Benjamin Terrence II L.

Aggabao AB Political Science 1

The Nature of Politics in the Philippines

The Philippines is a country vast with rich culture values and principles. Philippines also
has its own political system, which derived from the various sources that identifies its roles and
functions in general public. Philippine politics by nature is aptly describe in the 1987 Philippine
Constitution Article 2 Section 1 explicitly states that “the Philippines is a democratic and
republican state. Sovereignty resides with the people and all government authority emanates
from them” Guia (2000).
Being democratic state, the people manifested their dislike to the authoritarian rule.
Moreover, as a republican state, the people affirmed that their government would be a
government of people, by the people and for the people Paulino (1990).
According to Paulino (1990), as manifestations of democratic and republican state, the
existence of bill of rights, the principle that ours is a government of laws not men, rule of the
majority, the state cannot be sued without its consent, election through popular will, separation
of powers and the principle of checks and balances, the principle that an office is a public trust,
the legislative cannot pass irreparable laws and the rule against undue delegation of legislative
power are highly regarded. The idea that the government is directed to establish the various
political values such as truth, justice, freedom, love, and equality has been emphasize in the
preamble of the constitution.
Meanwhile, the one and most basic principle embodied in a democratic constitution is the
supreme exercise of power or the supremacy in the rule of law. Law is the very manifestation of
the nation states internal sovereignty Ayson and Reyes (1993).
The sovereignty of the Filipino people is exercised in elections held almost every year
where the people directly choose their local and national leaders. The people directly elect
elective officials from the president down to the last member of barangay saggunians. Regular
elections are held every three years but in between of these schedules are barangay elections.
As authorize by the 1987 constitution, the government of the republic of the Philippines,
operates under a presidential system. Theoretically, in the presidential system, a single president
elected by a popular vote exercises executive power. He holds office for a specific period of time
as fixed by the constitution of the state.
The three main branches of the government are the executive, legislative and the
judiciary. Executive branch as article 7 section 1 of the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines
explicitly stated that “The executive power shall be vested in the President of the Republic of the
Philippines.” The power to execute laws, appoint, veto, delegated degree authority, executive
clemency, diplomatic power, supervise over the executive branch, supervise over local
government unit, and ordinance making power are the powers of the president and they are
classified into three types. Executive powers, “legislative power”, special powers.
On the other hand, the legislative as article 6, section 1 provides that “the legislative
power shall be vested in the congress of the Philippines which shall consist of a senate and
House of Representatives, except to the extent reserved to the people by the provision on
Benjamin Terrence II L. Aggabao AB Political Science 1

initiative and referendum.” the legislative body is bicameral because it has the lower and upper
house respectively.
Moreover, the judiciary branch as article 8 section 1 of the 1987 Philippine constitution
states that “the judicial power shall be vested in one supreme court and in such lower courts as
may be established by law.” The court system in the Philippines consists of the supreme court
composed of a chief justice and 14 associate justices. Under the supreme court the hierarchical
layers: first level courts, second level courts, court of appeals and the sandiganbayan, a court that
handles corruption cases against prominent officials.

References
Benjamin Terrence II L. Aggabao AB Political Science 1

Paulino, Benjamin (1990), The New Constitution Annotated and Commented, Phoenix Press Inc.
Quezon City, Philippines.
Ayson Florentino and Reyes Dolores, (1993), Fundamentals of Political Science, National Book
Store Inc. Manila Philippines