Section 12. All Members of the Senate and the House of Representatives shall, upon assumption of office,
make a full disclosure of their financial and business interests. They shall notify the House concerned of a
potential conflict of interest that may arise from the filing of a proposed legislation of which they are authors.
Section 13. No Senator or Member of the House of Representatives may hold any other office or employment in
the Government, or any subdivision, agency, or instrumentality thereof, including government-owned or
controlled corporations or their subsidiaries, during his term without forfeiting his seat. Neither shall he be
appointed to any office which may have been created or the emoluments thereof increased during the term for
which he was elected.
Section 14. No Senator or Member of the House of Representatives may personally appear as counsel before
any court of justice or before the Electoral Tribunals, or quasi-judicial and other administrative bodies. Neither
shall he, directly or indirectly, be interested financially in any contract with, or in any franchise or special privilege
granted by the Government, or any subdivision, agency, or instrumentality thereof, including any government-
owned or controlled corporation, or its subsidiary, during his term of office. He shall not intervene in any matter
before any office of the Government for his pecuniary benefit or where he may be called upon to act on account
of his office.
Section 15. The Congress shall convene once every year on the fourth Monday of July for its regular session,
unless a different date is fixed by law, and shall continue to be in session for such number of days as it may
determine until thirty days before the opening of its next regular session, exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays, and
legal holidays. The President may call a special session at any time.
Section 16. (1). The Senate shall elect its President and the House of Representatives its Speaker, by a
majority vote of all its respective Members. Each House shall choose such other officers as it may deem
necessary.
(2) A majority of each House shall constitute a quorum to do business, but a smaller number may adjourn from
day to day and may compel the attendance of absent Members in such manner, and under such penalties, as
such House may provide.
(3) Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly behavior, and,
with the concurrence of two-thirds of all its Members,suspend or expel a Member. A penalty of suspension, when
imposed, shall not exceed sixty days.
(4) Each House shall keep a Journal of its proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such
parts as may, in its judgment, affect national security; and the yeas and nays on any question shall, at the
request of one-fifth of the Members present, be entered in the Journal. Each House shall also keep a Record of
its proceedings.
(5) Neither House during the sessions of the Congress shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more
than three days, nor to any other place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.
Section 17. The Senate and the House of Representatives shall each have an Electoral Tribunal which shall be
the sole judge of all contests relating to the election,returns, and qualifications of their respective Members. Each
Electoral Tribunal shall be composed of nine Members,three of whom shall be Justices of the Supreme Court to
be designated by the Chief Justice, and the remaining six shall be Members of the Senate or the House of
Representatives, as the case maybe, who shall be chosen on the basis of proportional representation from the
political parties and the parties or organizations registered under the party-list system represented therein. The
senior Justice in the Electoral Tribunal shall be its Chairman.
Section 18. There shall be a Commission on Appointments consisting of the President of the Senate, as ex
officio Chairman, twelve Senators, and twelve Members of the House of Representatives, elected by each
House on the basis of proportional representation from the political parties and parties or organizations
registered under the party-list system represented therein. The chairman of the Commission shall not vote,
except in case of a tie. The Commission shall act on all appointments submitted to it within thirty session days of
the Congress from their submission. The Commission shall rule by a majority vote of all the Members.
Section 19. The Electoral Tribunals and the Commission on Appointments shall be constituted within thirty days
after the Senate and the House of Representatives shall have been organized with the election of the President
and the Speaker. The Commission on Appointments shall meet only while the Congress is in session, at the call
of its Chairman or a majority of all its Members, to discharge such powers and functions as are herein conferred
upon it.
Section 20. The records and books of accounts of the Congress shall be preserved and be open to the public in
accordance with law, and such books shall be audited by the Commission on Audit which shall publish annually
an itemized list of amounts paid to and expenses incurred for each Member.
Section 21. The Senate or the House of Representatives or any of its respective committees may conduct
inquiries in aid of legislation in accordance with its duly published rules of procedure. The rights of persons
appearing in or affected by such inquiries shall be respected.
Section 22. The heads of departments may upon their own initiative, with the consent of the President, or upon
the request of either House, as the rules of each House shall provide, appear before and be heard by such
House on any matter pertaining to their departments. Written questions shall be submitted to the President of the
Senate or the Speaker of the House of Representatives at least three days before their scheduled appearance.
Interpellations shall not be limited to written questions, but may cover matters related thereto. When the security
of the State or the public interest so requires and the President so states in writing, the appearance shall be
conducted in executive session.
Section 23. (1) The Congress, by a vote of two-thirds of both Houses in joint session assembled, voting
separately, shall have the sole power to declare the existence of a state of war.
(2) In times of war or other national emergency, the Congress may, by law, authorize the President, for a limited
period and subject to such restrictions as it may prescribe, to exercise powers necessary and proper to carry out
a declared national policy. Unless sooner withdrawn by resolution of the Congress, such powers shall cease
upon the next adjournment thereof.
Section 24. All appropriation, revenue or tariff bills, bills authorizing increase of the public debt, bills of local
application, and private bills hall originate exclusively in the House of Representatives, but the Senate may
propose or concur with amendments.
Section 25. (1) The Congress may not increase the appropriations recommended by the President for the
operation of the Government as specified in the budget. The form,content, and manner of preparation of the
budget shall be prescribed by law.
(2) No provision or enactment shall be embraced in the general appropriations bill unless it relates specifically to
some particular appropriation therein. Any such provision or enactment shall be limited in its operation to the
appropriation to which it relates.
(3) The procedure in approving appropriations for the Congress shall strictly follow the procedure for approving
appropriations for other departments and agencies.
(4) A special appropriations bill shall specify the purpose for which it is intended, and shall be supported by
funds actually available as certified by the National Treasurer, or to be raised by a corresponding revenue
proposal therein.
(5) No law shall be passed authorizing any transfer of appropriations; however, the President, the President of
the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and the
heads of Constitutional Commissions may, by law,be authorized to augment any item in the general
appropriations law for their respective offices from savings in other items of their respective appropriations.
(6) Discretionary funds appropriated for particular officials shall be disbursed only for public purposes to be
supported by appropriate vouchers and subject to such guidelines as may be prescribed by law.
(7) If, by the end of any fiscal year, the Congress shall have failed to pass the general appropriations bill for the
ensuing fiscal year, the general appropriations law for the preceding fiscal year shall be deemed reenacted and
shall remain in force and effect until the general appropriations bill is passed by the Congress.
Section 26. (1) Every bill passed by the Congress shall embrace only one subject which shall be expressed in
the title thereof.
(2) No bill passed by either House shall become a law unless it has passed three readings on separate days,
and printed copies thereof in its final form have been distributed to its Members three days before its passage,
except when the President certifies to the necessity of its immediate enactment to meet a public calamity or
emergency. Upon the last reading of a bill, no amendment thereto shall be allowed, and the vote thereon shall
be taken immediately thereafter, and the yeas and nays entered in the Journal.
Section 27. (1) Every bill passed by the Congress shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the President.
If he approves the same he shall sign it; otherwise, he shall veto it and return the same with his objections to the