The Good Citizen

Title

The Good Citizen

Year

1935

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

' ,/ THE YOUNG CITIZEN 71 lowed to do business with the government. Thus, if he is an engineer he cannot receive pay from the government for making a building or a bridge or any other thing for it. The Making of Laws During the Philippine Commonwealth Every year the National As~ sembly will hold a meeting. This meeting cannot last longer than 100 days. It may have special meetings. Each special meeting cannot continue for over 30 days. 0 N Saturday, ~farch 23, 1935, in Washington, D.C., the President of the United St"1.tes approved the constitution of the Philippines. He signed it in the presence of Manuel L. Quezon, the president of the Philippine Senate, Claro M. Recto, the president of the constitutional convention, and Manuel Roxas, a delegate to the constitutional con,.. vention and formerly speaker of the Philippine House of Re~ resentatives. Bells were rung in Manila to celebrate that event. The new government under the constitution is quite different from the p"l·esent one. This new government will be established sometime this year. The laws of the Philippine Islands will be made by the National Assembly. This will be the legislature of the Philippine Commonwealth. The present Philippine Legislature has two houses. They are the Philippine senate and the house of representatives. But the National Assembly has only one house. It is the National Assembly itself. Having only one house, instead of two houses, the legislative body of the Commonwealth will be less expensive to nm than the present legislature. It \Viii be able to work faster because it will not have to wait for another body to approve what it does. Some countries haYe legislative bodies similar to the National Assembly of the Philippine Commonwealth. Spain, Tui·kcy, Norway, Finland, LatYia, and a few others have legislatures with only one house. Do you know where these countries al'e '? In 1898 when the Filipinos declared their independence and made rt constitution in Malolos, they aiso provided for a legislature having· only one house. In the United States, the 11a~ tional government has a legislature with two houses. It is called Congress, and its two houses are the senate and the house of representatives. But some states of the United States arc now beginning to plan for a change. Nebraska is one of them. In the elections last November the state cf Nebraska . decided to change its legislature by having only one house instead of two houses. The people of other states are thinking of following the example of Nebraska. They believe that a simple government works better and is less costly than one which ls complicated. During any of the meetings, any member of the National Assembly may present a bill. Do you know what a _bill is? It is a writing which the person presenting it wants to be approved as a rule for the people. If the Assembly approves it, the bill is sent to the President of the Philippine Commonwealth. This person is the chief officer of the Philippine Commonwealth. He will take the place of the Gove1:nor General, who is the chief officer now. The President of the Commonwealth has the power to approve or lo disapprove the bill. If he approves it, the bill becomes a law. Every person in the Phil~ ippines has to follow that law and all other laws. The National Assembly of the If the President disapproves Philippine Commonwealth \Yill ii, we say that the bill is vetoed have 98 members. These mem... by him. To veto means to disapbers will i-·epresent all the prov- prove. A bill which is disaJ)'inces of the Philippines. As the proved is sent back by the Presipopulation of the Philippines in- dent to the National Assembly. creases, the number of members If two~thirds of all the members of the National Assembly will of the Assembly will vote in also increa.se. But it cannot go favor of that bill, then it will bebeyond 120 members. come a law even without the apIn order to become a member proval of the President. of the National Assembly, a per- So you see that a member of son must be at least 30 ~·ears of the ~ational Assembly \Vill have age. He must also be a citizen much power. For his work, he of the Philippines and a voter. will be paid P5,000 a year. Every He must reside at least one year good citizen should, therefore, before election in the province elect only 'the best men of his which he desires to represent in province to be membel's of the the National Assembly. ~ational Assembly. Having much A person who is elected mem- power, a good and wise member ber of the National Assembly of ihe Assembly will be able to holds his office for 3 years. make this country prosperous During· that time he is not al- and om· peop1c happy.

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