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Government / The Legislative Branch

The legislature or the law-making body of The Country , is known as Congress. It is a bicameral institution consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Senate has 24 Senators while the House of Representatives has 250 members. They are all elected in a general election but the Representatives are elected by the constituents of their district or province. The term of office for a Senator is 6 years, limited to one re-election. Representatives have a term of three years limited to three consecutive terms. Like the term of the President, the term of the present members of the Congress is governed by the Transitory provision of the Constitution, and the re-election clause shall take effect after l992 election. It is provided by the Transitory provision of the Constitution that all senators, representatives and local officials elected under the l986 Constitution will serve until June 30, l992. The first 12 senators with the largest vote shall serve for 6 years and the others for 3 years. Representatives elected beginning June 30, l992 serve for 3 years.

These elective positions require candidates to be natural born Filipino citizens who can read and write. For a senator, he must be at least 35 years old, a registered voter and a resident of the Philippines for not less than two years. Representatives must be 25 years old, a registered voter of the province he is representing and a resident of such for not less than one year. Regular elections for members of Congress is the 2nd monday of May.

Members of the Congress, before assuming office are required to submit a statement of assets and liabilities. As such, they are not allowed to work in any government or private entity nor can they practice their profession.

Congress convenes every year on the 4th Monday of July for its regular session. Records and books of accounts of the congress are open to the public. The book of accounts has an itemized list of the amounts paid to and expenses incurred by each member. When in session, senators and representatives are free from arrest except when the offense is punishable by more than 6 years imprisonment.

The most important function of Congress is legislation. For passage, a bill must have one subject only which shall be expressed in its title. To become law a bill must pass three readings on separate days and printed copies must be distributed to the members of Congress three days before its first reading. The 1st and 2nd reading of the bill involves deliberations and ammendments. Once it has passed the 2nd reading, no ammendments can be made. A bill passed by Congress requires the approval of the President to become law. If the President chooses, he may veto it totally or partially, by sending it back to the Congress within 30 days from day of receipt. Otherwise, the bill becomes a law. Those provisions of the bill which the President did not object to will not be affected by the veto. But Congress may override this veto by a 2/3 vote.

The congress may declare a state of war or ammend the constitution or call a constitutional convention by a vote of 2/3 of all its members. By majority vote of all its members, it may submit to the electorate the question of calling such constitutional convention. Existing treaties and international agreements cannot be renewed or extended without the concurrence of at least 2/3 of the members of the senate.

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