1. The Philippine Parliament (Katipunan ng mga Kinatawan ng Bayan) represents the Filipino people and shall have executive and legislative powers. Members of Parliament (Katipunero) shall have the honorary title of Ka while enjoying office.

2.1. The Parliament is composed of 150 duly elected national representatives (Kinatawang-Pambansa), the Presidential Vicar (Kaakbay), duly-elected Kinatawang-Pangkalahatan from each federal state, appointed Kinatawang-Pangkalahatan from the Filipinos overseas sector if not elected, duly appointed representatives for special concerns (Kinatawang-Pangkat) if not elected, and Filipino individuals conferred with the honorary title of Gat (Kinatawang-Pangdangal).

2.2. Virtue of Malakas at Maganda

At least thirty per cent of the composition of the elected Parliament shall be held by women.

Unlike the Judeo-Christian concept that women came from men, Filipino legend tells us that men and women were created equal when they came out of the enchanted bamboo. This provision was made from the call of women groups to have greater participation is governance, and international groups peg the number to at least 30 % as modestly acceptable.

This provision is overseen by the Electoral University and section 3.2 of this article.

3.1. Filipinos who are 21 years old and above and able to read and write shall indirectly elect national representatives by voting for a political party.

3.2. Leaders of the political parties, by virtue of their charters duly recognized by the Electoral University, nominate representatives to Parliament.

3.3. The 150 seats available to political parties shall be equitably divided by the Electoral University to parties garnering more than 2% of the number of votes cast in the parliamentary election.

3.4. No political party shall occupy more than 101 seats as Kinatawang-Pambansa. And at no time will the Parliament have more than 300 seats.

Note that you have to be 21 years of age to elect a member of the parliament while you only have to be 16 years old to elect a president. It is the purview of this constitution that a President should have a popular mandate.

4. Upon the recommendation of the Parliament, the President shall nominate Members of Parliament as Kinatawang-Pangkat from the sector of overseas Filipinos depending on the number of overseas electorates as prescribed by the Electoral University, if no election has been done among Filipinos overseas, and shall also nominate one Kinatawang-Pangkat for every sector of special concerns when no sectoral political party, such as women, youth, labor, handicapped, senior citizens, urban poor, peasant, indigenous peoples, professionals, Muslims, ecclesiastic, and others as specified by law, has reached sufficient number of votes to have a representative in Parliament. These special representatives must be confirmed by the Governor-General, the Parliament, and the Filipino Commission.

5. No person may be elected or appointed to the Parliament unless he is a natural-born citizen of the Philippines, of unquestionable good moral character, a registered voter, able to read and write, at least twenty five years of age on the day of the election, and, except the Kinatawang-Pangkalahatan and Kinatawang-Pangkat of the overseas Filipinos, must be a resident of the Philippines for at least five years immediately preceding such election.

6. The term of office of the Parliament starts on the First Day which is the day after the last day of the full term the old Parliament, or a day duly declared and realized by the President which is not later than 30 days after the parliamentary elections following a dissolved Parliament. The full life of a Parliament shall be 5 years and is not extendable. Neither a Parliament which is only less than 16 months old, nor a Parliament which has less than 8 months left in office can be dissolved. The official First Day starts at sunrise of that day.

7. The Procurator shall convene the Parliament on the First Day (Unang Liwayway). The Parliament shall then elect the Governor-General, Speaker and other house deputies. The Governor-General, as a courtesy, after taking an oath of office, must present himself to the President for Consent of the Nation.

8. The Governor-General and the Cabinet

8.1. The Governor-General (Punong Tagapamahala, Prime Minister, supremo) is the head of the Philippine Government (Pamahalaan) and the chief executive. He must be a duly elected member of the Parliament (Kinatawang-Pambansa or Kinatawang-Pangkalahatan).

Note that an appointed Member of Parliament or those of honorary capacity cannot hold the office of Governor-General or part of his Government.

8.2. The Governor-General determines and is responsible for the general policy and guidelines of the Government.

8.3. The Philippine Government shall consist of the Governor-General and his Cabinet (Lupon ng mga Tagapamahala), and shall be directly responsible to the Parliament.

8.4. The Governor-General may appoint a Deputy Governor-General (Punong Kalihim) from elected members of the Parliament, and Secretaries (Kalihim) for each Ministry (Kagawaran) who may not necessarily be members of the Parliament. The Ministry Secretaries are subject to accreditation by the Parliament.

8.5. The Government may be asked to explain its performance, and its policies and guidelines debated upon during the Question Hour (Oras ng Paglilinaw) of the Parliament as convened by the Speaker.

8.6. The Government may, in order to carry out its program, ask Parliament to authorize it, for a limited period, to take by ordinance measures normally within the legislative sphere.

8.7. The Governor-General shall have control and supervision of all federal ministries, departments, bureaus, agencies, and offices, and shall recommend to the President the appointment of the judges of all federal courts below the Supreme Court, the heads of federal bureaus, agencies and offices, the officers of the armed forces of the Philippines from the rank of brigadier general or commodore, and all the other federal officers whose appointments are not otherwise provided for, and those whom the Governor-General may be authorized by law to appoint.

8.8. The Governor-General shall command respect of the armed forces. In cases wherein there exists extreme lawless violence, or a state of invasion or rebellion, and when the sovereignty of the State is at risk and public safety requires it, the Governor-General may, for a period not exceeding sixty days, suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus or place the Philippines or any part thereof under martial law. Within forty-eight hours from the proclamation of martial law or the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, the Governor-General shall report to the Parliament. By the majority of votes cast, the Parliament may either revoke or concur or extend such proclamation.

8.9. The Governor-General, Deputy Governor-General and members of the Cabinet may be removed from office by Vote of No Confidence by two-thirds of the number of elected members of the Parliament.

8.10. The Governor-General, Deputy Governor-General or any member of the Cabinet may be removed from office or resign from his position without vacating his seat in the Parliament.

8.11. When the Governor-General is removed from office, for continuance of government services, the members of the Cabinet shall remain until they are replaced by the new Governor-General.

8.12. Upon the removal of the Governor-General, the Parliament shall elect a new one in the soonest and opportune time.

8.13. The Governor-General may hold office at the Palacio del Gobernador at Intramuros when in Manila.

9. The Speaker

9.1. The Speaker (Punong Kinatawan) is the head of the Philippine Parliament, and shall oversee the Parliament’s legislative functions and the Business of the Day (Gawaing Pang-Araw) otherwise delegated by Parliament Rules.

9.2. The Speaker may be removed by a motion, duly seconded and voted upon by the majority of the Parliament.

10. Members of the Parliament who are Kinatawang-Pandangal may initiate legislation provided it is co-sponsored by a duly elected member, and may vote to pass a bill or resolution. They are not allowed to initiate a Vote of No Confidence, but may vote when such motion is on the Floor. They are not allowed to hold any seat in the Cabinet, Committees and other minor bodies of the Parliament; however, they may be deputized to do so temporarily by the Governor-General or the Speaker on special and extreme cases.

11. Any private individual or group of individuals may propose bills for Parliament’s consideration. Such bills shall be initiated and governed respectfully by promulgated Parliament Rules.

12. The Parliament shall convene ipso jure on the second Monday from the First Day for its regular session, if it falls on a holiday, the regular session will open on the latest working day thereafter. It shall be in continuous session until the end of its natural life. The Parliament, as regulated by its own parliamentary rules and regulations, may go into a vacation or on constituent consultation not more than a cumulative number of 60 days per a year.

13. In order to adopt agreements, the Parliament must be in session with the attendance of the majority of members. In order to be valid, such agreements must be approved by the majority of the members present. The vote of the Members of Parliament is personal and cannot be delegated. At no time in Parliament must the number of appointed members (Kinatawang-Pandangal and Kinatawang-Pangkat) on the Floor be more than 1/3 of the total; in such cases, members who are Kinatawang-Pandangal shall be courteously removed from the Floor. The Parliament shall adopt and promulgate its own Rules of doing business and disciplining its members on the Floor as approved by the majority.

14. Code of Balagtas

14.1. Any Katipunero may invoke the Code of Balagtas (Kuro ni Balagtas) which only needs 1/3 of those present to be approved.

14.2. This code rules to make the debate or questioning on the Floor to be done on the strict convention of Balagtasan, which is in Filipino (Tagalog) and in verse.

14.3. The code shall only be lifted when the Parliament or committee is adjourned for the day.

This provision was included as a way to prevent unnecessary filibustering on the Floor.

15. Parliamentary Immunity

15.1. No Member of Parliament may be prosecuted or subjected to inquiry, arrest, detention, or trial on account of opinions expressed or votes cast in the course of his duties.

15.2. No Member of Parliament may, be prosecuted or arrested for a felony or misdemeanor without the authority of the Parliament, except in cases of flagrante delicto, authorized prosecution, or final sentence.

15.3. The detention or prosecution of a Member of Parliament shall be suspended if the Parliament demands.

15.4. If a Kinatawang-Pambansa has been removed or suspended by the Parliament, the political party where he belongs may nominate a substitute to his seat for the remainder of the term of Parliament. By virtue of the statute of a political party as recognized by the Electoral University, a Kinatawang-Pambansa may be suspend, dismiss and discipline. However, a Kinatawang-Pambansa who is removed from office may appeal his case to the Parliament as a whole if he thinks he is unjustifiably dismissed because of a conscientious vote cast on the Floor. Upon the discretion of the Parliament, the Kinatawang-Pambansa may be reinstated or the decision of the political party involved endorsed.

16. Passage of a Bill into Law

16.1. No bill passed 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 or Governor-General certifies to the necessity of its immediate enactment to meet a public calamity or emergency.

16.2. Upon the last reading of a bill, done on the Floor, no amendment thereto shall be allowed, and the vote thereon shall be taken immediately thereafter, and the yeas and nays entered in the Journal.

16.3. Every bill passed by the Parliament shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the President. If he approves the same he shall give the Consent of the Nation; otherwise, he shall veto it and return the same with his objections to the Parliament, which shall enter the objections at large in its Journal and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration, two-thirds of the Parliament agrees to pass the bill, it shall become a law. In all such cases, the names of the Members voting for or against shall be entered in its Journal. The President shall communicate his veto within ten days after the date of receipt thereof; otherwise, it shall become a law as if Consent of the Nation has been given.

16.4. Otherwise stated, a law shall take effect after fifteen days after it has been published in at least two national dailies.

17. The Parliament in Times of War and Emergency

17.1 The Parliament, by a vote of two-thirds, shall have the sole power to declare the existence of a state of war. However, it shall not bind unless given Consent of the Nation by the President.

17.2. In times of war or other national emergency, the Parliament may, by law, authorize the President or the Governor-General, 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 Parliament, such powers shall cease upon the next adjournment thereof.

17.3. The Parliament also has the sole power to send contingents of the armed forces to foreign territories for peace, aid and humanitarian missions, law enforcement and military exercises, and other such assignments.

18. A general appropriations bill for all offices of Government, including that of the President, shall be accomplished by the Parliament at the start of ever fiscal year. No bill giving a Member of Parliament a discretionary fund (Country-wide Development fund, pork barrel) shall be enacted.

This constitution does away with the corruption laden pork barrel.

19. The Parliament may appoint investigating Commissions on any subject of public interest. Their conclusions shall not be binding on the courts nor will they affect judicial decisions, but they may be transmitted to the appropriate agencies for the exercise of the necessary actions when required. Appearance before the Parliament on request shall be obligatory. The law shall regulate the sanctions which may be imposed for noncompliance with this obligation.

20. The Parliament shall create a Committee on Reviews, regulated by Parliament Rules, to evaluate and study all enacted laws of federal states, and previously enacted laws of the republic, and report to the Floor of the Parliament the conclusion of its deliberation.

21. The Parliament may create a Committes on Appointments, regulated by Parliament rules, to evaluate, acceed or deny appointees done by the President, Governor-General or The Filipino Commission.

22. The plenary sessions of Parliament shall be public except when there is an agreement against it which must be arrived at by an absolute majority or by a change in the Regulations.