Category: Paper Chase

Upper House, Lower House, ‘Better House’, ‘Bigger House’?

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BICAMERAL legislatures, such as that of the Philippines, are composed of two chambers widely and historically known as the “Upper House” and the “Lower House”.

The upper house is often called a Senate, while the lower house takes on different titles such as House of Representatives as in the Philippines, United States, and Australia, or Chamber of Deputies as in Mexico, Chile, and Italy.

According to the book Bicameralism by George Tsebelis and Jeannette Money, the earliest appearance of a bicameral legislature was in 14th-century England. By the 18th century, the British parliament was widely regarded among Western philosophers as a model political institution.

In the book, the authors explain that England’s legislative practice of meeting in two distinct decision-making assemblies – the House of Commons and the House of Lords — was recast in terms of the ancient Greek theory of mixed government wherein the “lower house” represented the democratic element of society; the “upper house,” the aristocratic element; and the king’s veto power, the monarchic element.

Interestingly, the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines held office in the same premises after the 10-year Commonwealth period in 1946. The building called the “Executive House” was located on P. Burgos St., Manila; it now houses the National Museum.

In this building, the House of Representatives occupied the lower floors and the Senate, the upper floors. The phrases “Upper House” and “Lower House” referring to the two chambers of Congress were supposedly derived from this setup.

At present, the Senate holds office at the Government Service Insurance System Building on Roxas Boulevard in Pasay City. The House of Representatives, meanwhile, is located at the Old Batasang Pambansa Building in Constitution Hills, Quezon City.

According to PCIJ’s Guide to Government, the references to Upper House and Lower House stuck during the post-martial law period, despite the separate offices that the Senate and House now occupy.

Some House members had averred that the phrase “Lower House” was being used to allude to their intellectual and political attributes. Some had tried to expunge the phrase by offering their own, including the “Bigger House,” a reference to the chamber’s numerical superiority.

Soon enough, however, former Senator Rene A.V. Saguisag proposed to describe the Senate as the “Better House”.

Take a walk back in time with Trackback on PCIJ’s MoneyPolitics Online.

Mindanao journos, netizens: This PCIJ seminar is for you!

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CALLING all journalists, netizens, and bloggers based in Mindanao:

Are you into investigative reporting?

Would you like to attend a PCIJ seminar?

The second of four seminars on “Political Clans, Governance, and Journalists’ Safety” of the PCIJ will be held on July 25-28, 2013 for the journalists, netizens, and bloggers of Mindanao.

June 10, Monday, is the deadline for application.

Who may apply?

Researchers, anchors, producers, editors, news managers, freelance reporters, contributors, and stringers of print, TV, radio, and online media may apply. Citizen media and bloggers covering public policy issues are also eligible.

The seminar will feature the following sessions:

* Media Killings, Political Violence, and Impunity in the Philippines
* Political Clans: Past and Future Links
* The Government’s Purse: Tracking the State’s Resources
* Ethics and Safety: Field and Newsroom Judgment Calls
* The Fundamentals of Investigative Reporting
* Tracking the Investigative Trails
– The Paper Trail: Understanding, Connecting, and Organizing Documents and Databases
– The People Trail: The Art of the Interview
* Putting the Story Together (for print, broadcast, and multimedia)

Funding
The PCIJ will cover:
* Round-trip transportation from the participant’s place of work and/or residence to the seminar venue.
* Board and lodging during the seminar.

The PCIJ will also provide a modest fellowship grant for story proposals that will be approved during or immediately after the seminar.

Application Requirements

1. Completed application form with two references (download here).
2. One or two samples of work discussing public policy, development, human rights, or governance issues.

For print and online: link to the stories or attach copies of stories in Word or PDF

For TV and radio: script, story concept/treatment, talking points, or research materials used in the broadcast story. A recording of the broadcast may also be submitted. Work samples may be submitted via:

a. Mail — enclose the CD or USB flash disk containing the recording of broadcast
b. Email — attach the material or send the link.


Selection process

Applicants will be selected based on the following criteria:
- Track record or experience in covering public policy issues.
- Demonstrated interest in doing in-depth reports on governance, development, and human rights issues.
- Potential for playing a key leadership role within his/her organization or media community.

Successful applicants will be notified within 10 working days after deadline.

The seminar graduates will be accorded priority slots in the subsequent Advanced Investigative Reporting Seminars that the PCIJ will conduct in 2014.

Sending your application:

By email:
Email address: training@pcij.org
Please state ‘Application to Attend the PCIJ’s Basic IR Seminar’ on the subject line

Note: We will acknowledge receipt of all submissions. If you do not receive any reply within three working days, please resend your application and move a follow-up email or call (02) 410-4768.

By fax:
Telefax: (02) 410-4768
Please write ‘ATTN: PCIJ Training Desk’ on the fax cover sheet
Note: After faxing, please call (02) 410-4768 to confirm if all the documents had been transmitted successfully.

By mail:
The Training Desk
Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism
3/F Criselda 2 Bldg., 107 Scout de Guia St.
Brgy. Sacred Heart, Quezon City 1104
Note: We will acknowledge receipt of mailed applications via email or text.

Questions?
Please contact the PCIJ Training Desk at (02) 410-4768 or training@pcij.org


Coming soon: More PCIJ regional seminars!

Luzon
Application Deadline: July 10, 2013
Seminar Dates: Aug. 22-25, 2013

NCR
Application Deadline Aug. 1, 2013
Seminar Dates: Sept. 19-22, 2013

Why attend?

Through combined onsite and field learning sessions, the seminar aims to enhance the participants’ investigative reporting skills and practice, and offer a framework for analyzing media killings and safety issues in the context of governance, the culture of impunity, and the presence of political clans and private armed groups in many parts of the country.

The seminar also seeks to highlight the role of the police and human rights organizations as vital sources of information for journalists.

The seminar will feature lecture-discussions and workshops to identify potential risks and practical safety tips when covering dangerous assignments.

A Story Development Workshop will give participants an opportunity to pitch story proposals that the PCIJ may consider for fellowship grants and editorial supervision.

Experts from the academe, national media organizations, the police, human rights agencies and organizations, and data repository agencies will lead the discussions.

Got degrees, no degrees? The senators as students

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ALMOST half or 11 of the incoming senators of the 16th Congress took up either political science or economics in college. Too, nearly half took their undergraduate studies at the University of the Philippines.

Fifteen of the 24 senators of the 16th Congress had pursued postgraduate studies.

Senators Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr., Alan Peter Cayetano, Francis Joseph ‘Chiz’ Escudero, Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Grace Poe-Llamanzares, and Joseph Victor ‘JV’ Ejercito were all political science majors.

Senators Gregorio ‘Gringo’ Honasan II, Juan Edgardo ‘Sonny’ Angara, Pilar Juliana ‘Pia’ Cayetano, Teofisto ‘TG’ Guingona III, and Jose ‘Jinggoy’ Estrada took up economics.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Senator Franklin Drilon earned degrees in the arts, while Senators Cynthia Villar, Ralph Recto, and Paolo Benigno ‘Bam’ Aquino IV studied business administration, commerce, and management engineering, respectively.

Senator Lorna Regina ‘Loren’ Legarda took up broadcast communication while Senator Vicente ‘Tito’ Sotto III majored in English.

Senators Antonio ‘Sonny’ Trillanes IV and Ma. Lourdes Nancy Binay-Angeles, meanwhile, earned degrees in engineering and tourism, respectively.

Senators Sergio ‘Serge’ Osmena III took up various courses, but did not finish. Senators Ramon ‘Bong’ Revilla Jr. and Manuel ‘Lito’ Lapid did not obtain college degrees as well.

Nearly half or 10 of the 24 senators were Iskolar ng Bayan, or graduates of the University of the Philippines with a bachelor’s degree. They are Binay, Alan and Pia Cayetano, Drilon, Escudero, Estrada, Honasan, Legarda, Villar, and Santiago. Poe also took up Development Studies for two years at UP Manila.

Four senators — Aquino, Enrile, Guingona, and Pimentel — earned their undergraduate degrees from the Ateneo de Manila University.

Ejercito and Recto earned their college degree from De La Salle University (DLSU).

Trillanes also studied at DLSU but obtained his engineering degree at the Philippine Military Academy. Sotto, meanwhile, studied at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran in Manila.

Angara, Marcos, and Poe studied abroad at the London School of Economics and Political Science, Oxford University, and Boston College, respectively.

Check out what the senators of the 16th Congress took up in college on PCIJ’s MoneyPolitics Online.

Presidents and political parties

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OF THE country’s 15 presidents so far, six had made an impact on the current composition of political parties. They either formed their own or switched parties to facilitate their ascent to the presidency. They include former presidents Manuel Roxas, Ramon Magsaysay, Ferdinand Marcos, Fidel Ramos, Joseph Estrada, and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

The Liberal Party (LP) was founded by Manuel Roxas after the last war as a breakaway group from the Nacionalista Party (NP). Contesting Sergio Osmena’s leadership and candidacy in the 1946 presidential elections, Roxas led the so-called “Liberal-wing” of the NP and formed the LP. He ran against Osmena in the elections and won as the first president of the third republic.

Two would-be presidents would later abandon the Liberal Party in favor of the Nacionalista Party. In 1953, Ramon Magsaysay failed to bag LP support for his candidacy so he left and joined the opposing party NP. The same happened over a decade later in 1965 with Ferdinand Marcos defecting to the NP.

Marcos, however, went on to form his own party in 1978, the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL). Initially, KBL was formed as an umbrella coalition, which included the NP. But Marcos had a falling out with some members of the NP, which resulted in the formation of another political party: an alliance against Marcos and the KBL, the United Nationalist Democratic Organization or UNIDO. UNIDO was formed by Salvador Laurel who became Corazon Aquino’s running mate in 1986.

After the 1987 EDSA Revolution, the country saw a further rise in the number of political parties. Among these was Jose Cojuangco Jr.’s Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino or LDP where Fidel V. Ramos was a member.

In 1992, LDP endorsed Ramon Mitra as its presidential candidate, leaving Ramos without a political party to support him. This led to the creation of yet another party, Lakas, which later merged with the National Union of Christian Democrats. It came to be known as Lakas-NUCD and became the ruling party in the House after its founder, Ramos, won in the 1992 presidential elections and defeated Mitra. The party later changed its name to Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats or what is now called Lakas-CMD.

Another president who formed his own political party is Joseph Estrada. He was part of the Nacionalista Party and the now-defunct Grand Alliance for Democracy, which was among the opposition parties during Corazon Aquino’s administration. After being elected as senator in 1987, Estrada defected to the Liberal Party and in 1991, left the LP and formed the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP). A year later, he ran as the vice presidential candidate of the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC). In 1998, he co-founded the Laban ng Malayang Masang Pilipino, a coalition of PMP, NPC, and LDP for his presidential bid.

Estrada’s successor, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, also formed her own party, the Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino or Kampi. Originally a member of LDP, Arroyo left the LDP and formed Kampi in 1997 for the 1998 presidential elections. She, however, ran as candidate for vice president under Lakas-NUCD, with Jose de Venecia as her running mate. Lakas afterward supported her candidacy as president in the 2004 elections and then merged with Kampi in 2009, forming the Lakas-Kampi-CMD.

To know more about the country’s presidents, view our Public Profiles section of PCIJ’s MoneyPolitics Online. — Charmaine Lirio, PCIJ

A millionaires’ club called the Senate

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THE 15th Congress will bow out soon, or by June 30, 2013 to be exact.

The newly elected senators, and district and party-list representatives, will convene in July as members of the 16th Congress.

Four re-electionist senators from the 15th, by the latest count of votes, are likely to keep their seats in the 16th. Twelve other senators will serve on until 2016. Just a handful of neophytes will likely be added to the roster of the senators of the 16th.

This early, it would do well for people to know and to fix the baseline data on the wealth of those who will serve in the Senate.

Both the neophytes and the re-elected senators, like all incoming elective officials of the land, are required by law to file their “entry into office” SALN or Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth by June 30.

To be sure, the Senate has always been a millionaires’ club.

Political party lines aside, the 23 senators of the 15th Congress are a lot alike in truth.

Financial comfort and steadily rising net worth are two blessings they share, according to the SALNs that they had filed over the years.

Some were born to old money, others had lucrative careers before politics beckoned, and a few own big business enterprises. To the last almost, wealth is the 23 senators’ common bliss.

Check out our latest report on The Wealth of the Senators of the 15th Congress in MoneyPolitics Online.

To know the wealth profiles of all 33 candidates for senator, read:

* THE RE-ELECTIONIST SENATORS:
SALNS bare some, mask other details
* Sidebar:
Wealth + donors + clans = power base

THE HOUSE’S WANNA-BE SENATORS:
* Propped by rich clans, big donors
* Sidebar:
Sons & daughters

* THE WANNA-BE SENATORS AGAIN:
No paupers despite break from politics

* The WANNA-BE SENATORS, TOO:
Family wealth, spouses’ assets boost a few newbies