The 1973 constitution A. Establishment of a modified parliamentary government. Parliamentary form of government
Parliamentary government is government is a democratic form of government in i n which the political party that wins the most seats in the legislature or parliament parliament during during the federal election forms the government. This majority party chooses a leader to be the Prime Minister or Minister or Chancellor , and other high-ranking members of the party make up the cabinet. The minority party forms the opposition, and its job j ob is to challenge the majority party. If no party is able to win a majority in the election, a coalition government will be formed with a few political parties cooperating together. It's called 'parliamentary government' because all of the power is vested in the parliament. In a presidential system like the United States, the executive exe cutive branch is separate, and the president is popularly elected by the citizens of the nation. In a parliamentary parliamen tary system, the head of the government is chosen from the parliament, and is often one of the most senior members or ministers in parliament, which is where we get the term 'Prime Minister'. Often in a parliamentary system, the country will have a Head of State , who is a ceremonial figure like the Queen, but does not engage in legislating or politics.
A parliamentary parliamentary system of government government means means that the executive executive branch of government government has the direct or indirect support of the parliament. This support is usually shown by a vote of confidence. The relationship between the executive and the legislature in a parliamentary system is called responsible government.
How is the power distributed in the parliamentary government?
= The executive is made up of the prime minister or premier, and that official's cabinet. The prime minister and his cabinet are members of the legislative branch called the parliament. Voters elect the legislature. The executive and legislative branches are separate, independent of one another, and coequal.
Countries that exercise parliamentary government
United Kingdom Denmark Sweden Japan Germany
B. Suspension of bill of right.
Article III – Bill of Rights Article III enumerates specific protections against the abuse of state power, most of which are similar to the provisions of the U.S. Constitution. Some essential provisions are:
a right to due process and equal protection of law a right against searches and seizures without a warrant issued by a judge a right to privacy The right to freedom of speech and expression, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, and the right to petition The free exercise of religion a right of abode and the right to travel a right to information on matters of public concern a right to form associations a right of free access to courts the right to remain silent and to have competent legal counsel a right to bail and against excessive bail conditions a right to habeas corpus the right to a speedy trial the right against self-incrimination the right to political beliefs and aspirations a prohibition against cruel, degrading, or inhuman punishment protection providing for no imprisonment for debt the right against double jeopardy Prohibition of ex post facto laws and bills of attainder .
Example of abuses during the time president marcos.
Archimedes Trajano was only 21 when he questioned Imee Marcos on why she was the National Chairman of the Kabataang Barangay during an open forum. He was forcibly taken from the venue by Imee's bodyguards, and was tortured and thrown out of a building window , all because the presidential daughter was irked by his question. Maria Elena Ang was a 23-year-old UP Journalism student when she was arrested and detained. She was beaten, electrocuted, water cured, and sexually violated during her detention. Dr Juan Escandor was a young doctor with UP-PGH who was tortured and killed by the Philippine Constabulary. When his body was recovered, a pathologist found that his skull had been broken open, emptied and stuffed with trash, plastic bags, rags and underwear. His brain was stuffed inside his abdominal cavity.
Boyet Mijares was only 16 years old in 1977 when he received a call that his disappeared father (whistleblower and writer Primitivo Mijares) was still alive. The caller invited the younger Mijares to see him. A few days later, Boyet's body was found dumped outside Manila, his eyeballs protruding, his chest perforated with multiple stab wounds, his head bashed in, and his hands, feet and genitals mangled. Trinidad Herrera was a community leader in Tondo when she was arrested in 1977. In this video she recounts being electrocuted on her fingers, breasts, and vagina until her interrogators were pleased with her answers to their questions. Neri Colmenares was an 18-year-old activist when he was arrested and tortured by members of the Philippine Constabulary. Aside from being strangled and made to play Russian Roulette, he witnessed fellow detainees being electrocuted through wires inserted into their penises, as well as being buried alive in a steel drum. Hilda Narciso was a church worker when she was arrested, confined in a small cell, fed a soup of worms and rotten fish, and repeatedly gang-raped.
Necessary methods 60,000 were arrested during the first year of Martial Law alone, and many of their stories will never be told. Michael Chua wrote a paper detailing the torture methods used during the Marcos regime. Aside from electrocution of body parts and genitals, it was routine to waterboard political prisoners, burn them using cigarettes and flat irons, strangle them using wires and steel bars, and rub pepper on their genitals. Women were stripped naked, made to sit on ice blocks or stand in cold rooms, and were sexually assaulted using objects such as eggplants smeared with chili peppers. Forty-three years have passed. Time, as well as the circus that is Philippine governance makes it easy to forget Martial Law as the darkest and most terrible moments in Philippine history. Many of its victims have died or have chosen to remain silent – silence being most understandable because these stories are truly difficult to remember, and much harder to tell.
Stories need to be told Yet these horrific stories need to be told over and over until we realize that the pretty cover of the book of the Marcos years is actually full of monster stories. We need to bring the graphic accounts of torture and murder to light so that those who rest comfortably in their illusions that the Marcos years were pleasant will at least be stirred.
Instead we often hear from those who want to erase the evils of the past, those who tell us that these young people, many of them barely past their childhoods when they were tortured and killed, were violent rebels who sought to overthrow the government. Never mind that it was one of the most corrupt and cruel dictatorships the world has ever known, and that it was by the efforts of these young heroes that the reign of the Marcos ended. Majority of Martial Law victims were in their 20s and 30s at that time – the same age our younger citizens are now – those who have the luxury of shrugging off the Marcos years as a wonderful time. Unscathed by a morecruel past, the younger generation is only too eager to criticize the current state of our government and our people as being undisciplined and requiring an iron fist such as the one Marcos used to supposedly create peace in the past. They forget that if we were still under Martial Law (or should it return), such sentiments of “subversion” could cost them their lives, and that the same freedom and voice they use to reminisce about a time they know nothing about would have been muted and extinguished if we did not have the democracy we enjoy today. Hindsight is always 20-20, as they say. It's convenient to look at the past with rosecolored glasses instead of memories of needles in your nail beds, electric wires attached to your genitals, and a barrel of a gun thrust inside your mouth, the way thousands of Martial Law victims suffered and still suffer to this day. Just because it didn't happen to you or your family doesn't mean it didn't happen to more than 70,000 victims during that time. Just because you were spared then doesn't mean you will be spared the next time this iron fist you wish for comes around.
2,668 incidents of arrests 398 disappearances 1,338 salvaging 128 frustrated salvaging 1,499 killed or wounded in massacres
Amnesty International reports:
70,000 imprisoned 34,000 tortured 3,240 killed
C. Has given greater power to the executive department.
Article VII, Section 1, of the 1987 Constitution vests executive power on the President of the Philippines. The President is the Head of State and Head of Government, and functions as the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. As chief executive, the President exercises control over all the executive departments, bureaus, and offices. The President of the Philippines is elected by direct vote by the people for a term of six years. He may only serve for one term, and is ineligible for reelection. The term of the President of the Philippines starts at noon of the 30th day of June after the election.
