Editing Politics of the Philippines (section)

== Executive ==
{{Main|President of the Philippines}}
{{See also|Vice President of the Philippines|Cabinet of the Philippines|Executive departments of the Philippines}}
[[Executive power]] is vested to the [[President of the Philippines|president]],<ref name="Rose-Ackerman">{{cite journal |last1=Rose-Ackerman |first1=Susan |last2=Desierto |first2=Diane A. |last3=Volosin |first3=Natalia |title=Hyper-Presidentialism: Separation of Powers without Checks and Balances in Argentina and Philippines |journal=Berkeley Journal of International Law |date=2011 |volume=29 |pages=246–333 |url=https://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5170&context=fss_papers |access-date=November 20, 2020|doi=10.15779/Z38XW8H|doi-access=free}}</ref>{{rp|254}} who is both [[head of state]] and [[head of government]].<ref name="Banlaoi">{{cite book |last1=Banlaoi |first1=Rommel |title=Philippine Security in the Age of Terror: National, Regional, and Global Challenges in the Post-9/11 World |date=13 October 2009 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-1-4398-1551-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hi_NBQAAQBAJ |access-date=December 7, 2020}}</ref>{{rp|31}} This individual is directly elected to a six-year term through a single-round [[first past the post]] election,<ref name="TeehankeeThompson">{{cite journal |last1=Teehankee |first1=Julio C. |last2=Thompson |first2=Mark R. |title=The Vote in the Philippines: Electing A Strongman |journal=Journal of Democracy |date=October 2016 |volume=27 |issue=4 |pages=124–134 |doi=10.1353/jod.2016.0068 |url=https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/the-vote-in-the-philippines-electing-a-strongman/ |access-date=November 19, 2020}}</ref> and being limited to one term are unable to seek re-election.<ref name="Rose-Ackerman"/>{{rp|254}} To be eligible for the presidency, an individual must be at least 40 years old, and must have resided in the Philippines for the decade prior to the election. Presidents may legislate through executive orders and other administrative actions, and must approve or veto bills coming from the Congress.<ref name="Rappler20210427">{{cite news |url=https://www.rappler.com/nation/elections/president-vp-philippines-powers-duties |title=Powers and Duties: President, Vice President of the Philippines |work=Rappler |date=April 27, 2021 |access-date=May 2, 2021}}</ref>

[[File:Malacañang Palace (local img).jpg|thumb|left|The [[Malacañang Palace]] is the official residence of the president.]]

The [[Vice President of the Philippines|vice president]], limited to two consecutive six-year terms, is elected separately from the president.<ref name="Lazo">{{cite book |last1=Lazo |first1=Ricardo S. |title=Philippine Governance and the 1987 Constitution |date=2009 |publisher=Rex Bookstore, Inc. |isbn=978-971-23-4546-3 |edition=2006 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fMszAErMRKYC}}</ref>{{rp|201}} This means the president and vice president may be from different political parties.<ref name="TeehankeeThompson"/> While the vice president has no constitutional powers aside from acting as president when the latter is unable to do so, the president may give the former a cabinet office.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/philippines-vice-president-duties-leni-robredo |title=Spare tire or not? The role of the Philippine vice president |last=Gavilan |first=Jodesz |work=Rappler |date=June 3, 2016 |access-date=August 23, 2020}}</ref> In case of death, resignation, or incapacitation, of the president, the vice president becomes the president until the expiration of the term.<ref name="Lazo"/>{{rp|207}} The vice president may also serve as Acting President if the president is temporarily incapacitated.<ref name="Lazo"/>{{rp|206}} Following in the line of succession are the Senate president and the Speaker of the House.<ref name="Rappler20210427"/>

Executive power is exercised through the [[Cabinet of the Philippines|Cabinet]],<ref name="Lazo"/>{{rp|214}} who are appointed by the president. While the appointees may wield executive power, all powers and responsibilities ultimately remain with the president, who may overrule any decision made by a cabinet member. The Cabinet includes the heads of [[Executive departments of the Philippines|executive departments]].<ref name="Lazo"/>{{rp|213}} Actions taken by executive and administrative officials are taken as actions exercised by the president.<ref name="Bernas">{{cite book |last1=Bernas |first1=Joaquin G. |title=A Living Constitution: The Abbreviated Estrada Presidency |date=2003 |publisher=Ateneo University Press |isbn=978-971-550-433-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qWG8WV1xH4wC}}</ref>{{rp|23–24}} Cabinet members may not be members of Congress.<ref name="Lazo"/>{{rp|385}} Close relatives of the president are explicitly barred from certain offices.<ref name="Lazo"/>{{rp|205}}

The president is also the [[commander in chief]] of the [[Armed Forces of the Philippines]],<ref name="Rose-Ackerman"/>{{rp|265}} thereby ensuring civilian supremacy over the military.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hernandez |first1=Carolina G |title=The Philippine military and civilian control: Under Marcos and beyond |journal=Third World Quarterly |date=1985 |volume=7 |issue=4 |pages=910–912 |doi=10.1080/01436598508419874 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01436598508419874?journalCode=ctwq20 |access-date=December 3, 2020}}</ref><ref name="Whither">{{cite book |last1=Hernandez |first1=Carolina G. |editor1-last=Severino |editor1-first=Rodolfo C |editor2-last=Salazar |editor2-first=Lorraine Carlos |title=Whither the Philippines in the 21st Century? |date=2007 |publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies |isbn=978-981-230-499-5 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FNFh114RQv8C&pg=PA78 |chapter=The Military in Philippine Politics: Retrospect and Prospects}}</ref>{{rp|80}} This title gives the president several emergency military powers,<ref name="Rose-Ackerman"/>{{rp|266–267}} such as the ability to suspend [[habeas corpus]] and declare martial law,<ref name="Abinales2005"/>{{rp|234}} although these powers automatically end after 60 days unless extended by Congress,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.rappler.com/nation/congress-extend-martial-law-december |title=Congress extends martial law to December 31 |last=Cepeda |first=Mara |work=Rappler |date=July 22, 2017 |access-date=December 22, 2020}}</ref> and can be reviewed by the Supreme Court.<ref name="ChasingtheWind">{{cite book |last1=Miranda |first1=Felipe B. |last2=Rivera |first2=Temario C. |last3=Ronas |first3=Malaya C. |last4=Holmes |first4=Ronald D. |title=Chasing the Wind Assessing Philippine Democracy |date=2011 |publisher=Commission on Human Rights, Philippines |location=Quezon City |isbn=978-971-93106-4-8 |url=https://www.ombudsman.gov.ph/UNDP4/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/DEMOCRACY-with-INDEX-LAYOUT-JAN-04-2012.pdf |access-date=December 5, 2020 |archive-date=May 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210509112233/https://www.ombudsman.gov.ph/UNDP4/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/DEMOCRACY-with-INDEX-LAYOUT-JAN-04-2012.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{rp|112}} The president also proposes a national budget, which Congress may alter before they adopt it.<ref name="Rose-Ackerman"/>{{rp|282}}

The president wields significant political power, including [[Padrino System|considerable influence]] over supposedly independent agencies due to the power of appointment.<ref name="Rose-Ackerman"/>{{rp|286}} The president directly controlled the Philippine Development Assistance Fund until the Supreme Court declared this unconstitutional in 2013. Following this, the Disbursement Acceleration Program was created to allow the president to direct funds, although some parts of this new program have similarly been declared unconstitutional. Such influence means that the legislature has never overcome a presidential veto, despite having the theoretical power to do so. A commission on appointments, independent from the legislature but made up of members from it, has the power to veto presidential appointments. However, court rulings mean the president can renominate an individual repeatedly upon rejection, and that that individual can effectively carry out the role by being officially in an acting capacity.<ref name="Relacion">{{cite journal |last1=Relacion |first1=April Farell M. |last2=Magalzo |first2=Grace C. |title=System of Checks and Balances in the Philippine Presidential Form of Government |journal=Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies |date=2014 |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=39–65 |doi=10.7828/JMDS.V4I1.632 |s2cid=154463227 }}</ref> The strength of the presidency combined with weak state institutions exacerbates [[Corruption in the Philippines|corruption in the country]].<ref name="Banlaoi"/>{{rp|31}}

Under the 1987 constitution, the House of Representatives has the power to impeach the president through a vote of one-third of its members, and the Senate decides upon the case. Impeachment proceedings against an individual can not occur more than once per year, which can be abused through the filing cases with weak impeachment claims to forestall the filing of stronger cases. President [[Joseph Estrada]] was the first Asian head of state to be tried following impeachment, although he was not ousted by the Senate. No president has ever been ousted through impeachment.<ref name="Relacion"/>