1.
Senate of the Philippines
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The Senate of the Philippines is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the Philippines, the Congress, the House of Representatives is the lower house. The Senate is composed of 24 senators who are elected at-large with the country as one district under plurality-at-large voting, when the Senate was restored by the 1987 Constitution, the 24 senators who were elected in 1987 served until 1992. In 1992 the candidates for the Senate obtaining the 12 highest number of votes served until 1998, thereafter, each senator elected serves the full 6 years. The Senate Presidency is currently held by Aquilino Pimentel III, the Senate has its roots in the Philippine Commission of the Insular Government. At the same time the governor-general also exercised executive powers, the Governor-General stayed on as head of the executive branch of the Insular Government. Then-Philippine Resident Commissioner Manuel L. Quezon encouraged Speaker Sergio Osmeña to run for the leadership of the Senate, Quezon then ran for the Senate and became Senate President for the next 19 years. This setup continued until 1935, when the Philippine Independence Act or the Tydings–McDuffie Act was passed by the U. S, not long after the adoption of the 1935 Constitution several amendments began to be proposed. By 1938, the National Assembly began consideration of these proposals, the amendment of the 1935 Constitution to have a bicameral legislature was approved in 1940 and the first biennial elections for the restored upper house was held in November 1941. However, the Senate since its 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 chamber of Congress from thereon until the declaration of martial law by President Ferdinand Marcos in 1972. The Senate was resurrected in 1987 upon the ratification of the 1987 Constitution, however, instead of eight senators being replaced after every election, it was changed to twelve. Meanwhile, the Senate President, Senate President pro-tempore, the Majority Floor Leader, the composition of the Senate is smaller in number as compared to the House of Representatives. The members of this chamber are elected at large by the entire electorate, the rationale for this rule intends to make the Senate a training ground for national leaders and possibly a springboard for the presidency. With such perspective, the Senate is likely to be more circumspect, or at least less impulsive, senatorial candidates are chosen by the leaders of major political parties or coalitions of parties. The selection process is not transparent and is done in backrooms where much political horse-trading occurs, thus, the absence of regional or proportional representation in the Senate exacerbates a top heavy system of governance, with power centralized in Metro Manila. It has often suggested that each region of the country should elect its own senator to more properly represent the people. This will have the effect of flattening the power structure, regional problems and concerns within a national view can be addressed more effectively. A senators performance, accountability, and electability become meaningful to a more defined, the Senate Electoral Tribunal composed of three Supreme Court justices and six senators determines election protests on already-seated senators
2.
Manuel L. Quezon
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Manuel Luis Quezón y Molina was a Filipino statesman, soldier, and politician who served as president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines from 1935 to 1944. He was the first Filipino to head a government of the entire Philippines, Quezon was a Spanish Filipino, with both his parents being Filipino mestizos. Quezon was the first Senate president elected to the presidency, the first president elected through an election. During his presidency, Quezon tackled the problem of landless peasants in the countryside and he established a government-in-exile in the U. S. with the outbreak of the war and the threat of Japanese invasion. It was during his exile in the U. S. that he died of tuberculosis at Saranac Lake and he was buried in the Arlington National Cemetery until the end of World War II, when his remains were moved to Manila. His final resting place is the Quezon Memorial Circle, President Benigno Aquino III, and María Zeneida Quezon Avanceña, who is 94 years old and the daughter of the former President, were duly informed about this recognition. Quezon, was born in Baler in the district of El Príncipe and his parents were Lucio Quezon and María Dolores Molina, both of whom were Spanish-Mestizos with distant ethnic Tagalog origins. His father was a grade school teacher from Paco, Manila. Quezon started life in a province of the Philippines as the son of a rice farmer. He went from governor of his local Tayabas region to president of the country in 10 years and he was influential in revising a key law that gave Filipinos a majority in the Philippine Commission and negotiated the Jones Act that allowed Filipinos to be self-legislating. He later boarded at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran where he completed secondary school, in 1899, Quezon cut short his law studies at the University of Santo Tomás in Manila to participate in the struggle for independence against the United States, led by Emilio Aguinaldo. During the Philippine–American War he was an Aide-de-camp to Emilio Aguinaldo and he rose to the rank of Major and fought in the Bataan sector. However, after surrendering in 1900 wherein he made his first break in the American press, Quezon returned to the university and passed the bar examinations in 1903, achieving fourth place. He worked for a time as a clerk and surveyor, entering government service as an appointed fiscal for Mindoro and he became a councilor and was elected governor of Tayabas in 1906 after a hard-fought election. Manuel Quezon was a personality who dominated the political scene. His active involvement in the destiny of his country was felt both in the Philippines and the United States. From 1909 to 1916, he served as one of the Philippines two resident commissioners to the U. S. House of Representatives, lobbying for the passage of the Philippine Autonomy Act or Jones Law. He headed the first Independent Mission to the U. S. Congress in 1919, building a long-term friendship with American Lieutenant Douglas MacArthur was vital to many of his achievements
3.
Nacionalista Party
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The Nacionalista Party is the oldest political party in the Philippines today and was responsible for leading the country throughout the majority of the 20th century since its founding in 1907. The Nacionalista Party was the party from 1935–1944, 1944–1946, 1953–1957, 1957–1961. In practice, the differences between both parties are obscure as changing of party allegiance by individual politicians, especially prior to elections, has become a norm in Philippine politics. The original “Nacionalista” Party that was founded on August 21,1901 in Calle Gunao, Quiapo, Santos, Pio H. Santos, Salustiano Cruz, Valentin Solis and Jose Palma. During the Japanese Occupation political parties were replaced by the KALIBAPI, in 1978, in a throwback to the Japanese Occupation, political parties were asked to merge into the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan, although the Nacionalistas preferred to go into hibernation. Eventually, the party was revived during the late 1980s and early 1990s by the Laurel family, **in coalition with PDP-Laban Throughout their careers, many of the countrys politicians, statesmen, and leaders were, in whole or in part, Nacionalistas. Remulla Elias K. Bulut, Sr. Wenceslao Peewee B, the Nacionalistas fielded Senator Manuel Villar, Jr. and running with fellow Senator Loren Legarda who is a member of the NPC. It became the dominant minority party after a resolution passed by the COMELEC, on April 21, however it was blocked by the Supreme Court after a suit filed by the rival Liberal Party. On May 6,2010, the Supreme Court nullified the merger and it was based on a resolution by the COMELEC giving political parties to be accredited by August 17,2009. However it is being challenged by the Liberal Party calls the said alliance a bogus alliance, as well, several local races are being challenged from both parties therefore causing confusion in those races. List of political parties in the Philippines Filipino nationalism Liberal Party The Jones Act Official party site
4.
Senatorial districts of the Philippines
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The Senatorial districts of the Philippines were the representations of the provinces of the Philippines in the Philippine Senate from 1916 to 1935. The enactment of the Philippine Autonomy Act in August 1916 by the United States Congress provided for the creation of a legislature consisting of a lower chamber. Until then the Philippine Commission held the power and some legislative powers over the American colony. The system of government of the Philippines in its years of transition to democratic self-government was deliberately structured to emulate the American model. The Philippines thus followed the American system of electing the members of the 24-seat senate by district, the districts were organized and numbered in a roughly north-south fashion, much like the present administrative regions. The first to eleventh districts elected two senators each by popular vote, the two senators from the twelfth district were appointed by the U. S. Governor-General. However, when the Constitution was amended in 1940 to re-establish a bicameral Congress, members of the Senate had to be voted at-large, thereby effectively abolishing the district system
5.
President of the Senate of the Philippines
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He/she is elected by the entire body to be their leader. The current Senate President of the 17th Congress of the Philippines is Aquilino Pimentel III, the Senate President is second in line in succession for the presidency, behind the Vice President of the Philippines and in front of the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines. Although Senate presidents are elected at the start of each Congress, a tied vote, therefore, means that the motion is lost, and that the Senate President cannot cast a tie-breaking vote since that would mean that the presiding officer would have had voted twice. In the Senate, he supervises the committees and attended its hearings and meetings if necessary, the Senate was created on 1916 with the abolition of the Philippine Commission as the upper house with the Philippine Assembly as the lower house. The Senate and the House of Representatives comprised the Philippine Legislature, representation was by senatorial district, Manuel L. Quezon was elected Senator from the now-defunct 5th Legislative District. All Senators from 1941 onwards were elected at-large, with the whole Philippines as one constituency, currently there are seven living former Senate Presidents, Living Former Senate Presidents Legend, Boldface means still an incumbent Senator. List of Senators of the Philippines Roll of Senate Presidents
6.
Jones Law (Philippines)
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The Jones Law was an Organic Act passed by the United States Congress. The law replaced the Philippine Organic Act of 1902 and acted as a constitution of the Philippines from its enactment until 1934, the Jones Law created the first fully elected Philippine legislature. The law provides that the grant of independence would come only as soon as a government can be established. The law also changed the Philippine Legislature into the Philippines first fully elected body, the 1902 Philippine Organic Act provided for an elected lower house, while the upper house was appointed. The Jones Law provided for both houses to be elected and changed the name of the Assembly to the House of Representatives, the executive branch continued to be headed by an appointed Governor General of the Philippines, always an American. Elections were held on October 3,1916 to the newly created Philippine Senate, elections to the Philippine Assembly had already been held on June 6,1916, and those elected automatically became members of the House of Representatives. In 1898, the Philippines were ceded by Spain to the United States, the ultimate goal for the Philippines was independence. U. S. Woodrow Wilson said, during the 1912 election campaign which made him US President, The Philippines are at present our frontier but I hope we presently are to deprive ourselves of that frontier. Even before the 1912 elections, U. S. House Committee on Insular Affairs Chairman William Atkinson Jones attempted to launch a bill which set a date for Philippine independence. Manuel L. Quezon was one of the Philippines two resident commissioners to the US House of Representatives, Jones delayed to launch his bill, so Quezon drafted the first of two Jones Bills. Wilson had informed Quezon of his hostility to any fixed timetable for independence, the bill passed the House in October 1913 and went to the Senate, backed by Harrison, US Secretary of War Lindley Garrison, and Wilson. A final version of the bill was signed into US law by Wilson on August 29,1916, after amendment by the Senate, among the provisions of the law was the creation of an all-Filipino legislature. It created the Philippine Senate to replace the Philippine Commission, which had served as the chamber of the legislature. Hare–Hawes–Cutting Act Commonwealth of the Philippines Jones–Shafroth Act The Philippine Autonomy Act, corpus Juris online Philippine law library
7.
Philippine Commission
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The Philippine Commission was the name of two bodies, both appointed by the President of the United States to assist with governing the Philippines. The first Philippine Commission was appointed by President William McKinley on January 20,1899 to make recommendations, the second Philippine Commission, also known as the Taft Commission, was a body appointed by the President to exercise legislative and limited executive powers in the Philippines. It was first appointed by President McKinley in 1900 under his executive authority, in 1902, the Philippine Organic Act was passed by the United States Congress which enshrined into law the Commission legislative and executive authority. The Jones Act of 1916 ended the Commission replacing it an elected Philippine Senate as the Legislatures upper house, between September 1900 and August 1902, it issued 499 laws. A judicial system was established, including a Supreme Court, the 1901 municipal code provided for popularly elected presidents, vice presidents, and councilors to serve on municipal boards. The municipal board members were responsible for collecting taxes, maintaining municipal properties, on 4 July 1901, Taft became governor of a civil administration for the Philippines. This regime, called the Insular Government, administered the country until 1935, the two houses would share legislative powers, although the upper house alone would pass laws relating to the Moros and other non-Christian peoples. The act also provided for extending the United States Bill of Rights to Filipinos, in July 1907, the first elections for the assembly were held, and the legislature opened its first session on October 16,1907. Philippine House of Representatives Congressional Library The Presidents of the Senate of the Republic of the Philippines, the LAWPHiL Project - Philippine Laws and Jurisprudence Databank. NB, very little material actually online Acts of the Philippine Commission, NB, very little material actually online
8.
Upper house
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An upper house, sometimes called a Senate, is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the house is usually smaller. Examples of upper houses in countries include the UKs House of Lords, Canadas Senate, Indias Rajya Sabha, Russias Federation Council, Irelands Seanad, Germanys Bundesrat, a legislature composed of only one house is described as unicameral. An upper house is different from the lower house in at least one of the following respects, Powers, In a parliamentary system. Therefore, in countries the Upper House votes on only limited legislative matters. Cannot vote a motion of no confidence against the government, while the house always can. In a presidential system, It may have equal or nearly equal power with the lower house and it may have specific powers not granted to the lower house. For example, It may give advice and consent to some executive decisions and it may have the sole power to try impeachments against officials of the executive, following enabling resolutions passed by the lower house. Status, In some countries, its members are not popularly elected, membership may be indirect and its members may be elected with a different voting system than that used to elect the lower house. Less populated states, provinces, or administrative divisions may be represented in the upper house than in the lower house. Members terms may be longer than in the house. Members may be elected in portions, for staggered terms, rather than all at one time, in some countries, the upper house cannot be dissolved at all, or can be dissolved only in more limited circumstances than the lower house. It typically has fewer members or seats than the lower house and it has usually a higher age of candidacy than the lower house. In parliamentary systems the upper house is seen as an advisory or revising chamber. Some or all of the restrictions are often placed on upper houses. No absolute veto of proposed legislation, though suspensive vetoes are permitted in some states, in countries where it can veto legislation, it may not be able to amend the proposals. A reduced or even absent role in initiating legislation, additionally, a Government must have the consent of both to remain in office, a position which is known as perfect bicameralism or equal bicameralism. An example is the British House of Lords, bills can only be delayed for up to one year before the Commons can use the Parliament Act, although economic bills can only be delayed for one month
