Current Composition
The members of the House of Representatives, aside from being grouped into political parties, are also grouped into the "majority bloc," "minority bloc" and "independents" (different from the independent in the sense that they are not affiliated into a political party). Originally, members who voted for the winning Speaker belong to the majority and members who voted for the opponent are the minority. The majority and minority bloc are to elect amongst themselves a floor leader. While members are allowed to switch blocs, they must do so in writing. Also, the bloc where they intend to transfer shall accept their application through writing. When the bloc the member ought to transfer refuses to accept the transferring member, or a member does not want to be a member of either bloc, that member becomes an independent member. A member that transfers to a new bloc forfeits one's committee chairmanships and memberships, until the bloc the member transfers to elects the member to committees.
The membership in each committee should be in proportion to the size of each bloc, with each bloc deciding who amongst them who will go to each committee, upon a motion by the floor leader concerned to the House of Representatives in plenary. The Speaker, Deputy Speakers, floor leaders, deputy floor leaders and the chairperson of the Committee on Accounts can vote in committees; the committee chairperson can only vote to break a tie.
To ensure that the representatives each get their pork barrel, most of them will join the majority bloc, or even to the president's party, as basis of patronage politics (known as the Padrino System locally); thus, the House of Representatives always aligns itself with the party of the sitting president.
The majority bloc sits to the right side of the speaker, facing the House of Representatives.
| Party | Majority Bloc |
Ind. | Minority Bloc |
Total | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bukidnon Paglaum | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.35% | |
| CDP | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.35% | |
| KABAKA | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.35% | |
| KBL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.35% | |
| LDP | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.35% | |
| Lakas | 10 | 0 | 12 | 22 | 6.51% | |
| Lapiang Manggagawa | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.35% | |
| Liberal | 91 | 0 | 0 | 91 | 26.92% | |
| Nacionalista | 16 | 0 | 2 | 18 | 5.33% | |
| NPC | 38 | 0 | 6 | 44 | 13.02% | |
| NUP | 30 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 8.88% | |
| UNA | 9 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 3.25% | |
| Independents | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1.18% | |
| Sectoral | 50 | 1 | 5 | 56 | 16.57% | |
| Totals | 255 | 1 | 26 | 282 | 100.00%* | |
| Percent | 90.43% | 0.35% | 9.22% | 100.00%* | ||
Read more about this topic: House Of Representatives Of The Philippines
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