Back كونغرس الفلبين Arabic Congresu de Filipines AST Kongreso kan Filipinas BCL Konggreso sa Pilipinas CEB Kongress (Philippinen) German Kongreso de Filipinoj Esperanto Congreso de Filipinas Spanish قوه مقننه فیلیپین Persian Congrès des Philippines French Kongres Filipina ID
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The Congress of the Philippines (Filipino: Kongreso ng Pilipinas) is the legislature of the national government of the Philippines. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives,[3] although colloquially the term "Congress" commonly refers to just the latter,[b] and an upper body, the Senate. The House of Representatives meets in the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City while the Senate meets in the GSIS Building in Pasay.
The Senate is composed of 24 senators[4] half of which are elected every three years. Each senator, therefore, serves a total of six years. The senators are elected at-large and do not represent any geographical district.
In the current 19th Congress, there are 316 seats in the House of Representatives. The Constitution states that the House "shall be composed of not more than 250 members, unless otherwise fixed by law," and that at least 20% of it shall be sectoral representatives. There are two types of congressmen: the district and party-list representatives. At the time of the ratification of the constitution, there were 200 districts, leaving 50 seats for party-list representatives.
The district congressmen represent a particular congressional district of the country. All provinces in the country are composed of at least one congressional district. Several cities also have their own congressional districts, with some having two or more representatives.[3] From 200 districts in 1987, the number of districts have increased to 253.[5] Every new Congress has seen an increase in the number of districts.
The party-list congressmen represent the minority sectors of the population. This enables these minority groups to be represented in the Congress, when they would otherwise not be represented properly through district representation. Party-list representatives represent labor unions, rights groups, and other organizations.[3] With the increase of districts also means that the seats for party-list representatives increase as well, as the 1:4 ratio has to be respected.
The Constitution provides that Congress shall convene for its regular session every year beginning on the 4th Monday of July. A regular session can last until thirty days before the opening of its next regular session in the succeeding year. The president may, however, call special sessions which are usually held between regular legislative sessions to handle emergencies or urgent matters.[3]
- ^ Ager, Maila (July 25, 2022). "Zubiri is new Senate President". INQUIRER.net. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
- ^ Panti, Llanesca T. "House elects Romualdez as speaker". GMA News Online. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
- ^ a b c d "Article VI: THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT". Philippines Official Gazette. Retrieved May 31, 2013.
- ^ "The Legislative Branch". Philippines Official Gazette. Archived from the original on April 7, 2023. Retrieved May 31, 2013.
- ^ Bueza, Michael (June 24, 2021). "LIST: New congressional districts in the 2022 elections". Rappler. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
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