History of the Philippine Legislative Department

By
The Philippine Congress undertook a series of developments that reflected the sociopolitical conditions of the times and the level of political maturity of society. 

According to Velasco, R. and Sylvano, M. (1989), the unicameral Malolos Congress of the short-lived Philippine Republic of 1898-1899 was starting point of the system’s evolution. It was followed by a colonial legislative system composed of all-American appointees – the Philippine Commission of 1901. From foreign-controlled legislature, it was then dominated by elected Filipinos and became bicameral by virtue of the Jones Act of 1916. This lasted until November 1935 with the inauguration of the semi-independent Commonwealth Government. After the ratification of the 1935 Philippine Constitution, a unicameral National Assembly replaced the bicameral body. But, the Constitution was amended in 1941 restoring the bicameral legislature and it was called the ‘Congress of the Philippines’.

Excluding the time of the Japanese occupation from 1942-1945, the Congress served as the national legislature until September 1972 when President Ferdinand E. Marcos declared a martial law.

President Marcos ratified the 1973 Constitution on January 17, 1973. Under this new Constitution, the presidential form of government was changed to a modified parliamentary. Therefore, the Congress was abolished and replaced by an elected unicameral National Assembly, known as Batasang Pambansa. This was composed of a maximum of 200 members elected from different provinces with their component cities, highly urbanized cities and districts of Metropolitan Manila, appointed representatives from various sectors such as the youth, agricultural and industrial labor sectors, and those chosen by the President from the members of the Cabinet. They had a term of six years.

With the 1986 People Power Revolution, Marcos’ dictatorial regime was successfully overthrown and President Corazon Aquino forged a new government ushering the rebirth of democracy. She declared a revolutionary government by virtue of Presidential Proclamation No. 3, s. 1986, suspending some provisions of the 1973 Constitution and promulgated in its stead a transitory constitution. Batasang Pambansa was brought to an end. A Constitutional Commission was tasked to draft a new charter, and this was ratified through a national plebiscite held on February 2, 1987. It reinstated the bicameral legislature, composed of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Thus, the last Congress under the 1935 Constitution was the Seventh Congress, and the First Congress under the 1987 Constitution became the Eighth Congress. (Abletez, J., 1989)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Paglipat ng Pasukan sa Agosto, Nararapat Ba?

By
INTRODUKSYON Nitong ika-15 ng Marso 2014, ang tatlong kampus, ang UP Manila, UP Visayas at UP Open University, ay nagpalabas na ng kanilang bagong kalendaryo pang-akademiko para sa akademikong taon 2014-2015. Halimbawa, sa UP Visayas na binubuo ng mga kampus ng Miago, Iloilo City at Tacloban  (nasa appendix), ang unang semestro nito ay mula Agosto 18 – Disyembre  5, ang ikalawang semestro naman ay mula Enero 26 – Mayo 22 at ang maikling termino o mas kilala sa tawag na summer ay sa Hunyo 18 hanggang Hulyo 24 (Aurelio, 2014). Ika-anim ng Pebrero 2014, nagpahayag ang Unibersidad ng Pilipinas na magkakaroroon ito ng panibagong kalendaryong pang-akademiko o academic calendar at iiimplementa ito ngayong 2014-2015. Mula sa Hunyo, ang simula ng pasukan ay ililipat sa Agosto. Nakapaloob dito na ang unang semestro, mula Hunyo-Oktobre, ay magsisimula na sa buwan ng Agosto hanggang Disyembre. Ang ikalawang semestro naman ay mula Enero hanggang Mayo, na noong una ay mula Nobyem...
Read more

Artificial Insemination

By
Nowadays, there have been many artificial methods that would enable couples to be parents of a child that has a direct genetic relation to them. One of these is the Artificial Insemination (AI), which dates back to the late 1700s when Scottish-born surgeon John Hunter successfully impregnated a woman with her husband’s sperm (Britannica.com, n.d). As a matter of fact, Article 164 of the Philippine Family Code mentioned AI stating that children born out of this medical procedure are considered as legitimate children of the husband and wife.  What is Artificial Insemination and how is it done? “Artificial insemination is the process of inserting sperm directly into the woman’s cervix or uterus using a device” (Beauman, 2008). It is artificial in the sense that pregnancy, which is the main objective, is achieved other than the natural insemination process called sexual intercourse. But its quality of being “artificial” ends there as the egg is fertilized within the uterus ...
Read more

Bayan o Sarili: A Reaction on the Heneral Luna Film

By
About 116 years after his treacherous death, General Antonio Luna is paid tribute with a biopic film entitled Heneral Luna for his overlooked, significant contribution in building a Filipino nation. The production was made possible by Jerrold Tarog, who was not just the director, but also the co-scriptwriter, musical composer and editor of the movie. Tarog was able to arrange the essential elements, both historically and artistically, to come up with an undeniable Filipino masterpiece.  Unlike any other motion picture that seeks to sanctify the historical figures they focus on, Heneral Luna takes a different path by making sure that the general appears more "human". Aside from being portrayed as extremely nationalistic, Gen. Luna is depicted as fierce in words, proud, hot-tempered and strict to his hopeless army, hilarious to his loyal lieutenants, and an affectionate son to his mother. Additionally, it provides a storyline of how we lost the battle to the America...
Read more