Executive And Legislative Department In The Philippines

In the Philippines the executive department is the most essential core of the government. Governance is achievable even without assembly or legislature but ruling with no executive is near impossible. The executive is headed by a president, it is a department of government charged with the administration or implementation of a policy or law. In presidential system it is viewed as a weakling form of government in at least some Latin American countries like Costa Rica, Chile and Venezuela.

In this countries, it is argued that the position of the presidency is always challenged.

Presidents to succeed in Latin American democracies must mobilize popular support not only from the people but also from other branches of government. As one of the writer concluded: “presidential rule is not often equated with strong government. Effective executive power is almost indispensable if democracy is to thrive, yet the history of presidential democracies in Latin America has often been one of the immobilized executives.

Many strong men ended their careers as weak presidents” (Mainwaring cited in Haque, 2001).

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In the Philippines alone, elected presidents have experienced difficulty in party legislation, without getting political support among members of Congress. So most often, elected presidents would always establish strong liaison or following from members of the legislative branch to the extent of supporting and financing the candidacy of potential legislative partners.

Still yet, the President is the most important and influential leader of the country. The success of the state depends on how effective the President has become in manipulating other branches of government, albeit public criticisms and the intimidating presence of pressure or interest groups.

DIFFERENT BRANCHES OF THE PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT

The structure of the Philippine government is divided into three branches: the Legislative Department (Article 6); the Executive Department (Article 7 )7); and the Judicial Department (Article 8).

The Legislative Department was placed ahead of the executive department because it is the repository of the people’s sovereignty. It is composed of the Senate, which is the Upper House and Congress, being the Lower House.

THE PRINCIPLE OF SEPARATION OF POWERS

The powers of the government, by virtue of this principle are divided into three (3) distinct classes: the legislative, the executive and the judicial. They are distributed, respectively among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches or departments of the government.

Under the principle of co-equal and coordinate powers among the three (3) branches, the officers entrusted with each of these powers are not permitted to encroach upon the powers confided to the others. If one department goes beyond the limits set by the Constitution, its acts are null and void. The adoption of this principle was motivated by the belief that arbitrary rule would result if the same person or body were to exercise all the powers of the government.

PRINCIPLE OF CHECKS AND BALANCES

The three co-equal departments are established by the constitution in as balanced positions as possible. To maintain this balance or to restore it if upset, each department is given certain powers with which to check the others. Checks by the President Checks by the Congress Checks by the Judiciary may veto or disapprove bills enacted by the Congress (Sec. 27:1) through pardoning power, he may modify or set aside the judgments of courts (Art. VII, Sec 19) Congress may override the veto of the President (Sec. 27:1) Reject certain appointments of the President (Art. VII, Sec. 16)

Revoke the proclamation of martial law or suspension of the writ of habeas corpus by the President (Art. VII, Section 18) Amend or revoke the decision of the Court by the enactment of a new law or by an amendment of the old The power to impeach the President and the members of the Supreme Court. the Supreme Court as the final arbiter may declare legislative measures or executive acts unconstitutional (Art. VIII, Sec 4:2) determine whether or not there has been a grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction on the part of the Congress or President (Art. VIII, Sec. 2:2)