BICAMERAL legislatures, such as that of the Philippines, are composed of two chambers widely and historically known as the “Upper House” and the “Lower House”.
The upper house is often called a Senate, while the lower house takes on different titles such as House of Representatives as in the Philippines, United States, and Australia, or Chamber of Deputies as in Mexico, Chile, and Italy.
According to the book Bicameralism by George Tsebelis and Jeannette Money, the earliest appearance of a bicameral legislature was in 14th-century England. By the 18th century, the British parliament was widely regarded among Western philosophers as a model political institution.
In the book, the authors explain that England’s legislative practice of meeting in two distinct decision-making assemblies – the House of Commons and the House of Lords — was recast in terms of the ancient Greek theory of mixed government wherein the “lower house” represented the democratic element of society; the “upper house,” the aristocratic element; and the king’s veto power, the monarchic element.
Interestingly, the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines held office in the same premises after the 10-year Commonwealth period in 1946. The building called the “Executive House” was located on P. Burgos St., Manila; it now houses the National Museum.
In this building, the House of Representatives occupied the lower floors and the Senate, the upper floors. The phrases “Upper House” and “Lower House” referring to the two chambers of Congress were supposedly derived from this setup.
At present, the Senate holds office at the Government Service Insurance System Building on Roxas Boulevard in Pasay City. The House of Representatives, meanwhile, is located at the Old Batasang Pambansa Building in Constitution Hills, Quezon City.
According to PCIJ’s Guide to Government, the references to Upper House and Lower House stuck during the post-martial law period, despite the separate offices that the Senate and House now occupy.
Some House members had averred that the phrase “Lower House” was being used to allude to their intellectual and political attributes. Some had tried to expunge the phrase by offering their own, including the “Bigger House,” a reference to the chamber’s numerical superiority.
Soon enough, however, former Senator Rene A.V. Saguisag proposed to describe the Senate as the “Better House”.
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