Legislative department

 With duty and power to make and formulate laws

 Lawmaking body of the state
 It is where laws originate

Congress of the Philippines

 It is where legislative power is vested

 Senate (upper house)
- Members were elected at large
- Should work for the promotion of national interests
- With 24 members
- Presided with the Senate President (elected by majority of the members of the Senate)
- Exclusion unlus est exclusion alterius (what is not included is deemed excluded)
- Constitutional amendment
- 6 yrs term
- Not allowed to serve for more than 2 consecutive terms * hibernation
- Transitory provisions of the constitution: only half of the membership is changed every
3 yrs
 House of representatives (lower house)
- Members were elected locally
- Should work for the advancement of local interests
- Presided by the speaker of the house (elected by majority of the members)
1. District Representatives
 Each legislative districts shall comprise as far as practicable, contiguous
compact and adjacent territory
 Gerrymandering: legislators creates a legislative district comprising only
Bailiwicks regardless of the resultant shape of the newly created district
 Province shall constitute a legislative district(at least 250,000 population)
 One district representative in the lower house (congressman)
 Defender of the local interests of his constituents in the Congress
 Voice in Congress of the populace he represents
2. Partylist Representatives
 Mechanism of proportional representation in the election of
representatives to the house of representatives from national, regional,
sectoral parties or organization or coalition thereof registered to COMELEC
 With 5 number of nominations
 Receives With at least 2% of the total votes to seat in the house of
representatives
 Entitled with maximum 3 seats
 Constitutes 20% of the total membership of the lower house
  Allocated to marginalized and underprivileged
- Voluntary renunciation of office for any length of time shall not be considered as an
interruption in the continuity of service for the full term in whoch the representative
was elected