ARTICLE 29. Parliamentary and Assembly districts shall occupy the same geographical areas and shall be multi-member constituencies of four or six members.
In the first election under this Constitution, one-half of those elected with the highest number of votes in a constituency shall serve a term of six years. The other half shall serve for three years.
EXPLANATORY NOTES
The geographical areas of the Parliamentary and Assembly districts are the same. The number of members of Parliament will be equal to the number of members of the five State Assemblies put together.
Multi-member constituencies must have a minimum of four and a maximum of six per district or constituency. Two or more small adjoining provinces could be regarded as a district or constituency with four or six members. Needless to say, no Federal or State constituency can be created in area that is part and parcel of two different States.
The advantage of multi-member constituencies is that it does away with the past malady of having to choose only one congressman per district. Under this system, many electors were not satisfied with the candidate of the two big political parties for congressman in one district. No elector would want to waste his vote on a person who had no chance to be elected because that candidate was generally the candidate of the new third party which did not have the benefit of an election inspector.
The chances of the candidate of new parties to win were very slim. Electors had to choose between two candidates only, which often resulted in the choice of the lesser evil.
This malady will be dissolved with the creation of multi-member constituencies of not less than four to represent a district. In the first election under this constitution, the two who receive the highest number of votes will serve for six years and the two receive the second highest number of votes will hold office for three years only. This will be the only case when a candidate for membership in the Parliament or the State Assembly will be elected for three years.
In the succeeding election, three years later to fill the vacancy one-half of the members of the Parliament and one-half of the members of State Assembly, elections will take place to fill the vacancies of one-half of the members of Parliament and one-half of the members of a State Assembly. All the candidates will be private citizens and all those elected at this time will have a term of office for six years. Elections will take place every three years to elect members of the legislative power to hold office for six years.
Article 30. In order to qualify to be a Member of Parliament, a person must be a citizen of the Republic, at least 25 years of age, and a resident of the country in the past six years.
Only natural-born citizens 35 years of age and above are qualified to be candidates for membership in the Troika.
Non-residence during the Martial Law regime is not a disqualification.
The same qualifications as to age and residence shall apply to the members of the State Assembly and to the Troika of the States until otherwise provided in their respective Constitutions.
EXPLANATORY NOTES
The provision sets at 25 years the minimum age limit to qualify as Member of Parliament. The matter of residence is not limited to the district where the candidate is running. Following the law of Great Britain, a candidate to Parliament need not be a resident of the district where he is running.
Remembering that both Osmeña and Quezon became leaders of our country when they were about 30 years old, this Constitution provides that citizens 35 years of age are qualified to be members of the Troika.
Article 31. There shall be no special election to fill a vacancy in Parliament, and in State Assemblies, unless otherwise provided by law.
EXPLANATORY NOTES
For economic reasons, special elections to fill a vacancy in the Legislative Power are not encouraged.
Article 32. The Parliament shall organize itself into Commissions, and the latter shall be divided into study committees to cover different jurisdictions of the Commission.
No bill shall be brought to the attention of the Commission without the approval of the corresponding study committee. No bill shall reach the floor of Parliament without the previous approval of the corresponding Commission. This procedure will be dispensed with by a petition signed by 30 percent of the members of Parliament.
EXPLANATORY NOTES
Commission on Agriculture and Natural Resources of about 35 members. The members of the Commission will be divided into study committees such as:
1) agriculture
2) forestry
3) fisheries
4) minerals
5) land
6) animal science
7) soil and water conservation
8) agricultural extension
Bills presented by a Member of Parliament will be referred to the corresponding Commission by the secretariat of Parliament. The secretariat of the Commission will refer the bill to the corresponding study committee, which will deliberate on the subject. If approved by the study committee, the same is elevated to the Commission and, if approved by the Commission, the same is elevated to the Parliament.
Should the chairman of the study committee or of the Commission take time in having the bill studied and put to vote, the procedure will not be followed upon petition of 30 percent of the members of Parliament. Commissions shall be the classification used for special bodies that might be created to form part of the Moderating powers of the government. (To be continued/PN)
