Xiaoxia Aquino.

At the very least, this is evidence that Congress is trying to make up for what is likely an extremely weak electoral system.

The Senate is not the only body that has a veto threat — the Electoral College is also set to meet on December 19th to decide whether it will follow the decision of the Supreme Court or make a new recommendation, which it could then reverse or refuse.

The Supreme Court decision came last week, as expected, giving the president a full year to finish his agenda. If he fails to act, Congress would be able to block his appointments and laws that take effect on January 20th, and even try to impeach him.

“Congress is now the one that will decide. The Supreme Court is supposed to stay in touch with and make recommendations, but a government that is not responsive to the will of the people seems to me to be very unstable,” says Professor Dario Maestri, an expert on the Philippine electoral system.

“There is an increased likelihood of people voting for new members, but that does not give a guarantee that the majority wants these kind of changes,” Maestri says.

“The Senate vote was very close and if it were not unanimous, it would have forced a [change],” he adds.

A similar story has played out in Guatemala, where a majority of the House of Representatives voted in favour of changing the way the two branches choose candidates, which could change the structure of Guatemalan democracy by giving President Otto Pérez Molina more time to fill the positions he wants.

And even though Pérez Molina only had the support of two seats, the country is still considered “an integral part of the world” by many international governments, including those of the US and UK.

But the US hasn’t given up: It remains a strong supporter; so does the Australian government, which is also on record as wanting an overhaul of their electoral voting system.

“This is not some theoretical discussion about a global electoral system. We are talking about the practical implementation of an electoral system that is still the traditional system here,” says Australia’s Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet Secretary Andrew Robb, according to a release.