President of The Philippines

The **President of the Philippines** (Filipino: *Pangulo ng Pilipinas*, informally referred to as *Presidente ng Pilipinas;* or in Spanish: *Presidente de Filipinas*) is the head of state and head of government of the Philippines. The President leads the executive branch of the Philippine government and is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. The President is directly elected by the people, and is one of only two nationally elected executive officials, the other being the Vice President of the Philippines. However, four vice presidents have assumed the presidency without having been elected to the office, by virtue of a president's intra-term death or resignation.

Filipinos refer to their President as *Pangulo* or *Presidente*. The President serves a single, fixed, six year term without possibility of re-election. On June 30, 2016, Rodrigo Duterte was sworn in as the 16th and current president.

## Powers and roles

### **Chief Executive**

The President of the Philippines, being the chief executive, serves as both the head of state and head of government of the Philippines. The constitution vests the executive power with the president who consequently heads the government's executive branch, including the Cabinet and all executive departments.

The president has power to grant reprieves, commutations and pardons, and remit fines and forfeitures after conviction by final judgment, except in cases of impeachment. The president can grant amnesty with the concurrence of the majority of all the Members of the Congress. The president has authority to contract or guarantee foreign loans on behalf of the Republic but only with the prior concurrence of the Monetary Board and subject to such limitations as may be provided by law.

The president also exercises general supervision over local government units.

### **Commander-in-Chief**

The President also serves as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. This includes the power to suspend the writ of habeas corpus and to declare Martial law.

### **Power of appointment**

With the consent of the Commission on Appointments, the president also appoints the heads of the executive departments, board of members and its leaders from any national government-related institutions, ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, high-ranking officers of the armed forces, and other officials. The members of the Supreme Court and lower courts are also appointed by the president, but only from the list of nominees prepared by the Judicial and Bar Council. Such appointments do not need the approval of the Commission on Appointments.

### **Government agencies**

Some government agencies report to no specific department but are instead under the Office of the President. These include important agencies such as the National Security Council, Office of The Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, Commission on Human Rights, Commission on Higher Education, Climate Change Commission, Commission on Population, Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, Movie and Television Review and Classification Board, Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, and many more. The Presidential Security Group, which is composed mostly of members from the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police, is directly under the Office of the President.

## How To Be

### **Selection**

* Natural Born Citizen
* Voter
* Can Read and Write
* 40 years old at the Election day
* a resident of the Philippines for 10 years preceding in election

### **Election**

The President is elected by direct vote every six years, usually on the second Monday of May.

The returns of every election for President and Vice President, duly certified by the board of canvassers of each province or city, shall be transmitted to Congress, directed to the President of the Senate. Upon receipt of the certificates of canvass, the President of the Senate shall open all the certificates in the presence of a joint public session of Congress not later than 30 days after election day. Congress then canvasses the votes upon determining that the polls are authentic and were done in the manner provided by law.

The person with the highest number of votes is declared the winner, but in case two or more have the highest number of votes, the President is elected by a majority of all members of both Houses, voting separately on each.

### **Inauguration**

It was held every June 30 the president must take the oath at noon. As soon as the President takes the Oath of Office, a 21-gun salute is fired to salute the new head of state, and the Presidential Anthem Mabuhay is played. The President delivers his inaugural address, and then proceeds to Malacañang Palace to climb the Grand Staircase, a ritual which symbolises the formal possession of the Palace. The President then inducts the newly formed cabinet into office in one of the state rooms.

#### **Places of Inauguration**

* Barasoain Church
* Old Legislatibe Building
* Quirino Grandstand