- 3 co-equal branches of the government:
executive, legislative, judiciary - Present Charter: 1987 Philippine Constitution
- Constitutional Commission President: Cecilia Munoz-Palma
- Official websites:
http://www.gov.ph/
http://www.senate.gov.ph/
http://www.congress.gov.ph/
http://www.supremecourt.gov.ph/ - Administrative regions: 17
- Form of government:
Republic, constitutional, presidential, unitary, bicameral - President:
head of state, head of government, commander-in-chief - President: Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
(affiliated with 3 political parties;
assumed office in Jan. 20, 2001)
Vice-President: Manuel Leuterio de Castro - Senate President: Manny Villar (NP)
- House Speaker: Prospero Nograles (Lakas-CMD)
- Chief Justice: Reynato Puno
- Supreme Court: Justices appointed by the president
on the recommendation of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) - Senate President Pro-Tempore: Jinggoy Estrada (PMP)
- Majority Leader: Kiko Pangilinan (LP)
- Minority Leader: Aquilino Pimentel (PDP-Laban)
- Number of senators: 23 (sex ratio = 19:4)
- House of representatives:
composed of district and partylist representatives - Number of district representatives: 219 (91%)
- Number of partylist representatives: 21 (9%)
- House of Representatives (sex ratio):
Male (189=79%), Female (51=21%) - Cabinet: appointed by the president with confirmation
from the Commission of Appointments (CA) - Cabinet members: 24
- Recent national and local elections: May 2007
- Next elections: May 2010
- 1992 senatorial elections: top 12 serves for 6 years,
3 years for the remaining senators
(as provided by the 1987 Constitution) - Constitutional Commissions
Civil Service Commission (Ricardo Saulo)
Commission on Audit (Reynaldo Villar)
Commission on Elections (Jose Melo)
Commission on Human Rights (Purificacion Quisumbing) - Key Legislations
RA 9225 (Dual Citizenship)
RA 9372 (Human Security Act)
RA 7160 (Local Government Code)
RA 7942 (Mining Act of 1995)
RA 8371 (Indigenous People's Rights Act)
RA 4200 (Anti-Wiretapping Act) - 2008 National Budget: P1.227 T
- SWS net satisfaction rating
GMA (-26%)
Noli (+53%)
Villar (+47)
Nograles (-12%)
Puno (+2) - Public opinion towards GMA (Pulse Asia)
71% = disapproval rating
76% = distrust rating - Top 3 political parties
Lakas-CMD, Kampi, NPC - Major political issues
NBN-ZTE scandal and other large-scale corruption cases
dismal human rights record (900+ political killings since 2001)
politicized military, bureaucracy, judiciary
special relationship with US
Charter change (ConCon, ConAss, PI) - Impeachment
1/3 (79) of the representatives: needed to impeach
2/3 (15) of the senators: needed to convict - Basic social problems
imperialism, bureaucrat capitalism and feudalism
____________________
*based on a lecture presented to the high school DepEd Social Studies
teachers from NCR, Region IV-A and Region IV-B held at CAS, UP Manila
