ARTICLE VI: THE

LEGISLATIVE
DEPARTMENT
THE 1987 PHILIPPINE
CONSTITUTION
PREAMBLE OF THE CONSTITUTION

We, the sovereign Filipino people, imploring the aid of Almighty God, in
order to build a just and humane society, and establish a Government that
shall embody our ideals and aspirations, promote the common good,
conserve and develop our patrimony, and secure to ourselves and our
posterity, the blessings of independence and democracy under the rule of
law and a regime of truth, justice, freedom, love, equality, and peace, do
ordain and promulgate this Constitution.
 SIGNIFICANT DEFINITIONS

LEGISLATIVE POWER

It is the authority or power exclusively given by the constitution to the Congress to make, alter and repeal laws.

It is also vested to the people themselves, by the system of initiative and referendum (Art. VI, Sec. 1)

Grant of legislative power to Congress is plenary.

Congress may legislate on any subject matter provided that the limitations are observed.

INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM

The power of initiative and referendum is the power of the people directly to "propose and enact laws or
approve or reject any act or law or part thereof passed by the Congress or local legislative body." (Article VI,
Section 32)
 SECTION 1

The legislative power shall be vested in the

Congress of the Philippines which shall
consist of a Senate and a House of
Representatives, except to the extent reserved
to the people by the provision on initiative
and referendum.
SECTION 2

The Senate shall be composed of twenty-four

Senators who shall be elected at large by the
qualified voters of the Philippines, as may be
provided by law.
 SECTION 3

No person shall be a Senator unless he is a

natural-born citizen of the Philippines, and, on the
day of the election, is at least thirty-five years of
age, able to read and write, a registered voter, and
a resident of the Philippines for not less than two
years immediately preceding the day of the
election.
 SECTION 4
The term of office of the Senators shall be six years
and shall commence, unless otherwise provided by
law, at noon on the thirtieth day of June next
following their election.

No Senator shall serve for more than two consecutive

terms. Voluntary renunciation of the office for any
length of time shall not be considered as an
interruption in the continuity of his service for the
full term for which he was elected.
 SECTION 5
● (2) The party-list representatives shall constitute twenty per
centum of the total number of representatives including those under
The House of Representatives shall be composed of not the party list. For three consecutive terms after the ratification of this
more than two hundred and fifty members, unless Constitution, one-half of the seats allocated to party-list
otherwise fixed by law, who shall be elected from representatives shall be filled, as provided by law, by selection or
legislative districts apportioned among the provinces, election from the labor, peasant, urban poor, indigenous cultural
cities, and the Metropolitan Manila area in accordance communities, women, youth, and such other sectors as may be
provided by law, except the religious sector.
with the number of their respective inhabitants, and on
● (3) Each legislative district shall comprise, as far as practicable,
the basis of a uniform and progressive ratio, and those contiguous, compact, and adjacent territory. Each city with a
who, as provided by law, shall be elected through a population of at least two hundred fifty thousand, or each province,
party-list system of registered national, regional, and shall have at least one representative.
sectoral parties or organizations. ● (4) Within three years following the return of every census, the
Congress shall make a reapportionment of legislative districts based
on the standards provided in this section.
 SECTION 6
No person shall be a Member of the House of
Representatives unless he is a natural-born citizen of
the Philippines and, on the day of the election, is at
least twenty-five years of age, able to read and write,
and, except the party-list representatives, a registered
voter in the district in which he shall be elected, and a
resident thereof for a period of not less than one year
immediately preceding the day of the election.
SECTION 7
The Members of the House of Representatives
shall be elected for a term of three years which shall
begin, unless otherwise provided by law, at noon on
the thirtieth day of June next following their election.
No Member of the House of Representatives shall
serve for more than three consecutive terms.
Voluntary renunciation of the office for any length of
time shall not be considered as an interruption in the
continuity of his service for the full term for which
he was elected.
 SECTION 8

Unless otherwise provided by law, the regular

election of the Senators and the Members of
the House of Representatives shall be held on
the second Monday of May.
 SECTION 9

In case of vacancy in the Senate or in the House

of Representatives, a special election may be
called to fill such vacancy in the manner
prescribed by law, but the Senator or Member
of the House of Representatives thus elected
shall serve only for the unexpired term.
SECTION 10

The salaries of Senators and Members of the

House of Representatives shall be determined
by law. No increase in said compensation shall
take effect until after the expiration of the full
term of all the Members of the Senate and the
House of Representatives approving such
increase.
SECTION 11

A Senator or Member of the House of Representatives

shall, in all offenses punishable by not more than six
years imprisonment, be privileged from arrest while
the Congress is in session. No Member shall be
questioned nor be held liable in any other place for
any speech or debate in the Congress or in any
committee thereof.
SECTION 12

All Members of the Senate and the House of

Representatives shall, upon assumption of office,
make a full disclosure of their financial and business
interests. They shall notify the House concerned of a
potential conflict of interest that may arise from the
filing of a proposed legislation of which they are
authors.
SECTION 13
● No Senator or Member of the House of
Representatives may hold any other office or
employment in the Government, or any
subdivision, agency, or instrumentality thereof,
including government-owned or controlled
corporations or their subsidiaries, during his
term without forfeiting his seat. Neither shall he
be appointed to any office which may have
been created or the emoluments thereof
increased during the term for which he was
elected.
SECTION 14
No Senator or Member of the House of Representatives may
personally appear as counsel before any court of justice or
before the Electoral Tribunals, or quasi-judicial and other
administrative bodies. Neither shall he, directly or indirectly, be
interested financially in any contract with, or in any franchise or
special privilege granted by the Government, or any
subdivision, agency, or instrumentality thereof, including any
government-owned or controlled corporation, or its subsidiary,
during his term of office. He shall not intervene in any matter
before any office of the Government for his pecuniary benefit or
where he may be called upon to act on account of his office.
SECTION 15

The Congress shall convene once every year on the

fourth Monday of July for its regular session, unless a
different date is fixed by law, and shall continue to be
in session for such number of days as it may
determine until thirty days before the opening of its
next regular session, exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays,
and legal holidays. The President may call a special
session at any time.
(1) The Senate shall elect its President and the
House of Representatives its Speaker, by a
majority vote of all its respective Members.
Each House shall choose such other officers as it
may deem necessary.
SECTION 16
(2) A majority of each House shall constitute a quorum to do
business, but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day and
may compel the attendance of absent Members in such manner,
and under such penalties, as such House may provide.
(3) Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings,
punish its Members for disorderly behavior, and, with the
concurrence of two-thirds of all its Members, suspend or expel a
Member. A penalty of suspension, when imposed, shall not
exceed sixty days.
(4) Each House shall keep a Journal of its proceedings, and from
time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may, in its
judgment, affect national security; and the yeas and nays on any
question shall, at the request of one-fifth of the Members
present, be entered in the Journal.
Each House shall also keep a Record of its proceedings.
(5) Neither House during the sessions of the Congress shall,
without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three
days, nor to any other place than that in which the two Houses
shall be sitting.
SECTION 17
The Senate and the House of Representatives shall each have an
Electoral Tribunal, which shall be the sole judge of all contests
relating to the election, returns, and qualifications of their
respective Members. Each Electoral Tribunal shall be composed
of nine Members, three of whom shall be Justices of the Supreme
Court to be designated by the Chief Justice, and the remaining
six shall be Members of the Senate or the House of
Representatives, as the case may be, who shall be chosen on the
basis of proportional representation from the political parties and
the parties or organizations registered under the party-list system
represented therein. The senior Justice in the Electoral Tribunal
shall be its Chairman.
SECTION 18
There shall be a Commission on Appointments consisting of the
President of the Senate, as ex officio Chairman, twelve Senators
and twelve Members of the House of Representatives, elected
by each House on the basis of proportional representation from
the political parties and parties or organizations registered under
the party-list system represented therein. The Chairman of the
Commission shall not vote, except in case of a tie. The
Commission shall act on all appointments submitted to it within
thirty session days of the Congress from their submission. The
Commission shall rule by a majority vote of all the Members.
 SECTION 19
The Electoral Tribunals and the Commission on
Appointments shall be constituted within thirty days
after the Senate and the House of Representatives shall
have been organized with the election of the President
and the Speaker. The Commission on Appointments
shall meet only while the Congress is in session, at the
call of its Chairman or a majority of all its Members, to
discharge such powers and functions as are herein
conferred upon it.
SECTION 20

The records and books of accounts of the Congress

shall be preserved and be open to the public in
accordance with law, and such books shall be audited
by the Commission on Audit which shall publish
annually an itemized list of amounts paid to and
expenses incurred for each Member.
SECTION 21

The Senate or the House of Representatives or any of

its respective committees may conduct inquiries in aid
of legislation in accordance with its duly published
rules of procedure. The rights of persons appearing in
or affected by such inquiries shall be respected.
The heads of departments may upon their own
initiative, with the consent of the President, or
SECTION 22
upon the request of either House, as the rules of
each House shall provide, appear before and be
heard by such House on any matter pertaining to
their departments. Written questions shall be
submitted to the President of the Senate or the
Speaker of the House of Representatives at least
three days before their scheduled appearance.
Interpellations shall not be limited to written
questions, but may cover matters related thereto.
When the security of the State or the public
interest so requires and the President so states
in writing, the appearance shall be conducted in
executive session.
SECTION 23
● (1) The Congress, by a vote of two-thirds of both
Houses in joint session assembled, voting separately,
shall have the sole power to declare the existence of a
state of war.
● (2) In times of war or other national emergency, the
Congress may, by law, authorize the President, for a
limited period and subject to such restrictions as it may
prescribe, to exercise powers necessary and proper to
carry out a declared national policy. Unless sooner
withdrawn by resolution of the Congress, such powers
shall cease upon the next adjournment thereof.
SECTION 24
● All appropriation, revenue or tariff bills,
bills authorizing increase of the public
debt, bills of local application, and private
bills shall originate exclusively in the
House of Representatives, but the Senate
may propose or concur with amendments.
(1) The Congress may not increase the appropriations recommended by the
President for the operation of the Government as specified in the budget. The
form, content, and manner of preparation of the budget shall be prescribed by
law.
(2) No provision or enactment shall be embraced in the general appropriations
bill unless it relates specifically to some particular appropriation therein. Any
such provision or enactment shall be limited in its operation to the appropriation
SECTION 25
to which it relates.
(3) The procedure in approving appropriations for the Congress shall strictly
follow the procedure for approving appropriations for other departments and
agencies.
(4) A special appropriations bill shall specify the purpose for which it is intended,
and shall be supported by funds actually available as certified by the National
Treasurer, or to be raised by a corresponding revenue proposed therein.
(5) No law shall be passed authorizing any transfer of appropriations; however,
the President, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of
Representatives, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and the heads of
Constitutional Commissions may, by law, be authorized to augment any item in
the general appropriations law for their respective offices from savings in other
items of their respective appropriations.
(6) Discretionary funds appropriated for particular officials shall be disbursed
only for public purposes to be supported by appropriate vouchers and subject to
such guidelines as may be prescribed by law.
(7) If, by the end of any fiscal year, the Congress shall have failed to pass the
general appropriations bill for the ensuing fiscal year, the general appropriations
law for the preceding fiscal year shall be deemed reenacted and shall remain in
force and effect until the general appropriations bill is passed by the Congress.
 SECTION 26
● (1) Every bill passed by the Congress shall embrace only one
subject which shall be expressed in the title thereof.
● (2) No bill passed by either House shall become a law unless
it has passed three readings on separate days, and printed
copies thereof in its final form have been distributed to its
Members three days before its passage, except when the
President certifies to the necessity of its immediate enactment
to meet a public calamity or emergency. Upon the last reading
of a bill, no amendment thereto shall be allowed, and the vote
thereon shall be taken immediately thereafter, and the yeas
and nays entered in the Journal.
 SECTION 27
(1) Every bill passed by the Congress shall, before it becomes a
law, be presented to the President. If he approves the same, he
shall sign it; otherwise, he shall veto it and return the same with
his objections to the House where it originated, which shall enter
the objections at large in its Journal and proceed to reconsider it.
If, after such reconsideration, two-thirds of all the Members of
such House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together
with the objections, to the other House by which it shall likewise
be reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of all the
Members of that House, it shall become a law. In all such cases,
the votes of each House shall be determined by yeas or nays,
and the names of the Members voting for or against shall be
entered in its Journal. The President shall communicate his veto
of any bill to the House where it originated within thirty days after
the date of receipt thereof; otherwise, it shall become a law as if
he had signed it.
(2) The President shall have the power to veto any particular
item or items in an appropriation, revenue, or tariff bill, but the
veto shall not affect the item or items to which he does not
object.
 SECTION 28
(1) The rule of taxation shall be uniform and equitable. The
Congress shall evolve a progressive system of taxation.
(2) The Congress may, by law, authorize the President to fix
within specified limits, and subject to such limitations and
restrictions as it may impose, tariff rates, import and export
quotas, tonnage and wharfage dues, and other duties or imposts
within the framework of the national development program of the
Government.
(3) Charitable institutions, churches and parsonages or convents
appurtenant thereto, mosques, non-profit cemeteries, and all
lands, buildings, and improvements, actually, directly, and
exclusively used for religious, charitable, or educational
purposes shall be exempt from taxation.
(4) No law granting any tax exemption shall be passed without
the concurrence of a majority of all the Members of the
Congress.
 SECTION 29
(1) No money shall be paid out of the Treasury except in
pursuance of an appropriation made by law.
(2) No public money or property shall be appropriated, applied,
paid, or employed, directly or indirectly, for the use, benefit, or
support of any sect, church, denomination, sectarian institution,
or system of religion, or of any priest, preacher, minister, or other
religious teacher, or dignitary as such, except when such priest,
preacher, minister, or dignitary is assigned to the armed forces,
or to any penal institution, or government orphanage or
leprosarium.
(3) All money collected on any tax levied for a special purpose
shall be treated as a special fund and paid out for such purpose
only. If the purpose for which a special fund was created has
been fulfilled or abandoned, the balance, if any, shall be
transferred to the general funds of the Government.
SECTION 30
● No law shall be passed increasing the
appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme
Court as provided in this Constitution
without its advice and concurrence.
SECTION 31
● No law granting a title of royalty or
nobility shall be enacted.
 SECTION 32
● The Congress shall, as early as possible, provide for a
system of initiative and referendum, and the exceptions
therefrom, whereby the people can directly propose
and enact laws or approve or reject any act or law or
part thereof passed by the Congress or local legislative
body after the registration of a petition therefor signed
by at least ten per centum of the total number of
registered voters, of which every legislative district
must be represented by at least three per centum of the
registered voters thereof.
 THE THREE BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENT

EXECUTIVE
The President, Vice President and
Cabinet members

LEGISLATIVE
Bicameral house which is composed of
the Senate and the House of
Representatives
JUDICIARY
The Supreme Court, special courts, and
the higher and lower courts.