House of Representatives of the Philippines Kapulungan ng mga Kinatawan ng Pilipinas |
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Type | |
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Type | Lower house |
Leadership | |
Speaker | Prospero C. Nograles, Lakas-CMD since February 5, 2008 |
Deputy Speakers | Arnulfo T. Fuentebella Luzon Raul V. del Mar Visayas Simeon A. Datumanong Mindanao Eric D. Singson Central Luzon Ma. Amelita C. Villarosa Women, since July 24, 2006 |
Structure | |
Members | Not more than 250 Representatives Currently, only 238 Representatives |
Election | |
Last election | May 14, 2007 |
Meeting place | |
Batasang Pambansa, Quezon City | |
Web site | |
http://www.congress.gov.ph |
The House of Representatives of the Philippines (Filipino: Kapulungan ng mga Kinatawan ng Pilipinas) is the lower chamber of the Congress of the Philippines. The Senate is the upper chamber. The House is often informally called the Congress. Members of the house are called Congressmen (mga kinatawan or mga konggresista) and their title is Representative. Congressmen are elected to a three-year term and can be reelected, but cannot serve more than three consecutive terms. Most congressmen are district representatives, representing a particular geographical area. There are 212 legislative districts in the country, each composed of about 250,000 people. There are also Sectoral Representatives elected through the party-list system who constitute not more than twenty percent of the total number of Representatives.
The official headquarters of the House of Representatives is at the Batasang Pambansa (literally, national legislature) located at the Constitution Hill in Quezon City in Metro Manila. The building is often simply called Batasan.
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When the Philippines was under American colonial rule, the legislative body was the Philippine Commission which existed from September 1900 to October 1907. The President of the United States appointed the members of the Philippine Commission.
The Philippine Bill of 1902 mandated the creation of a bicameral or a two-chamber Philippine Legislature with the Philippine Commission as the Upper House and the Philippine Assembly as the Lower House. This bicameral legislature was inaugurated in October 1907. Through the leadership of Speaker Sergio Osmeña and Floor Leader Manuel L. Quezon, the Rules of the 59th Congress of the United States was substantially adopted as the Rules of the Philippine Legislature.
In 1916, the Jones Law or the Philippine Autonomy Act changed the legislative system. The Philippine Commission was abolished and a new bicameral Philippine Legislature consisting of a House of Representatives and a Senate was established. The legislative system was changed again in 1935. The 1935 Constitution established a unicameral National Assembly. But in 1940, through an amendment to the 1935 Constitution, a bicameral Congress of the Philippines consisting of a House of Representatives and a Senate was adopted.
Upon the inauguration of the Republic of the Philippines in 1946, Republic Act No. 6 was enacted providing that on the date of the proclamation of the Republic of the Philippines, the existing Congress would be known as the First Congress of the Republic. The 1973 Constitution abolished the bicameral Congress and created a unicameral Batasang Pambansa parliamentary system of government.
The 1987 Constitution restored the presidential system of government together with a bicameral Congress of the Philippines.
The presiding officer is the Speaker.
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The House of Representatives has the exclusive power to propose legislation relating to appropriations, revenues, tariffs and increase of public debt. It is in this regard that the House is often referred to as having the "power of the purse." With the Senate membership having a national constituency, bills of local application and private bills are left to the House of Representatives to initiate. In all these instances, the Senate may just concur or propose amendments to such legislation.[1]
Another exclusive power of the House is to initiate all cases of impeachment against, the President, Vice President, members of the Supreme Court, members of the Constitutional Commissions (Commission on Elections, Commission on Audit), and the Ombudsman. When a third of its membership has endorsed the impeachment articles, it is then transmitted to the Senate which tries and decide on the impeachment case.[2]
On the basis of proportional representation of the political parties and the party-list organizations, the House elects twelve members or half of the membership of the Commission on Appointments, which is responsible for confirming the appointments of the President.[1]
Similar to the Senate, the House of Representatives also constitutes its own electoral tribunal to judge all contests relating to the election, returns and qualification of its members. The House Electoral Tribunal is composed of nine members, of which three are justices of the Supreme Court and the remainder are elected by the House on the basis of proportional representation of the political parties and the party-list organizations. The most senior justice presides as its Chairman.[1]
Parties | Seats | Proportion (%) |
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This is the division of seats as published on the website of the House of Representatives. The first party affiliation mentioned is counted. This is not the result of the elections. |
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Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats + Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Includes SARRO, BO-PK, PROMDI, KDT, Padajon Surigao, 1-CEBU, BALANE, UNA, and PTM) |
92+49 (141) |
38%+20.3% (58.3%) |
Nationalist People's Coalition (Includes Achievers with Integrity Movement) | 28 | 11.6% |
Liberal Party | 16 | 6.6% |
Nacionalista Party (Includes Abante Viscaya) | 8 | 3.3% |
United Opposition | 7 | 2.9% |
Partido ng Demokratikong Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan | 4 | 1.7% |
Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino | 4 | 1.7% |
Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino | 3 | 1.3% |
Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas | 3 | 1.3% |
Kilusan ng Bagong Lipunan | 1 | 0.4% |
Independents | 4 | 1.7% |
Buhay Hayaan Yumabong | 3 | 1.3% |
Bayan Muna | 2 | 0.8% |
Citizen's Battle Against Corruption | 2 | 0.8% |
Gabriela Women's Party | 2 | 0.8% |
Association of Philippine Electric Cooperatives | 2 | 0.8% |
Abono | 1 | 0.4% |
Advocacy for Teacher Empowerment Through Action, Cooperation and Harmony Towards Educational Reforms, Inc. | 1 | 0.4% |
Agricultural Sector Alliance of the Philippines, Inc. | 1 | 0.4% |
Akbayan ! Citizens' Action Party | 1 | 0.4% |
Alliance of Rural Concerns | 1 | 0.4% |
Anak Mindanao | 1 | 0.4% |
Anak Pawis | 1 | 0.4% |
An Waray | 1 | 0.4% |
Cooperative NATCCO Network Party | 1 | 0.4% |
Luzon Farmers Party | 1 | 0.4% |
You Against Corruption And Poverty | 1 | 0.4% |
Total | 242 | 100% |
Source: Congress Web site |
Party-list | Votes | % | Seats |
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Below is the result of the party-list vote. Most seats in the Congress are not elected through the party list system. | |||
Buhay Hayaan Yumabong | 1,169,248 | 7.42 | 3 |
Bayan Muna | 976,699 | 6.20 | 2 |
Citizen's Battle Against Corruption | 755,605 | 4.79 | |
Association of Philippine Electric Cooperatives | 621,211 | 3.94 | 1 |
Gabriela Women's Party | 621,086 | 3.94 | |
Advocacy for Teacher Empowerment Through Action, Cooperation and Harmony Towards Educational Reforms, Inc. | 487,354 | 3.09 | |
Akbayan ! Citizens' Action Party | 466,019 | 2.96 | |
Alagad | 423,090 | 2.68 | |
Cooperative NATCCO Network Party | 409,812 | 2.60 | |
Luzon Farmers Party | 409,133 | 2.60 | |
Bagong Alyansang Tagapagtaguyod ng Adhikaing Sambayanan | 385,654 | 2.45 | |
Alliance of Rural Concerns | 373,840 | 2.37 | |
Anak Pawis | 369,366 | 2.34 | |
Abono | 339,897 | 2.16 | |
Anak Mindanao | 338,125 | 2.15 | |
Agricultural Sector Alliance of the Philippines, Inc. | 328,649 | 2.09 | |
Total | 30,049,524 | 21 | |
Source: COMELEC |
All provinces and several cities have at least one congressional/legislative district, whose residents vote for their own congressman. Each district covers a population of approximately 250,000 to 500,000 people. Provinces that have only one congressional/legislative district are divided into two provincial districts for the purpose of electing Sangguniang Panlalawigan (Provincial Council) members. For provinces that have more than one congressional/legislative district, the provincial districts are identical to the corresponding congressional/legislative district, with the exclusion of cities that do not vote for provincial officials.
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The party-list system is the name designated for the sectoral representation. Under the 1987 Constitution, the electorate can vote for certain party-list organizations in order to give voice to significant minorities of society that would otherwise not be adequately represented through geographical district. From 1987-1998, sectoral representatives were appointed by the President.
Since 1998, each voter votes for a single party-list organization. Organizations that garner at least 2% of the total number of votes are awarded one representative for every 2% up to a maximum of three representatives. Thus, there can be at most 50 sectoral representatives in Congress, though usually no more than 20 are elected because many organizations do not reach the required 2% minimum number of votes.
After the 2007 election, in a controversial decision, COMELEC changed how it allocates the party-list seats. Under the new formula only one party will have the maximum 3 seats. It based its decision on a formula contained in a Supreme Court decision.
Congress is mandated to reapportion the legislative districts within three years following the return of every census.[1] Since its restoration in 1987, no general apportionment law has been passed, despite the publication of four censuses in 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2007.[3] The increase in the number of representative districts since 1987, were mostly due to the creation of new provinces, cities and piecemeal redistricting of certain provinces and cities.
Rank | Legislative district[a] | Population[b] |
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1 | 2nd District of Quezon City | 1,559,641 |
2 | 2nd District of Cavite | 1,494,595 |
3 | 1st District of Caloocan City | 984,530 |
4 | 1st District of Rizal | 899,538 |
5 | Lone District of Shariff Kabunsuan with Cotabato City[c] | 822,039 |
6 | 1st District of Laguna | 811,486 |
7 | 2nd District of Rizal | 761,617 |
8 | 1st District of Cavite | 755,705 |
9 | 1st District of South Cotabato | 753,002 |
10 | 6th District of Cebu | 743,715 |
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