Philippines’ Amendment of the Qualifications of Candidates for the Executive and Legislative Branch Modifying legislative and executive branch qualifying requirements in the Philippines is a very significant issue that requires further investigation and consideration. According to Coffé & Theiss-Morse (2016), there have been several debates and studies on the subject, but as of today, there are no present plans to modify the qualifications for positions in the legislative and executive branches of government in the Philippines (Coffé & Theiss-Morse, 2016). Since then, I've been thinking about whether changing the qualifications would make the Philippines a better place. I conducted research on numerous qualifications from different countries with legislative and executive branches, and what I discovered was that the qualifications of other countries are significantly higher than the standards of the Philippines. Countries in which I checked in Mason’s research (2016) have strong senses of leadership among their leaders, and their countries are among the best-performing countries in the world, according to my research. The first thing that sprang to my thoughts was if it would be appropriate in the Philippines. In research from Catchuela and Santiago (2017), the conduct of national elections has long been one of the most serious issues and sources of concern in the sphere of political administration and leadership, and this has been the case for a long length of time (Catchuela & Santiago, 2017). According to Maden (2010), for every citizen to perform his or her essential duty and commitment, he or she must choose and vote for the most qualified presidential candidate who will honestly serve the general public while simultaneously supporting the country's most vital interests and beliefs (MADEN, 2010). As indicated in the current suffrage statute of the Philippines, in order for the executive department to be functional, the qualification standards of the executive department must be commensurate with internationally known best practices and standards. In the case of a person who is not a natural-born citizen of the Philippines, who is not a registered voter, and who is unable to read and write, he or she will be ineligible to be elected President unless he or she has resided in the Philippines for a minimum of ten years immediately prior to and on the day of election. When it comes to people who must meet specific legal requirements in order to be eligible for participation, the exclusivity rule applies (Pring, 2013). Without wishing to offend anyone, the assumption that these needs are only the bare minimum of what is required cannot be supported by empirical facts. According to Frias & Regala (2016), there are provisions for a democratic form of governance, which is what the Philippines has chosen as its own system of government for now (Frias & Regala, 2016). In accordance with the country's constitution, Filipino citizens are guaranteed certain rights and privileges, which are made available to them at no further cost to them. This includes the right to vote, which is one of the rights guaranteed by the constitution. It is the right of the people to vote in elections, as well as the right of those who vote for them to be elected by the people who vote for them. Important to note is that this privilege is not without its limitations, as there are still requirements that must be completed before a Filipino citizen can be considered for election to a position of public trust and confidence. For every post in the Philippine government, a specific set of criteria governs the decision-making process, which varies from position to position (Isaac, 2007). Before a competitive election, Filipino voters must be presented with the greatest number of feasible political candidates in order to make the most qualified candidate their top priority. To put it bluntly, the criteria for posts in the administrative and legislative branches of government in the Philippines must be updated as soon as possible and put into effect as soon as possible. The foregoing suggests that if the necessary attributes for leadership are lacking, it follows that the perception of leadership will be lacking as well. References Catchuela, L., & Santiago, A. (2017). Qualification Standards of National Election Candidates in the Executive Department (Inputs to New Electoral Reforms). Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR), 3(6), 531. http://www.onlinejournal.in Coffé, H., & Theiss-Morse, E. (2016). The effect of political candidates’ occupational background on voters’ perceptions of and support for candidates. Political Science, 68(1), 55– 77. https://doi.org/10.1177/0032318716640611 Frias, S. D., & Regala, M. A. (2016). No sense candidates: A thesis on the constitutionality of Resolution no. 8696. Bachelor’s Thesis: Election Law. https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/5659 Isaac, S. (2007). National Vocational Qualifications: the candidates? experience. Health Information and Libraries Journal, 24(1), 50–57. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471- 1842.2007.00690.x MADEN, S. (2010). Turkish Teacher Candidates’ Views About Teacher Qualifications. Journal of Turkish Studies, Volume 5 Issue 4(5), 1364–1378. https://doi.org/10.7827/turkishstudies.1683 Mason, A. (2016). Appearance, Discrimination, and Reaction Qualifications. Journal of Political Philosophy, 25(1), 48–71. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopp.12099 Pring, R. (2013). Another Reform of Qualifications-but Qualifying for What? The Political Quarterly, 84(1), 139–143. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-923x.2013.02429.x
