hall.JPG GSIS Building, Financial Center, Macapagal Boulevard, Pasay Website Senate of the Philippines The Senate of the Philippines (Filipino: Senado ng Pilipinas) is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the Philippines, the Congress; the House of Rep

resentatives is the lower house. The Senate is composed of 24 senators who are e lected at-large with the country as one district under plurality-at-large voting . Senators serve 6-year terms, with half of the senators elected every 3 years to ensure that the Senate is maintained as a continuous body, though staggered. Whe n the Senate was restored by the 1987 Constitution, the 24 senators who were ele cted in 1987 served until 1992. In 1992 the candidates for the Senate obtaining the 12 highest number of votes served until 1998, while the next 12 served until 1995. Thereafter, each senator elected serves the full 6 years. Aside from having its concurrence on every bill in order to be passed for the pr esident's signature to become a law, the Senate is the only body that can concur with treaties, and can try impeachment cases. Presiding over the Senate is the Senate President, Juan Ponce Enrile since 2008. Contents 1 2 3 4 5 6 History Composition Qualifications Organization Powers Current members 6.1 Party composition 6.2 Blocs 6.3 Seating arrangement 7 Committees 8 Seat 9 Prominent Senators 9.1 Assumed Philippine Presidency 9.2 Other 10 References 11 External links History The post-World-War-II Philippine Senate in 1951: Cipriano P. Primicias, Sr., far left, debates Quintn Paredes, far right. In the middle are Justiniano Montano, M ariano Jesus Cuenco, Enrique B. Magalona, and Francisco Delgado; in the foregrou nd is Edmundo Cea. Deliberations were once held at the Old Congress Building, Ma nila. From 1907 to 1916, the Philippine Commission headed by the U.S. Governor-General served as the upper chamber of the colonial legislature at the same time exerci sed executive powers. On August 29, 1916 the United States Congress enacted the Philippine Autonomy Act or popularly known as the "Jones Law" which paved the wa y for the creation of a bicameral Philippine Legislature wherein the Senate serv ed as the upper chamber and while the House of Representatives as the lower cham ber of it. Then Philippine Resident Commissioner Manuel L. Quezon encouraged Spe aker Sergio Osmea to run for the leadership of the Senate, but Osmea preferred to continue leading the lower house. Quezon then ran for the Senate and became Sena te President for the next 19 years (1916 1935). Senators then were elected via sen atorial districts via plurality-at-large voting; each district grouped several p rovinces and each elected two senators except for "non-Christian" provinces wher e the Governor-General of the Philippines appointed the senators for the distric t. This setup continued until 1935, when the Philippine Independence Act or the "Ty dings-McDuffie Act" was provided by the U.S. Congress which granted the Filipino s the right to frame their own constitution in preparation for their independenc e, wherein they established a unicameral National Assembly, effectively abolishi

ng the Senate. Not long after the adoption of the 1935 Constitution several amen dments began to be proposed. By 1938, the National Assembly began consideration of these proposals, which included restoring the Senate as the upper chamber of Congress. The amendment of the 1935 Constitution to have a bicameral legislature was approved in 1940 and the first biennial elections for the restored upper ho use was held in November 1941. Instead of the old senatorial districts, senators were elected via the entire country serving as an at-large district, although s till under plurality-at-large voting, with voters voting up to eight candidates, and the eight candidates with the highest number of votes being elected. While the Senate from 1916 to 1935 had exclusive confirmation rights over executive ap pointments, as part of the compromises that restored the Senate in 1941, the pow er of confirming executive appointments has been exercised by a joint Commission on Appointments composed of members of both houses. However, the Senate since i ts restoration and the independence of the Philippines in 1946 has the power to ratify treaties. The Senate finally convened in 1945 and served as the upper chamber of Congress from thereon until the declaration of martial law by President Ferdinand Marcos in 1972. which shut down Congress. The Senate was resurrected in 1987 upon the r atification of the 1987 Constitution. However, instead of eight senators being r eplaced after every election, it was changed to twelve. In the Senate, the officers are the Senate President, Senate President pro tempo re, Majority Floor Leader, Minority Floor Leader and the Senate Secretary and th e Senate Sergeant at Arms who shall be elected by the Senators from among the em ployees and staff of the Senate. Meanwhile, the Senate President, Senate Preside nt pro-tempore, the Majority Floor Leader and the Minority Floor Leader shall be elected by the Senators from among themselves. Composition See also: Philippine senatorial elections Election results from 1916 to the present. Note that some senators may switch to another party mid-term. Article VI, Section 2 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution provides that the Sena te shall be composed of 24 senators who shall be elected at-large by the qualifi ed voters of the Philippines, as may be provided by law. The composition of the Senate is smaller in number as compared to the House of R epresentatives. The members of this chamber are elected at large by the entire e lectorate. The rationale for this rule intends to make the Senate a training gro und for national leaders and possibly a springboard for the presidency. It follows also that the Senator, having a national rather than only a district constituency, will have a broader outlook of the problems of the country, instea d of being restricted by narrow viewpoints and interests. With such perspective, the Senate is likely to be more circumspect, or at least less impulsive, than t he House of Representatives. Senatorial candidates are chosen by the leaders of major political parties or co alitions of parties. The selection process is not transparent and is done in "ba ckrooms" where much political horse-trading occurs. Thus, the absence of regiona l or proportional representation in the Senate exacerbates a top heavy system of governance, with power centralized in Metro Manila. It has often been suggested that each region of the country should elect its own senator(s) to more properl y represent the people. This will have the effect of flattening the power struct ure. Regional problems and concerns within a national view can be addressed more effectively. A senator's performance, accountability, and electability become m eaningful to a more defined and identifiable regional constituency. The Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) composed of three Supreme Court justices and

six senators determines election protests on already-seated senators. There had been three instances where the SET has replaced senators due to election protes ts, the last of which was on 2011 when the tribunal awarded the protest of Aquil ino Pimentel III against Juan Miguel Zubiri