The Philippine Government

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 legisla-
tion belongs to Congress, execution to the Executive, and settlement of legal controversies to the Judiciary.

The Legislative branch is authorized to make laws, alter, and repeal them through the power vested in the Philip-
pine Congress. This institution is divided into the Senate and the House of Representatives.
National Government of the Philippines
The Executive branch is composed of the President and the Vice President who are elected by direct popular vote and
serve a term of six years. The Constitution grants the President authority to appoint his Cabinet. These departments
form a large portion of the country’s bureaucracy.

The Judicial branch holds the power to settle controversies involving rights that are legally demandable and enforcea-
ble. 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.
The Constitution expressly grants the Supreme Court the power of Judicial Review as the power to declare a treaty, in-
ternational or executive agreement, law, presidential decree, proclamation, order, instruction, ordinance or regulation
unconstitutional.
 Legal Structure

The 1987 Constitution of the Philippines, as in past constitutions, vested the power
of government on the legislative, executive, and the judiciary.
• The Legislative Power is vested in the Congress of the Philippines which shall
consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives, except to the extent
reserved to the people by the provision on initiative and referendum;
• The Executive Power is vested in the President of the Philippines, and;
• The Judicial Power is vested in one Supreme Court and in such lower courts as
may be established by law.
The Constitution ensures the separation of powers among the three branches. The
set-up provides a system of check-and-balance to prevent abuses and unbridled
discretion of a branch of government.

Lavadia, Ma. Angela C.

PHILIPPINES
Government type
Republic
Independence
12 June 1898 (from Spain)
Constitution
2 February 1987, effective 11
February 1987
Legal system
Mixed Roman Civil Law and
Anglo-American Common Law
Administrative divisions
17 regions, 79 provinces and
115 cities
 Local Government

Philippine political subdivisions comprise the national government, together with

what are termed Local Government Units: provinces and independent cities, cities

and municipalities (towns) which are components of provinces, and barangays

(villages or village-sized communities) which are components of cities and

municipalities.

The Code itself mandated a review after 10 years, and, as part of this, the
Department of the Interior and Local Government in partnership with the Philippines-
Australia Governance Facility published A Study on People’s Participation in Local
Development Councils in November 2001.
THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES
The Barangay