Philippine Legislature

The Philippine legislature is called in the Philippines, the second freely elected Parliament, which was the first time in the Senate and House of Representatives, whose members were only Filipinos. The basis for this was the enactment of the Philippine Autonomy Act ( Jones Law ) which was signed by President Woodrow Wilson on August 29, 1916. The Philippine Legislature replaced the existing parliamentary system, which consisted of the Taft Commission and the Philippine Assembly. The first elections were held on 10 October 1916. This legislature was abolished with the entry into force of the Tydings - McDuffie Law ( Philippine Independence Act ) on 1 May 1934, and replaced by the Commonwealth Conference in 1935.

Construction

The Philippine legislature was bicameral, consisting of a Senate and House of Representatives. The Senate consisted of 24 members, each of the 12 electoral districts put two senators. The first legislature took six years, the other election periods had a duration of three years. Two members of the Senate were appointed by the American General Governeuer and represented the non-Christian population of the Philippines in Southern Mindanao and the Mountain Province, Cordillera Administrative Region today. In the period 1916-1935 67 senators were elected, with members like Manuel Quezon from 1916 to 1935 held a Senate seat. Sergio Osmeña was only in 1922 elected to the Senate.

The House of Representatives consisted of 80 members and the Philippine Assembly was basically just renamed. The election periods were similar in design to that of the Senate. Seat of the House of Representatives was until 1927 the house My Untamiento in Intramuros, then it moved to Quezon order.

Powers

The Philippine Autonomy Act gave Parliament greater powers to be able to regulate the internal affairs of the Philippines by law. The exceptions consisted of the all laws relevant to the content related regulations on immigration, currency, customs regulations and their amount, distribution of land, forestry and mining activities, this required the approval of the President of the United States. Completely left out was the Philippine legislature in matters of national defense, the budget law and government organization. With the entry into force of the Philippine Autonomy Act, the Philippines were awarded a semi -autonomous status of the United States.