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POWERS OF THE PRESIDENT

CHARLES JOSEPH G. DE GUZMAN


SOCIAL SCIENCE 4
Constitutional Powers of the President
1. Executive Power
2. Power of Appointment
3. Power of Control
4. Military Powers
5. Pardoning Power
6. Borrowing Power
7. Diplomatic/Foreign Affairs Power
8. Budgetary Power
9. Informing Power
Constitutional Powers of the President
10. Other Powers:
- Calls Congress to a Special Session (Art. 6, Sec. 15)
- Power to approve or veto bills (Art. 6, Sec. 27)
- To consent to deputation of government personnel by
the Commission on Elections (Art. 19-C, Sec. 2, par. 4)
- To discipline such deputies (Art. 19-C, Sec. 2, par. 8)
- Emergency powers by delegation from Congress (Art. 6,
Sec. 23, par. 2)
- Tariff Powers by delegation from Congress (Art. 6, Sec.
23, par. 2)
- General Supervision over local governments and
autonomous regional governments (Art. 10)
Power of Appointment
(Art7, Sec. 16)
Appointment- it is the selection, by the
authority vested with the power, of an
individual who is to exercise the functions of a
given office.
Designation- it means the imposition of
additional duties, usually by law, on a person
already in public service.
Commission- the written evidence of the
appointment.
Power of Removal
The President has the power to remove public
officials whom he has the power to appoint.
The power to remove is implied from the
power to appoint.
Public Officers appointed by the
President
Heads of Executive Departments
Ambassadors, other public ministers and
consuls
Officers of the Armed Forces from the rank of
Colonel or Naval Captain
Other officers whose appointment are vested
in him by the constitution such as the regular
members of the Judicial and Bar Council,
Commissioners of the Civil Service,
Commission on Audit, Commission on
Election.
Public Officers Appointed by the
President
Other officers of government whose
appointments are not provided by law
Those whom he may be authorized by law to
appoint such as the heads of government-
owned and controlled corporations, heads of
bureaus and undersecretaries.
Power of Control
(Art. 7, Sec. 17)
It is the power of an officer to alter or modify
or nullify or set aside what a subordinate
officer had done in the performance of his
duties and to substitute the judgment of the
former for that of the latter.

It includes the authority to order the doing of


an act by a subordinate or to undo such act or
to assume a power directly vested in him by
law. The power of control includes the power
of supervision.
The Military Power
(Art. 7, Sec. 18)
The power of the sword makes the President
the most important figure in the country in
times of war or other similar emergency.
It is because the sword must be wielded with
courage and resolution that the President is
given the vast powers in making and carrying
out of military decisions.
The military power enables the
President to:
Command all the armed forces of the
Philippines
Suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas
corpus (an order to bring a jailed person
before a judge or court to find out if that
person should really be in jail)
Declare a martial law (the law applied in
occupied territory by the military authority of
the occupying power)
Power of Executive Clemency
(Art. 7, Sec. 19)
The power of executive clemency is a non-
delegable power and must be exercised by the
President personally.
Clemency is not a function of the judiciary; it
is an executive function. The exercise of the
pardoning power is discretionary in the
President and may not be controlled by the
legislature or reversed by the courts, save only
when it contravenes its limitations.
Purpose of Section 19
It gives to the President the power of executive
clemency is a tacit admission that human
institutions are imperfect and that there are
infirmities in the administration of justice.
The power therefore exists as an instrument for
correcting these infirmities and for mitigating
whatever harshness might be generated by a too
strict application of the law.
In recent years, it has also been used as a
bargaining chip in efforts to unify various political
forces.
Forms of Executive Clemency
a.) Reprieves: a postponement of a sentence to a
date certain, or a stay in the execution.

b.) Commutations: reduction or mitigation of the


penalty.

c.) Pardons: act of grace which exempts the


individual on whom it is bestowed from
punishment which the law inflicts for the crime he
has committed.
Forms of Executive Clemency
d.) Remission of Fines

e.) Forfeitures

f.) Amnesty: commonly denotes the general


pardon to rebels for their treason and other high
political offenses.
Borrowing Power
(Art. 7, Sec. 20)
Otherwise known as the power to contract or
guarantee foreign loans
The President may contract or guarantee
foreign loans on behalf of the Republic of the
Philippines:
a.) With the prior concurrence of the
Monetary Board; and
b.) Subject to such limitations as may be
provided by law
Foreign Affairs Power/Diplomatic Power
(Art. 7, Sec. 21)
As a head of the State, the President is
supposed to be the spokesman of the nation
on external affairs.
The conduct of external affairs is executive in
nature. He is the sole organ authorized to
speak or listen for the nation in the broad
field of external affairs.
Foreign Relations Powers of the President
The power to negotiate treaties and international
agreements;
The power to appoint ambassadors and other public ministers
, and consuls;
The power to receive ambassadors and other public ministers
accredited to the Philippines;
The power to contract and guarantee foreign loans on behalf
of the Republic;
The power to deport aliens;
The power to decide that a diplomatic officer who has
become persona non grata be recalled; and
The power to recognize governments and withdraw
recognition.
Budgetary Power
(Art. 7, Sec. 22)
This power is properly entrusted to the
executive department, as it is the President
who, as chief administrator and enforcer of
laws.
He is in the best position to determine the
needs of the government and propose the
corresponding appropriations on the basis or
expected sources of revenue.
Informing Powers
(Art, 7, Sec. 23)
The President usually discharges the informing
power through the State of the Nation
address, which is delivered at the opening of
the regular session of the legislature.

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