Brief History of Government of the Philippines

Government of the Philippines

The Philippines is constitutional republic with three co-equal branches: the executive branch, legislative branch and the judiciary. The executive branch is headed by the President and Vice-President, administers the function of the government through the cabinet that is made up of departments and headed by secretaries. The legislative branch which is responsible and has the power to enact bills (proposals) into implementing law is composed of the Senate (also called the Upper House, as senators are its members), and the House of the Representatives (also called the Lower House - congressmen are its members) lead by the Senate President and the Speaker of the House, respectively. The judiciary consists of the systems of courts with Supreme Court as the highest court and lead by the Chief Justice of the Philippines.

For administrative purposes and intentions, the country is divided into regions (there are 17 regions as of this writing) and provinces (80 provinces is total, as of the time of this writing), except for the Metropolitan Manila (Metro Manila is also composed of cities and municipalities). Each province is headed by a governor (gobernadorcillo during the Spanish era) and has its own legislative body and it's called Sangguniang Panlalawigan. The provinces, in turn, are composed of cities and municipalities. Cities and municipalities are further divided into barangays. A barangay is the tiniest political unit of the Philippines and people elect a barangay captain (cabeza de barangay) as their head.

The country has undergone five (5) constitutional changes since the Malolos Constitution of 1899 which set up the First Filipino Republic with Emilio Aguinaldo, as president. These constitutions are:

the 1935 Constitution, which served as the basis for the transition Commonwealth government with Manuel L. Quezon as president followed by Sergio Osmena;
the 1943 Constitution of the Japanese-sponsored government which recognized the Second Republic under President Jose P. Laurel;
the 1935 Constitution which set up the Third Republic under President Manuel A. Roxas, followed by Elpidio R. Quirino, Ramon F. Magsaysay, Carlos P. Garcia, Diosdado P. Macapagal, and Ferdinand E. Marcos (for his first term);
the 1973 Constitution which extended the term of President Ferdinand Marcos beyond the provision of the 1935 Constitution, and set up the Fourth Republic; and
the 1987 Constitution during the presidency of Corazon C. Aquino (as the president of the Fifth Republic), to that of Fidel V. Ramos, the short-lived administration of Joseph E. Estrada, and that of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Milan Tomic

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