WHEREAS,
among the powers and functions of the Commission on Elections under the
Constitution is to "recommend to the National Assembly effective
measures to minimize election expenses and prohibit all forms of
election frauds and malpractices, political opportunism, guest or
nuisance candidacy, or other similar acts" [Sec. 2(6) Art. XII
(C)] chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
WHEREAS, Section 10 of Article XII(C) of the Constitution provides:cralaw:red
"Sec. 10. No elective public officer may change his
political party affiliation during his term of office, and no candidate
for any elective public office may change his political party
affiliation within six months immediately preceding or following an
election."
WHEREAS, in order to give sense and meaning to the aforequoted
provision of the Constitution, Batas Pambansa Blg. 52 was enacted
declaring that a violation of Section 10, Article XII(C) is a ground
for disqualification and empowering the Commission on Elections to
refuse to give due course to the certificate of candidacy of the
violator thereof;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
WHEREAS, guest candidacy, unless prohibited, can be a device through
which a candidate may be adopted as a guest candidate by another party
with the ostensible claim that he was not changing his party
affiliation;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
WHEREAS, one of the principal thrusts of the political reforms of the
New society is to uproot the pernicious practice of political
turncoatism and guest candidacy;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
WHEREAS, as a measure to encourage the growth and development of
political parties distinct programs or platforms of government, so
vital an effective parliamentary system, it is imperative that
turncoatism and political opportunism be discouraged.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines,
by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby
decree as follows:cralaw:red
Section 1. Guest candidacy. — It shall be unlawful
for any registered or accredited political party to nominate and/or
support as its official candidate any person belonging to another
accredited or registered party unless he has affiliated with the
nominating party within six months before the election.
Section 2. Sanction. — The Commission on Election
shall not give due course to a certificate of candidate filed by a
guest candidate or to the nomination of a political party of a ticket
which includes a guest candidate.
Section 3. Penalty. — The penalties for electoral
offenses provided under Section 181 of the 1978 Election Code shall be
imposed on violators of this decree.
Section 4. Effectivity. — This decree shall take
effect immediately.
DONE in the City of Manila,
this 3rd day of January in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and
eighty.
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