Railroaded Legislation

We all know that in a republican form of government, it's congress that enacts the laws. A bill is enacted in the lower house and goes through the usual readings and gets sent to the upper house for another set of readings. After that, it gets sent to the president for his signature.

Here's something a lot of people don't know about the lawmaking process in the Philippines. When a bill is sent to the president, he can do any of the following:

1.) Sign it
2.) Veto it
3.) Do nothing

If the president signs the bill, it gets published and becomes a law. Now everybody knows that, right?

How about if it was vetoed?

If the president vetoes a bill, it is sent back to congress. But that's not the end of it. Congress can override the veto with a 2/3 vote from both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Now for those who aren't happy with the laws we don't like, such as our Expanded Value-Added Tax Law, doesn't that make you suspicious?

Non- action won't prevent a bill from becoming a law, either. In fact, if the president does nothing when the bill is sent to him for his signature the bill becomes a law thirty (30) days after the date it is submitted to him. So even if the president is a smart person, there is nothing he can do to prevent even unjust laws from being passed. Bills are basically railroaded to him whether he likes them or not.