PPG/M11.3 ELECT.S AND POL.L PARTIES/3.3RD.LESSON/4TH QUARTER

• Suffrage


  The right and obligation to vote of qualified citizens in the election of certain national and local officers of the government and in the decision of public questions submitted to the people
• Nature of suffrage


  • A mere privilege - Suffrage is not a natural right of the citizens but merely a privilege to be given or withheld by the law-making power subject to constitutional limitations
  • A political right - Suffrage enables every citizen to participate in the process of government to assure that it can truly be said to derive its powers from the consent of the governed. The principle is that of one man, one vote.
• Scope of suffrage


  • Election - It is the means by which the people choose their officials for definite and fixed periods and to whom they entrust, for the time being as their representatives, the exercise of powers of government
  • Plebiscite - It is the name given to a vote of the people expressing their choice for or against a proposed law or enactment submitted to them. In the Philippines., the term is applied to an election at which any proposed amendment to, or revision of, the Constitution is submitted to the people for their ratification
  • Referendum - It is the submission of a law or part thereof passed by the national or local legislative body to the voting citizens of a country for their ratification or rejection
  • Initiative - It is the process whereby the people directly propose and enact laws
  • Recall - It is a method by which a public officer may be removed from office during his tenure or before the expiration of his term by a vote of the people after registration of a petition signed by a required percentage of the qualified voters
• Qualifications of voters


  • A citizen (male or female) of the Philippines
  • Not otherwise disqualified by law
  • At least eighteen (18) years of age
  • Have resided in the Philippines for at least one (1) year and in the place wherein he proposes to vote for at least six (6) months preceding the election
• The 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines establishes the Commission on Elections (COMELEC)
• Powers and functions of COMELEC

  • Enforce and administer all laws and regulations relative to the conduct of an election, plebiscite, initiative, referendum, and recall
  • Exercise exclusive original jurisdiction over all contests relating to the elections, returns, and qualifications of all elective regional, provincial, and city officials, and appellate jurisdiction over all contests involving elective municipal officials decided by trial courts of general jurisdiction, or involving elective barangay officials decided by trial courts of limited jurisdiction
• Political party


  An organized and presumably durable association, either of individuals or of distinguishable groups of individuals, which endeavors to place its members in governmental offices for the purpose of bringing about the adoption of favored political policies or programs
• Characteristics of a political party

  • Its objective is to control the exercise of governmental powers by placing its own members in the public offices through which the policies of government are determined
  • Its intention is to use governmental powers for purposes which meet with the general approval of its leaders and the rank and file of its membership
• Types of electoral system

  • One-party system - An open system of the one-party variety exists in those jurisdictions in which a particular party is so much stronger than any of its nominal competitors that it almost invariably is successful in winning control of the government
  • Bi or two-party system - The earmark of a two-party system is their existence of two major parties which are so strongly supported that one or the other ordinarily emerges as the victor in elections and consequently gains mastery of the government
  • Multiparty system - Multiple-party systems are featured by the presence of a fairly large number of parties with compete with one another on relatively equal terms. Several parties may be considerably in comparison with their minor competitors, but they lack the strength of the major parties under a genuine two-party system
• Major political parties in the Philippines

  • Nacionalista Party
  • Liberal Party
  • Lakas-CMD
  • PDP-LABAN
  • Nationalist People's Coalition
  • Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino
  • Akbayan
  • Philippine Democratic Socialist Party