Filipino Student Essays

Section 1 of Article VI of 1987 Constitution states that the legislative power is vested in the Congress of the Philippines. In other words, it is the legislative department responsible to prescribe general rules for the government.  According to de Leon, H. (2005), this legislative function involves the determination of the legislative policy as a defined binding rule of conduct through the enactment of law. In crafting laws, the legislative body comes out with two main documents: bills and resolutions. Resolutions is defined as a formal expression of opinion, will or intent of the Senate or the House of Representatives.  Resolutions can be classified as simple, if passed by either House for its exclusive use or purpose; concurrent, if passed independently in one House and ratified by the other in the same manner as a bill; and joint, if approved by both Houses meeting in joint session but voting separately (e.g., proposing amendments to the Constitution). The 1987 C...

The primary function of the Philippine Congress is to legislate. The Constitution, however, has also given it powers which are non-legislative in character.  The powers of the legislative department may be classified into:  (1) General legislative power It is the power to enact laws intended as rules of conduct to govern the relations among individuals or between the individuals and the State. Congress can enact any law as long as it is not contrary to the Constitution. Unless otherwise decreed by a competent court, a law is presumed constitutional.  (2) Specific powers  These are powers wherein the Constitution expressly directs or authorizes the Congress to exercise. Examples of these are the power to choose who shall become President in case two or more candidates have an equal and highest number of votes (Art. VII, Sec. 4, par 4.), to confirm certain appointment by the President, (Ibid., Sec. 16), to appropriate money (Sec. 29[1]), to impos...

Originally established as the Countrywide Development Fund (CDF) in 1990, "pork barrel" was first created with an initial funding of P2.3 billion for projects in all congressional districts and the national constituency of Senators.  The CDF aims to support small local infrastructure and other priority community projects which are not included in the national infrastructure program involving massive and costly projects. It has been regularly included in the annual General Appropriations Acts since 1990. In 2000, the CDF was transformed into the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF). (Nograles & Lagman, 2012)  Mechanism and Process  Upon the approval of the General Appropriations Act (GAA) or the national budget, the President, through the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), decides on the schedule of fund releases, i.e., number of tranches or portions, amount per tranche, and the dates of release of the PDAF and other congressional allocati...