Work Ethics

What exactly is "work ethics"?

Work ethic is defined as the determination and dedication to one's job. Those with a strong work ethic place a high value on their professional success. They exhibit moral principles that make them outstanding employees in any position. If you have a strong work ethic, you believe in the importance of your job and typically feel that hard work is essential to maintaining a strong character (Indeed Editorial Team).

It is a soft skill, which means it is a non-technical skill related to working. This is the attitude of an individual that allows him to make decisions and perform his duties. An individual may consider the moral implications of his actions to determine what he considers appropriate and what is inappropriate in accordance with his values and principles.

Community Development

Community Development

The United Nations defines community development as “a process where community members come together to take collective action and generate solutions to common problems.” It is based on the principles of self-help, mutual support, the building up of neighborhood capacities for problem-solving and self-presentation, and the promotion of collective action to bring a community’s preferences to the attention of political decision-makers (Thomas, 1993)

Gilchrist and Taylor suggest there are three vital aspects of community development:

1.Informal Education – learning that takes place predominantly through direct involvement in community activities

2.Collective Action – finding the power of combined voices and determination; the strength of many people acting for their mutual benefit or to champion the interests of those who cannot stand up for themselves

3.Organization Development – helping groups and bodies to evolve a form that enables the members to achieve their goals, to act legally and to be accountable to the membership and wider community.

Five-Point Community Initiatives

This cyclical model is used to judge whether our initiatives to engage, plan, implement, develop, or sustain have the right virtues to effect sustainable growth and development in the community impact. 

1. Engagement is all about connecting people to the community. Methods includes key informant interviews, focus group discussions, or survey that can contribute to our engagement with community. For instance, knowing current pulse of the community, this helps leaders to identify the pressing problems that need to be resolved.

2. Planning the realization of ideas from the blueprint. On this stage, the community holds its conference or meetings with its members together with external consultants. The community leaders have rundown on all possible options and gather inputs for possible innovations and breakthrough that are vital in advancing solutions (Delos Santos, 2018)

3. Implementation the process of making something active or effective. Community leaders are in-charge of advancing the program or project. However, public support is needed to gain traction. Principle of transparency is essential in the implementation. Disbursement of funds must be supported by the documents. Information about the program or project must be open for scrutiny.

4. Development is a process in which something grows or changes and become more advanced. Programs implemented must adapt to constantly changing variables.

5. Sustainability focuses on the meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs (Grant, 2020). The term sustainability used to indicate programs, initiatives and action aimed at the preservation of resources. The four pillars of sustainability are: human, social, economic, and environmental.

Core Values of Community Development

To better understand the importance of community work. The following are the core values surrounding community development:

1.Collaboration is the relationship between interest groups, government, and citizens. It is important to understand the strengths and weaknesses of communities and other collaborators. Teamwork is essential for a community development project to succeed.

2.Participative democracy is imperative in community development, this can lead to better understanding of the problems, benefits, services, and resources needed for the project. It can also lead to innovation and partnership. Contributions of community members have significant meaning and values toward change.

3.Collective Action is an act contributing to public good or welfare of the members of the community. It is the capacity of people to work together in their common interest. This includes small-scale and large-scale activities to meet local need, as well as action to promote for change.

4.Empowerment is based on power and influence to imposed solutions. It encourages the community members to learn how power relationships operate and to develop on their ability to find answers.

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Community Action / Community Engagement

Community Action refers to the collective efforts of people directed towards addressing social problems, in order to achieve social well-being. This includes a broad range of activities; it is sometimes described as “social action” or community engagement”

Community is defined as a social group of any size whose members reside in a specific locality, share government, and often have a common cultural and historical heritage. It refers to a group of people that can be equated to stakeholders, interest groups or citizen groups. On the other hand, engagement derived from the principle of respect to all members of the community, which are the right to be informed, consulted, involved and empowered.

It can be deduced that community engagement is the process of working collaboratively with and through groups of people affiliated by geographic proximity, special interest, or similar situations to address issues affecting the well-being of those people. It is a powerful vehicle for bringing about environmental and behavioral changes that will improve the health of the community and its members. It often involves partnerships and coalitions that help mobilize resources and influence systems, change relationships among partners, and serve as catalysts for changing policies, programs, and practices (CDC, 1997).

Concept of Production

Definition

According to Bates and Parkinson (n.d), production is the organized activity of transforming resources into finished products in the form of goods and services; the objective of production is to satisfy the demand for such transformed resources.
Production in ordinary sense, it means creation of a commodity for the satisfaction of human wants. For instance, a carpenter may shape the wood into a more useful things like a chair or cabinet. Hence, he created additional utility or satisfaction.

Types of Production
Primary Production – refers to extractive industries such as mining and oil extraction. In advanced countries, the primary sector is providing less employment because it uses capital intensive, which means machinery is replacing manpower.
Secondary Production refers to the conversion of raw materials into finished products. For instance, manufacturing motor cars, shirts, and medicine.
Tertiary Production – these are the services that enable the finished goods to be in the hands of the consumers. Examples, distributive traders, banking, and government services.

Factors of Production
Land is the original gift of nature. It refers to a country's natural resources. It includes, what lies under the land like coal and gold, what is over the land like air, and what is around the land seas and oceans. 
Labor is the exertion of physical and mental efforts by an individual. It is owned by individuals who sell it to firms in exchange for wages or salaries. It requires training and education to be more productive. The division of labor is based on the different levels of skills, education, and strength. 
Capital is a finished product that is used to produce other goods. 
Entrepreneur is the organizer and coordinator of land labor and capital. Many of the economists agreed that entrepreneurs are part of factor labor. However, in modern economies, large businesses are seldom owned by one person, like in a corporation.

Theory of Production
The factors of production are known as the inputs of production. Output is the result that has been created by the inputs of labor and capital combined. 
There are two types of output; goods and services. The quality and quantity of labor and capital and all other inputs have a direct impact on the quality and quantity of output. The technology is essential to the firm, it is the process by which inputs are turned into outputs. 
The factors of production are classified into: fixed factors and variable factors. The fixed factor remains constant regardless of the volume of production, while the variable factor changes in accordance with the volume of production. 

Production Function
According to Fajardo (1990) it is the technical relationship between the application of inputs (factors of production and resulting maximum obtainable output). It is a mathematical function that relates the maximum amount of output that can be obtained from a given number of inputs, generally capital and labor (Lumencandela, n.d)

Short-Run and Long-Run
The difference is not based on time but on the production inputs. In the short-run, the use of at least one factor of production cannot be changed, or there are fixed inputs. It is a period of time that is too short to allow an enterprise to change its plant capacity, yet long enough to allow a change in its variable resources. In the Long-run, it is a period of time that is long enough to permit a firm or enterprise to alter all its resources or inputs (both fixed and variable factors) For example, a laundry business can be adjusted in a month or two. However, Toyota Motor Corporation capital adjustment could take several years.

The Law of Diminishing Marginal Returns
The law states that when successive units of a variable input (like farmers) work a fixed input (like one hectare of land), beyond a certain point the additional product (output)  produced by each additional unit of a variable input decreases (Fajardo,1990).

Production with Two Variable Inputs
When more than one input level is free to be altered, a firm faces the question of what is the best input combination to use. 
According to Bajarcharja (2018), An isocost line is a graphical representation of various combinations of two factors (labor and capital) which the firm can afford or purchase with a given amount of money or total outlay. It is an important tool for determining what combination of factor-inputs the firm will choose for production process. 
Example, producer has P200 and he wants to spend his entire outlay on two factors – labor and capital. Further suppose that the price of Labor is P 4 per unit and the price of capital is P 5 per unit. If the firm spends its whole outlay of P 200 on labor only, he can buy 50 units of labor. And, if the firm spends its entire outlay on capital only, then he can buy 40 units of capital. 
An isocost line may shift due to the following reasons: 
(1) Change in total outlay to be made by the firm 
(2) Change in price of a factor-input
Ponnusamy (2016) An isoquant is a firm’s counterpart of the consumer’s indifference curve. An isoquant is a curve that shows all the combinations of inputs that yield the same level of output. ‘Iso’ means equal and ‘quant’ means quantity. Therefore, an isoquant represents a constant quantity of output. The isoquant curve is also known as an “Equal Product Curve” or “Production Indifference Curve” or Iso-Product Curve

Marginal Rate of Technical Substitution
Marginal Rate of Technical substitution (MRTS), is the amount of capita that a producer is willing to give in exchange for labor and still lie on the same isoquant (Gabay B.,Remotin R., & Uy E., (2007, p 127). We can say that MRTS is the slope of isoquant. That is:

MRTS is also equal to the ratio of the marginal product of labor to the marginal product of capital, or

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Introduction of Economics

Economics Defined

Economics is the proper allocation and efficient use of limited resources for the satisfaction of human needs and wants. It is a branch of social science that deals with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The aforesaid word is derived from the Greek word "okionomia," which means household management.

Bible of Economics

Sometime in 1776, Adam Smith, also known as the "Father of Economics," published The Wealth of the Nation. The book became the bible of economics for a century (Fajardo, 1990). He argued in the book that the human natural tendency toward self-interest (or, in modern terms, looking out for yourself) results in prosperity (Blenman, 2020). For instance, people will act in an economically rational way when faced with behavioral decisions affecting their own personal income and well-being (Kenton, 2020).

The Invisible hand

The invisible hand is the automatic pricing and distribution mechanisms in the economy. This theory was the primary justification for free market ideologies. Smith stated that the means of production and distribution should be privately owned, and if they are not subject to the regulation of society, they will naturally prosper.

 

The elements of prosperity concerning the invisible hand are the following: Firstly, the practice promoted enlightened self-interest, thrift, and hard work. Example: The butcher does not sell meat with good-hearted intentions; it is evident that his attention is to acquire profit. The butcher sells at a reasonable price, so both parties can benefit. Secondly, the responsibilities of the government are limited to the defense of the nation, universal education, public works (infrastructure such as roads and bridges), the enforcement of legal rights (property rights and contracts), and the punishment of crime. Smith argued that large bureaucratic governments exist and stated, "There is no art which one government sooner learns from another, than that of draining money from the pockets of the people." Finally, stable currency is linked to free-market principles. Smith wishes to limit the government's ability to depreciate currency while adhering to free-market principles by keeping taxes low and allowing free cross-border trade by eliminating tariffs (Blenman, 2020). 

Microeconomics

Microeconomics deals with the economic interactions of a particular unit, such as a person, a single entity, or a company. The interactions refer to the buying and selling of goods by consumers and producers, which take place in markets. Hence, it can be deduced that microeconomics is the study of markets. It is well established in economic theory that there are interactions between supply and demand and scarcity of goods.

Macroeconomics

Macroeconomics is the aggregate unit. It is the study of the performance, structure, behavior, and decision-making of an economy as a whole. It is broader than microeconomics; it refers to national, regional, and global scales. The primary purpose of the discipline is to maximize national income and provide national economic growth, which can translate to increased utility or satisfaction for the people.

Economics as related to other social sciences

Sociology. It is the science of the origin and evolution of society, or of the forms, institutions, and functions of human groups (Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, 1970). It attempts to discover the social patterns or human behavior in a social institution, like a family, church, or government. However, economics is more definite; it attempts to understand the behavior of the consumer and producer.

Political Science. A discipline of social science that deals with systems of governance, and the analysis of political activities, political thoughts, associated constitutions, and political behavior (Oxford English Dictionary). It is related to the planning and creation of a sound policy for the people, like the appropriation and disbursement of the national budget and the production and distribution of income.

History. Is the study of the records of past events. Historia, meaning "inquiry; knowledge acquired by investigation. This would provide us with a better understanding of historical events and a solution to our present problem.

Ethics. It is also called "moral philosophy," the discipline concerned with what is morally good and bad and morally right and wrong. It is a science of morals. The aims of ethics and economics may be different; the former may promote material welfare while the latter promotes moral welfare. However, economics cannot be separated from ethics; people should consider the welfare of others in all economic or business dealings. If an individual commits some acts contrary to the interests of his fellowmen, he is directly harming himself because he is a member of society (Javier, Costales, & Rivas, 2002).

Evolution of Economic Society

Direct Appropriation Economy. This society is also known as Hunter-gatherer society, which means that humans relied on their environment; they hunted animals, went fishing on rivers, and scavenged plants for food. The society was very primitive; "man lived from hand to mouth."

Pastoral Economy. It existed 7,500 years ago, when humans learned how to domesticate animals and grow their own plants for greater food security. They recognize their ability to tame and breed animals and cultivate their own plants. It is said that the society was nomadic, moving from one location to another to bless their flocks.

Agricultural Economy. Humans settled down and cultivated soil in addition to the domestication of animals. Technology for farming was developed, such as fertilizer and tools for digging. A manorial system existed in which a lord presided over the manor or a self-sufficient landed estate.

Industrial Economy. The radical changes were based on technological invention, changes in the method of production, and the substitution of factory for household manufacturing. Examples of inventions include the spinning jenny invented by James Hargreaves in 1764, the power loon invented by Edmund Cartwright in 1785, and the steam engine created by James Watt in 1769.

Economic System

It is a set of economic institutions that dominate a given economy and are intended to solve the three (3) basic economic problems. It regulates the factors of production: land, labor, capital, and entrepreneurship.

Types of Economic System

Traditional Economic System. Production and distribution of resources under this system rely on customs, history, and time-honored beliefs, that were handed down from generation to generation. This system relies on farming, fishing, hunting, gathering, or a combination of these activities.In trade, people often use bartering instead of money. They only produce what they require, so there is no surplus.

Command Economic System.  A centralized authority or government exists to make all economic decisions. The government determines what goods should be produced, how much should be produced, and the price at which the goods are offered for sale (Chappelow, 2020).

Market Economic System. It is based on the concept of the free market. The price of goods and services is grounded on the interactions of consumers and producers. Most goods and services are privately-owned. The enactment of fair trade laws, such as those prohibiting monopolies, limits the government's power.

Mixed Economic System. It combines the characteristics of market, command, and traditional economies. It protects private property, and there is a freedom to use capital. However, it allows for governments to interfere in economic activities in order to achieve social aims.

What are the basic economic problems

According to Samuelson, the economic problems of societies are the following: First, determine what to produce- It is important to determine the wants and needs of the people in order to satisfy them. In economics, this is known as demand; if a manufacturer produces something that is not necessary or for which there is no demand, it will not increase people's utility. If a country allocates its resources for a service that is not needed by the people, it is not efficient. Second, how to produce- is a question of manufacturing methods. People have to decide the best combination of factors of production to create the desired output of goods and services. Lastly, for whom to produce- this is known as problem of distribution in economics. Societies need to decide who will benefit from their economic activity and what quantities they will acquire.

 

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Analyze the Nature, Dimensions/Types and Consequences of Power

NATURE OF POWER
 

Power is the ability to direct other behavior to get what you want. The driving force moving the resources from institution A to institution B or the influence of a parent on his child. The authority of a politician to change policies for his interest. The circumstance may amount to coercion or the practice of persuading someone to do something by using force or threats. According to Dalberg, an English historian, power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. He warned that power is inherently evil and those who possess it cannot be trusted.

DIMENSIONS OF POWER

Power as Decision-Making
This face of power consists of conscious actions that in some way influence the content of decisions. Identifying who has power is done by analyzing decisions in the light of the known preferences of the actors involved. The implication of this view of power is that the most powerful actors in society are those whose opinions are considered and upheld in the decision-making. The powerful are able to get what they want and make others behave the way they want them to. Decisions can be influenced in a variety of ways. Keith Boulding distinguished between the use of force or intimidation (the stick), productive exchanges involving mutual gain (the deal), and the creation of obligations, loyalty, and commitment (the kiss).
 
Power as Agenda Setting
The second face of power is the ability to prevent decisions being made: that is, in effect, ‘non-decision-making’. This involves the ability to set or control the political agenda, thereby preventing issues or proposals from being aired in the first place.
 
Power as Thought Control

The third face of power is the ability to influence another by shaping what he or she thinks, wants, or needs. This is power expressed as ideological indoctrination or psychological control.

 
TAXONOMY OF POWER                                  

In 1959, John French and Bertram Raven created the six (6) bases of power to understand the influence of a leader.

A formal right to make demands based on his/her authority is known as legitimate power. Example, the President of the Republic of the Philippines, elected by the people, making him a legitimate leader of the Philippines with an authority to direct other servants of the government to help him to accomplish his goals.

The reward power is the capability to compensate other person for compliance. Example, A manager's authority to promote an employee.

The coercive power is the ability to punish a person in case of noncompliance. Example, if an employer forces or threats his employee to do an act whether lawful or unlawful,

If a leader is charismatic the people automatically follow him this is known as referent power. Examples of charismatic people are Pope John Paul II and President Duterte.

The expert power, under this circumstance education or experience is the essential ingredient. Example, everybody, listen to a lawyer, if there is a controversy in law.

When a person holds information that may significantly affects the decision of a person is known informational power.

 
CONSEQUENCES OF POWER
There are three consequences of power: compliance, commitment and resistance. Employing certain types of power in particular ways may result into these consequences.

Compliance refers to the readiness or act of agreeing to do something.

The two types of power most likely to cause compliance are legitimate or position power and reward power.

1.Compliance with the order may occur if it is perceived to be within the leader’s scope of authority.

2.Compliance is most likely to happen if the reward is something valued by the target person.

Commitment is an even more desirable outcome because of the trust and emotional pledge that it causes. It is perceived as loyalty or a sense of dedication or devotion. Commitment is most likely to be the consequence when the powers used are referent and expert.

The common way to exercise referent power is merely to ask someone with whom one has a friendship to do something.

Expert power may result to commitment if the leader presents logical arguments and supporting evidence for a particular proposal, order or policy. It will depend on the leader’s credibility and persuasive communication skills in addition to technical knowledge and logical or analytical ability.

Commitment is a very unlikely consequence if coercive power is employed.
 

Resistance means to refuse or to oppose. It is the most likely outcome when coercive power is used in a hostile or manipulative way. It is best to use coercion power in preventing behavior that is harmful to the society and well-being of the people such as illegal and violent activities. (Heywood 2007)
 
CONFORMITY

Power is abused by compliance with the standards set by the society. People are often quick to conform just to please others.

Sometime in 1960, Stanley Milgram studied conformity to the authority. The participants were paid by the researcher to take a certain role. The participant (as a teacher) was told to shock the participant (as a learner) whenever an incorrect answer was given. In the study, the participants (learners) were confederates who pretended to be hurt by the electric shock. He told the participants (teachers) that they would not be held liable for whatever happened to the participants (learners) and that he needed their help to complete his experiment. The result ended up being that all participants were willing to administer up to 300 volts, and 65% were willing to go up to 450 volts.

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Political Ideologies

Ideologies refers to body of concepts or a set of beliefs or principles, especially those of a particular group or political party. Hence, political ideology is the allocation of power and to what purpose or ends it should be used. Accordingly, political ideologies have two dimensions; (1) Goals –how the society should be organized and (2) Methods - the most appropriate way to achieve the goal.

Aristotle’s Ideology

Aristotle known as the father of political science. He believed that the study is a powerful branch of science which held authority over other branches, such as military science. Moreover, he believed that fundamental achievement happiness derived from state, how it is organized and how the people pursue its ends.
He argued that there are six forms of government, categorize into ruled by one, ruled by few and ruled by many, each where further divided it into “defective or bad and “true forms or good.”

Aristotle classification of government	Defective or perfected for the interest of the ruler(s)	Good or “True forms” For the common interest
Ruled by One	Tyranny	Monarchy
Ruled by Few	Oligarchy	Aristocracy
Ruled by Many	Democracy	Polity

He described that tyrant is a usurper of power or acquired his power by force and rules over unwilling subjects. Based on his book politics: “Any sole ruler, who is not required to give an account of himself, and who rules over subjects all equal or superior to himself to suit his own interest and not theirs, can only be exercising a tyranny.”                                                                                                                         
Monarchy is ruled by one person whose authority derived not from election but through heredity. A form of government where the head of state is called often called king, queen, emperor or tsar. A monarch holds his position until death or abdication. Monarchy is classified into two; firstly, absolute monarchy and secondly, limited monarchy. In an absolute monarchy, the power of the king originated from divine right. The doctrine that king source of authority is from God, not from their subjects. Therefore, rebellion is the worst of political crime, for the reason, defying the order of the king is disobeying God. The monarch holds absolute power without constitution limiting it. All the properties of the nation is under complete control of the king.

Limited Monarchy also known as Constitutional Monarchy. The monarch must act in accordance with a written or unwritten constitution.  He is bound to exercise the powers or authorities within the limits prescribed by law. The country under this form delegates its power to promulgate laws to the parliament and holds the judicial and executive power. However, most of the country today, the monarch is just mere ceremonial leader with a limited executive power and influence, compare to the prime minister.

Oligarchy derived from the Greek words oligarkhia which means few and arkho meaning to rule or command.  This form of government is ruled by the few, to Aristotle it is ruled by rich, for which another term commonly used today is plutocracy. These few people claim that the most essential things to rule are wealth, social status and education. They are motivated by their self-interest to protect wealth. People are not given the rights to participate in the government. In contrary, the term Aristocracy derives from the Greek word aristokratia, meaning “rule of the best.” The few people that were chosen are endowed with the attributes to rule. “
Aristotle observes that the dominant class in oligarchy (literally rule of the oligoi, i.e., few) is typically the wealthy, whereas in democracy (literally rule of the dêmos, i.e., people) it is the poor, so that these economic classes should be included. He argued that the propriety constitution or government is represented by polity of middle class citizens.

In the democratic form of government, the state function through the law created by the politician which they create for their self-interest, to Aristotle “there are two parts of good government; one is the actual obedience of citizens to the laws, the other part is the goodness of the laws which they obey.”

Karl Marx’s Ideology

According to Marx society is divided into social classes: (1) Bourgeoisie, the Capitalist or Business owner who is the owner of the properties and control the production and (2) Proletariat, the workers who transform raw materials into economic goods. The capitalist controls the business, to maximize the profits he pays the laborers the lowest wage and employ social institutions as tools, like government to enforce law to maintain ownership of properties, church and education for propaganda. Laborers view the employment as a means of survival. This circumstance would eventually lead to revolution and end of capitalism.

Economic Determinism

It is a theory that economic relationships are the foundation upon which all other societal and political arrangement is based. This means every social institutions such as religion institution and political institution are determine by economic institution.

Dialectic Materialism

The Marxist theory (adopted as the official philosophy of the Soviet communists) that political and historical events result from the conflict of social forces and are interpretable as a series of contradictions and their solutions. The conflict is seen as caused by material needs.

The haves (the rich or bourgeoisie) refer to the thesis or idea in conflict with the have-nots (the poor or proletariat) refer to the anthesis or counter idea. He founded that this would lead to Synthesis or New Idea. It is very evident to his theory that revolution would bring desire change.

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Rights in a Democratic State

If the power of the government is unlimited then the result would tyranny. Hence, in a democratic state the bill of rights is inserted to the provision of the constitution, to addressed the State, notably the government, telling it what it cannot do to the individual. All the powers of the government (police power, power of eminent domain and power of taxation) are limited by the bill of rights. It is a guarantee that there are certain areas of person’s life, liberty or property which government power may not touch. Example, it is stated on the Philippine Constitution, that “no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor shall any person be denied the equal protection of the laws.”   

Due Process of law means it hears before it condemns, which proceeds upon inquiry and renders judgment only after trial. Applies to all persons, without regard to any difference in race, color or nationality. The right to life includes the right of an individual to his body in its completeness, free from dismemberment, and extends to the use of God-given faculties which make life enjoyable. The right to liberty which includes the right to exist and the right to be free from arbitrary personal restraint or servitude. The right to property is anything that come under the right of ownership and be the subject of contract. It represents more than the things a person owns; it includes the right to secure, use and dispose of them.                                                                                              

Equal protection of the law is embraced in the concept of due process, as every unfair discrimination offends the requirements of justice and fair play. It has nonetheless been embodied in a separate clause in Section 1 of Article III to provide for a more specific guaranty against any form of undue favoritism or hostility from the government. Arbitrariness in general may be challenged on the basis of the due process clause. But if the particular act assailed partakes of an unwarranted partiality or prejudice, the sharper weapon to cut it down is the equal protection clause

Other rights provided in a democratic state are the following:

1. Political rights which is granted by law to members of a community in relation to their direct or indirect participation in the establishment or administration of government. 

2. Civil Rights which municipal law will enforce at the instance of private individuals for the purpose of securing them the enjoyment of their means of happiness.

3. Social and Economics Rights which generally require implementing legislation.  

References

Lectures Notes  from the following persons: (1) Atty. Edwin Sandoval, (2) Jusitce Eduardo Antonio Nachura, (3) Father Joaguin Bernas, (4) Justice Isagani Cruz and (5) Atty Agpalo

Analyze the roles and responsibilities of the Philippines Judiciary

Branches of the Government

The Philippines is a republic with a presidential form of government wherein power is equally divided among its three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial.

The legislative branch is authorized to make laws, alter, and repeal them through the power vested in the Philippine Congress. This institution is divided into the Senate and the House of Representatives.

The executive branch carries out laws. It is composed of the President and the Vice President, who are elected by direct popular vote and serve a term of six years. The Constitution grants the President authority to appoint his Cabinet. These departments form a large portion of the country’s bureaucracy.

The judicial branch evaluates laws. It holds the power to settle controversies involving rights that are legally demandable and enforceable. This branch determines whether or not there has been a grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction on the part and instrumentality of the government. It is made up of a Supreme Court and lower courts. (retrieved from: https://pia.gov.ph/branches-of-government)

According to Jayson & Reyes (1993), the judiciary is the branch of government that interprets the law of the state and upon which devolves the application of the law for the settlement of conflicts arising from the relations between persons and between government and persons.

The judicial branch of government is known as the guardian of the Constitution. It protects the liberties and freedoms written in the Constitution. It ascertains and decides rights, punishes crimes, administers justice, and protects innocent individuals from injury, usurpation, and other wrongful acts.

Judicial Review: It is the power of the Judicial Branch of government to determine the validity of executive and legislative acts if they are in accordance with the Constitution. This is known as an expression of the supremacy of the Constitution.

A justiciable question can be entertained by the court. It is a given right, legally demandable and enforceable, an act or omission violative of such right, and a remedy granted by law for said breach of right. However, political questions are questions of policy. They involve the wisdom of an act or the efficacy or the necessity of a particular measure. These are questions that are better left for the political branches of the government to determine or resolve. For instance, recall a mode of removing a local official from his post even before his term ends due to a lack of confidence. It is a political question that cannot be intruded upon by the courts.

Qualifications and Hierarchy of Courts The general qualification cited in the constitution is “proven competence, integrity, probity, and independence. In addition, based on the hierarchy of courts are the following:

Justices of the Supreme Court (1) Natural-born citizen; (2) At least 40 years of age; (3) 15 years or more a judge of a lower court or has been engaged in the practice of law in the Philippines for the same period

Justices of the Court of Appeals (1) Same qualifications as those provided for SC Justices, and (2) Congress may prescribe other qualifications.

Regional Trial Court Judges (1) Citizen of the Philippines; (2) At least 35 years of age; (3) Has been engaged in the practice of law for at least 5 years or has held public office in the Philippines requiring admission to the practice of law as an indispensable requisite

Municipal Trial Court Judges (1) Citizens of the Philippines; (2) At least 30 years of age; (3) Has been engaged in the practice of law for at least 5 years or has held public office in the Philippines requiring admission to the practice of law as an indispensable requisite.

Judicial power rests with the Supreme Court and the lower courts, as established by law (Art. VIII, sec. 1 of the 1987 Constitution). Its duty is to settle actual controversies involving rights that are legally demandable and enforceable (Art. VIII Sec. 1(2)).

The judiciary enjoys fiscal autonomy. Its appropriation may not be reduced by the Legislature below the appropriated amount the previous year (Art. VIII, Sec. 3).

Please visit this link for the history of the judiciary: https://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/387.

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