House of Representatives of the Philippines in the context of "Bangsamoro Organic Law"

A city (Filipino: lungsod or siyudad) is one of the units of local government in the Philippines. All Philippine cities are chartered cities (nakakartang lungsod), whose existence as corporate and administrative entities is governed by their own specific municipal charters, in addition to the Local Government Code of 1991, which defines their administrative structure and powers. As of July 8, 2023, there are 149 cities in the country.

A city is entitled to at least one representative in the House of Representatives if its population reaches 250,000. Cities are also allowed to use a common seal. As corporate entities, they have the power to acquire, hold, lease, convey, and dispose of real and personal property for their general interests; condemn private property for public use (eminent domain); enter into contracts; sue and be sued; and exercise all other powers conferred on them by Congress. Only an act of Congress can create or amend a city charter, and through this charter, Congress may grant a city certain powers not available to regular municipalities—or even to other cities.

The Congress of the Philippines (Filipino: Kongreso ng Pilipinas) is the legislature of the national government of the Philippines. It is bicameral, composed of an upper body, the Senate, and a lower body, the House of Representatives, although colloquially, the term "Congress" commonly refers to just the latter. The Senate meets at the GSIS Building in Pasay, while the House of Representatives meets at the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City, which also hosts joint sessions.

The Senate is composed of 24 senators half of which are elected every three years. Each senator, therefore, serves a total of six years. The senators are elected at-large and do not represent any geographical district.

The Senate of the Philippines (Filipino: Senado ng Pilipinas) is the upper house of Congress, the bicameral legislature of the Philippines, with the House of Representatives as the lower house. The Senate is composed of 24 senators who are elected at-large (the country forms one district in senatorial elections) under a plurality-at-large voting system.

Senators serve six-year terms with a maximum of two consecutive terms, with half of the senators elected in staggered elections every three years. When the Senate was restored by the 1987 Constitution, the 24 senators who were elected in 1987 served until 1992. In 1992, the 12 candidates for the Senate obtaining the highest number of votes served until 1998, while the next 12 served until 1995. This is in accordance with the transitory provisions of the Constitution. Thereafter, each senator elected serves the full six years. From 1945 to 1972, the Senate was a continuing body, with only eight seats up every two years.

The government of the Philippines (Filipino: Pamahalaan ng Pilipinas) has three interdependent branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The Philippines is governed as a unitary state under a presidential representative and democratic constitutional republic in which the president functions as both the head of state and the head of government of the country within a pluriform multi-party system.

The powers of the three branches are vested by the Constitution of the Philippines in the following: Legislative power is vested in the two-chamber Congress of the Philippines—the Senate is the upper chamber and the House of Representatives is the lower chamber. Executive power is exercised by the government under the leadership of the president. Judicial power is vested in the courts, with the Supreme Court of the Philippines as the highest judicial body.

Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal-Arroyo (Tagalog: [ˈɡloɾja makapaˈɡal ʔaˈɾojo]; born April 5, 1947), often referred to as PGMA or GMA, is a Filipino academic and politician who served as the 14th president of the Philippines from 2001 to 2010. She is the longest-serving president since Ferdinand Marcos. Before her presidency, she was the 10th vice president of the Philippines from 1998 to 2001 under President Joseph Estrada, becoming the first female vice president. She was also a senator from 1992 to 1998. After her presidency, she was elected as the representative of Pampanga's 2nd district in 2010 and continues to serve in this role. She also served as the speaker of the House from 2018 to 2019, and as deputy speaker from 2016 to 2017 and 2022 to 2023. Alongside former president Sergio Osmeña, she is one of only two Filipinos to hold at least three of the four highest offices: vice president, president, and house speaker.

Arroyo is the first president to succeed the presidency as the child of a previous president; her father was Diosdado Macapagal, the country's ninth president from 1961 to 1965. She studied economics at Georgetown University in the United States, where she became friends with her classmate and future U.S. president Bill Clinton. She then became a professor of economics at the Ateneo de Manila University, where her eventual successor, President Benigno Aquino III, was one of her students. She entered government in 1987 as assistant secretary and undersecretary of the Department of Trade and Industry under President Corazon Aquino, Benigno's mother.

The Constitution of the Philippines (Filipino: Saligang Batas ng Pilipinas or Konstitusyon ng Pilipinas) is the supreme law of the Philippines. Its final draft was completed by the Constitutional Commission on October 12, 1986, and ratified by a nationwide plebiscite on February 2, 1987. The Constitution remains unamended to this day.

The Constitution consists of a preamble and eighteen articles. It mandates a democratic and republican form of government and includes a bill of rights that guarantees entrenched freedoms and protections against governmental overreach. The Constitution also organizes the main branches of the Philippine government: a legislative department known as the Congress, which consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives; an executive department headed by a president; and a judicial department, which includes the Supreme Court and lower courts. It also establishes three independent constitutional commissions—Civil Service Commission (CSC), the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), and the Commission on Audit (COA)—each enjoying fiscal autonomy. Other governmental bodies created under the Constitution include the Commission on Appointments (CA), the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC), the Office of the Ombudsman, and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR).

The 20th Congress of the Philippines (Filipino: Ikadalawampung Kongreso ng Pilipinas), composed of the Philippine Senate and House of Representatives, is the current meeting of Congress convened on July 28, 2025. The 20th Congress is the meeting during the last three years of Bongbong Marcos's presidency, and will end on June 7, 2028. The convening of the 20th Congress followed the 2025 general elections, which replaced half of the Senate membership and the entire membership of the House of Representatives.

The House of Representatives continues to meet in the Batasang Pambansa Complex. The Senate will remain meeting in the GSIS Building before transferring to the New Senate Building in Taguig by 2028.