I recently filled in one of the many gaps in my understanding of Philippine Politics, the relationship between the President and the two legislative branches, Senate and House. It seems that the House members are beholden to the President for national funding of "projects in their districts." As a consequence, the administration has "considerable leverage over the body." (Floyd Whaley, New York Times, May 15, 2013) By contrast the 20 members of the Senate are not financially beholden to the administration and thus are much more independent. The Philippine Senate is thus in much more of a position to support, oppose, and modify the administration's agenda.
I came across this interesting political tid-bit when catching up on the stack of old newspapers that pile up until my wife deposits them on the dining-room table, at my place for eating. The source is an article reporting on the mid-term election in the Philippines this past May. "Mid-term" refers to the half-way point in the six-year term of President Benigno Aquino (Philippine Presidents serve a single term). The ballots had not all been counted, but it looked quite clear that the majority in the Senate was going to swing to Aquino's allies. Since he has had a quite successful first three years, it looks as though he will have an even smoother way for the next three. The Philippine economy is the fastest-growing Asian economy, and to his credit President Aquino pledged that he would work to extend "the benefits of ecnomic prosperity to the country's poor" and "to crack down on corruption."
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