{"id":3353,"date":"2016-10-02T10:00:24","date_gmt":"2016-10-02T02:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/?p=3353"},"modified":"2021-07-07T07:27:23","modified_gmt":"2021-07-06T23:27:23","slug":"introduction-to-the-philippine-legislative-process","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/2016\/10\/02\/introduction-to-the-philippine-legislative-process\/","title":{"rendered":"Introduction to the Philippine Legislative Process"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bills, Resolutions, Amendments, Republic Acts.<\/strong> These are some of the words we hear whenever the Senate or House of Representatives releases a press statement about something that has either been proposed or passed their scrutiny. People always have something to say whenever they hear a proposal, but most think that a proposed bill is already a law. <\/span><\/p>\n

Filipinos in general don\u2019t know the legislative process, but they at least have an idea of how it goes. Expats, on the other hand, have no idea when something can be considered a law and when it\u2019s merely a proposal.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s our guide on the Philippine Legislative Process.<\/span><\/p>\n

Introduction<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

First off, the Congress is not just composed of congressmen. The Congress is<\/em> the legislative branch of the country, and it consists of two chambers: the Senate (Upper House) and House of Representatives (Lower House).<\/span><\/p>\n

\"senate-hall-0514\"<\/p>\n

Image grabbed from Inquirer.net<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The Senate has 24 seats, half of which are voted on by the nation every 3 years. Each Senator serves a 6-year term, and can be a member of any of the 40 permanent committees. They cannot serve for more than 2 consecutive terms.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"hor\"<\/p>\n

Image grabbed from <\/em>Wikimedia Commons<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

The House of Representatives (HOR), on the other hand, is composed of 292 representatives serving 238 districts and 47 party lists. Each representative can be a member of the house\u2019s 58 standing or 14 special committees. They serve a 3-year term and can be re-elected but cannot go beyond 3 consecutive terms.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bills and Resolutions<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The job of a Senator or a Representative is to make laws that uphold the spirit of the constitution. They can also amend or change the constitution itself. Senators and Representatives work on two documents: bills and resolutions.<\/span><\/p>\n

A resolution<\/em> conveys principles and sentiments of the Senate or the HOR. They are divided into:<\/span><\/p>\n