How a Bill Becomes Law in the Philippines: Step by Step

Questions on how laws are made appear regularly in the General Information part of the Civil Service Exam, and they are easier than they look once you see the process as a single journey. This guide follows a bill from the moment it is filed to the day it takes effect, citing Article VI of the 1987 Constitution at each step.

The players

• Congress has two houses: the Senate (24 senators elected at large) and the House of Representatives (district and party-list representatives).
• The President approves or vetoes bills.
• The Supreme Court may later decide whether a law is constitutional.

Step 1: Filing the bill

A senator or representative files a bill, which is given a number and referred to the appropriate committee. Two rules apply from the start:

• One subject: every bill must embrace only one subject, expressed in its title (Article VI, Section 26(1)). This prevents unrelated “riders” from being slipped into a bill.
• Money bills start in the House: appropriation, revenue and tariff bills, bills increasing the public debt, and certain other bills must originate exclusively in the House of Representatives (Section 24). The Senate may propose or concur with amendments.

Step 2: Committee hearings

The committee studies the bill, holds hearings and may amend it. Congress and its committees may also conduct inquiries in aid of legislation (Section 21). If the committee approves the bill, it reports it to the floor.

Step 3: Three readings

A bill must pass three readings on separate days in each house, and printed copies in final form must be distributed to members three days before passage (Section 26(2)).

• First reading: the title is read and the bill is referred to committee.
• Second reading: the bill is debated and amended on the floor.
• Third reading: members vote on the final version; no more amendments are allowed.

Exception: the President may certify a bill as urgent to meet a public calamity or emergency. Such a bill may be passed without the usual three readings on separate days.

A majority of each house is needed to form a quorum to do business (Section 16(2)).

Step 4: The other house

After one house passes the bill, it goes to the other house, which goes through the same steps. If the two houses pass different versions, a bicameral conference committee reconciles them, and each house must then approve its report.

Step 5: The President

The enrolled bill goes to the President, who has three options (Section 27):

1. Sign it → it becomes law.
2. Veto it → the President returns it with objections to the house where it originated.
3. Do nothing → if the President does not communicate a veto within 30 days after receiving the bill, it becomes law as if signed.

The veto and the override

Congress may override a veto by a vote of two-thirds of all the members of each house, voting separately. The bill then becomes law despite the veto.

The item veto

For appropriation, revenue and tariff bills, the President may veto particular items without rejecting the whole bill. This item veto is an important check on spending.

Step 6: Numbering and publication

Laws passed by Congress are numbered as Republic Acts. Under Article 2 of the Civil Code, as amended by Executive Order No. 200, a law takes effect fifteen days after publication in the Official Gazette or a newspaper of general circulation, unless the law itself provides otherwise.

Related rules worth knowing

Rule	Where
Congress convenes on the fourth Monday of July	Art. VI, Sec. 15
Taxation must be uniform and equitable, with a progressive system	Art. VI, Sec. 28
No money paid from the Treasury except by appropriation made by law	Art. VI, Sec. 29
Congress may not increase the President’s recommended appropriations for government operations	Art. VI, Sec. 25
A state of war is declared by two-thirds of both houses in joint session, voting separately	Art. VI, Sec. 23
The Commission on Appointments confirms major appointments	Art. VI, Sec. 18

Local laws

Local legislative councils, the sanggunian, pass ordinances for provinces, cities, municipalities and barangays under the Local Government Code (RA 7160). Ordinances must conform to the Constitution and national laws.

How to remember the process

Think of the numbers: 1 subject per bill, 3 readings, 3 days for printed copies, 30 days for the President to act, 2/3 of each house to override, 15 days after publication to take effect.

Then test yourself with our Congress and the legislative process questions and the executive and judiciary set.