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PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 229
PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 229 -
PROVIDING FOR THE MANNER OF VOTING AND CANVASS OF VOTES IN BARANGAYS
(CITIZENS ASSEMBLIES)
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WHEREAS,
Presidential Decree No. 210 dated June 8, 1973 provides for a system of
registration for members of barangays (Citizens Assemblies);chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
WHEREAS, the collective views of the members of barangays (Citizens
Assemblies) should be ascertained with accuracy so that their decisions
on national or local issues be given effect; chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines,
by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution as
Commander-in-Chief of all the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and
pursuant to Proclamation No. 1081 dated September 21, 1972, and General
Order No. 1 dated September 22, 1972, do hereby order and decree to be
part of the laws of the land the following:cralaw:red
Section 1. Supervision of the Commission on
Elections. — The Commission on Elections shall, in addition to the
powers and functions conferred upon it by the Constitution, exercise
supervision and control over the conduct of voting and canvass of votes
in referendums and or other consultations in barangays (Citizens
Assemblies), and shall exercise and perform such other powers and
functions as may be necessary to implement this Decree.
Section 2. General meeting of Barangay members. —
Whenever a period has been fixed for the holding of a referendum and/or
consultation during which the members of barangays (Citizens
Assemblies) decide and vote on issues, national or local, the barrio
captain or barangay head shall immediately call a general meeting of
all the members of the barangay for the purpose of informing them of
the date or dates of the referendum and/or consultation, the places of
voting and the issue or issues to be resolved.
During the general meeting, there shall be full and constructive
discussions and exchange of views on the issue or issues to be resolved
among the members of the barangays.
The barrio captain or barangay head may, in his discretion, call as
many meetings as may be necessary for the purpose.
Section 3. Barangay referendum committee. — Not later
than ten days before the day of the voting, the Commission on Elections
shall appoint a barangay referendum committee for each barrio or
barangay to conduct the voting and count the votes cast therein. The
committee shall be composed of a representative of the Commission on
Elections who shall act as Chairman, a member of the barrio or barangay
council, and a public school teacher in the barrio or barangay.
In case of non-availability or absence of any of those enumerated in
the preceding paragraph, the Commission may appoint as substitute any
registered member of the barrio or barangay.
Public school teachers who are appointed members of the barangay
referendum committee may vote in the barangay center where they are
assigned on the day of voting.
Section 4. Designation of barangay center. — Not
later than ten days before the day of voting, the Commission on
Elections shall designate a barangay center or centers for each barrio
hall or any public building where members of the barangay can cast
their votes: Provided, That in barrios or barangays where there are
more than six hundred registered members, the commission may authorize
the establishment of as many barangay centers for voting purposes in
order to facilitate the casting and counting of votes.
Section 5. Observers. — The Commission on Elections
may designate in each barangay center not more than five observers, who
are members of the barangay. The observers shall have the following
powers and duties:cralaw:red
a.) To call the attention of the chairman of the
barangay referendum committee on any irregularity committed during the
referendum.
b.) To report to the election registrar any
irregularity committed by the barangay referendum committee. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
c.) To assist the barangay referendum committee in
ensuring the orderly conduct of voting in the barangay center whenever
so directed by the chairman of the committee.
Section 6. Who may vote. — Every registered member of
the barangay who, on the day of the referendum personally appears
before the barangay referendum committee shall be entitled to cast his
vote.
Any person whose name has been omitted, for any reason, in the barangay
list (barangay form No. 2), shall, upon presentation of his barangay
registration record, or upon showing that his name is included in the
list used in the January 1973 referendum or in the permanent list of
voters of the city, municipality or municipal district pursuant to
election code of 1971, shall be allowed to vote. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Section 7. Official barangay ballots. — The official
ballots shall be of uniform size and color throughout the Philippines
and shall be provided at public expense. Said ballots shall be in the
shape of a strip with stubs and coupons containing detachable numbers
of the ballots and a space for the thumbmark of the voter, and shall
bear at the top on the middle portion thereof the coat of arms of the
Republic of the Philippines, words "Barangay Ballot", and the date of
the voting, and the following note: "fill out this ballot secretly
inside the booth. Do not put any distinctive mark in any part of this
ballot", and the question or questions to be submitted for the
determination of the people.
The ballots shall be bound in separate books of two hundred ballots
each. There shall not be anything printed on the reverse side of the
ballot.
Ballots in cities, municipalities, and municipal districts where Arabic
is of general use, shall have translations of the question or question
printed in Arabic in addition to and immediately below the English
test.
Section 8. Casting of votes. — Voting shall be secret
ballot which shall be conducted in the barangay center designated by
the Commission. It shall start promptly at seven o'clock in the morning
and close at six o'clock in the afternoon.
Each voter shall have the right to vote in the order of his entrance to
the barangay center, identifying himself to the barangay referendum
committee, who will check his name against the barangay list.
All disputes as to procedure and during the voting shall be decided by
the barangay referendum committee by majority vote.
Section 9. Ballots Boxes. — There shall be two ballot
boxes for every barangay center. One ballot box shall contain the
ballots of voters fifteen years of age and under eighteen, and the
second box for ballots of voters eighteen years of age and above.
Section 10. Manner of obtaining and preparing the
ballot. — The voter shall approach the chairman of the barangay
referendum committee and shall give his name and address together with
other data concerning his person. If he is entitled to vote in
accordance with section six hereof, the chairman shall announce his
name distinctly and loud enough to be heard cleanly throughout the
barangay center. The chairman shall then deliver to the voter one
ballot correctly folded and require the voter to sign his name in the
proper column in the record of voters prescribed by the Commission. The
voter shall forthwith go to the vacant voting booth and prepare his
ballot in secret. After the voter has filled his ballot he shall fold
it in the same manner as when he received it and affix his thumbmark on
the corresponding space in the coupon, and deliver the folded ballot to
the chairman. The chairman, in the presence and in the view of the
voter and all the members of the committee, without unfolding the
ballot, shall remove the coupon and shall deposit the folded ballot, in
the compartment for barangay ballots and the detached coupon in the
compartment therefor of the proper ballot box as prescribed under Sec.
9 hereof.
Section 11. Preparation of ballot for illiterate or
disabled person. — A registered voter who is illiterate or physically
unable to prepare the ballot by himself may choose a person of his
confidence to assist him in the preparation of his ballot, preferably a
relative by affinity or consanguinity within the fourth degree. The
person thus chosen shall prepare the ballot for the illiterate or
disable voter inside the voting booth. The person assisting shall bind
himself in a formal document to be prescribed by the Commission, not to
reveal the contents of the ballot prepared by him.
Section 12. Closing of voting. — The casting of votes
shall stop promptly at six o'clock in the afternoon except when there
are barangay members present within thirty meters in front of the
barangay center waiting to cast their votes, in which case the voting
shall continue only as long as it takes these voters to cast their
votes without interruption. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
As soon as all the voters in the barangay center entitled to vote have
cast their votes, the chairman shall formally announce to the public
that the voting in the center is closed.
Section 13. Manner of counting the votes. — The
ballots contained in the ballot box for the voters fifteen years of age
and under eighteen shall be counted ahead of the ballot box containing
the ballots of voters eighteen years and above. The counting of votes
shall be made in the following manner: The committee shall form
separate piles of two hundred ballots fully extended which shall be
held together with rubber bands. The chairman of the committee shall
take the ballots of the first pile one by one and read the votes in the
order in which they appear thereon, assuming such position as would
enable all or at least a majority of the observers to read such votes.
The other member of the committee shall record on the proper tally
sheet the affirmative and negative votes as they are read. Each vote
shall be recorded by a vertical line except every fifth vote which
shall be recorded by a diagonal line crossing the previous four
vertical lines. The third member of the committee shall watch the
preparation of the tally sheet. After all the votes cast by those
fifteen years of age and under eighteen have been counted, the
committee shall sum up the totals recorded for affirmative and negative
votes and the aggregate sum shall be recorded on the tally sheet.
The same procedure in the preceding paragraph shall be followed in the
case of the votes cast by those who are eighteen years of age and above.
Section 14. Referendum results. — Immediately after
the count, the barangay referendum committee shall prepare and certify
in a form to be prescribed by the Commission on Elections two copies of
the referendum results showing the voting in the barrio or barangay.
The result shall indicate the date of the voting, the name of the
barrio or barangay and the city, municipality or municipal district and
province where the barrio or barangay is situated, the number of
members of the barangay, the number of members who voted the total
number of affirmative votes cast and the total number of negative votes
cast for each issue submitted to the members of the barangay, writing
out said numbers in words and in figures. Each copy of the results
shall be enclosed in a special envelope provided for the purpose and
shall be distributed as follows: the original shall be transmitted to
the Commission on Elections in the manner it may direct and the second
copy shall be kept on file by the barrio captain or barangay head.
It is understood that the referendum results will be separately
prepared for each of the age groupings in accordance with Section 9
hereof. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Section 15. Canvass by the Commission on Elections. —
On the day of the voting, the Commission on Elections shall convene en
banc to canvass the referendum results certified by the barangay
election committee of each barrio or barangay and, on the basis of said
canvass, proclaim the result thereof.
In case there are referendum results which are missing and the votes
therein will not affect the result of the voting, the Commission on
Elections may terminate the canvass and proclaim the result of the
voting on the basis of the available referendum results.
Section 16. Postponement of referendum. — When for
any serious cause such as calamities, floods, or other force majeure,
violence, terrorism, loss or destruction of referendum paraphernalia or
records, and other analogous causes of such a nature that holding of a
referendum becomes impossible in any barangay center or political
division or subdivisions, the Commission on Elections, upon verified
petition and after due notice and hearing, shall postpone the
referendum therein to such time as it may deem necessary, but on a date
reasonably close to the date of the referendum not held or suspended.
Section 17. Prohibited acts. — The following shall be
guilty of an offense punishable by imprisonment of not less than one
month nor more than six months:cralaw:red
a) Any foreigner who shall, directly or indirectly,
or take part in or influence in any manner the outcome of any
referendum or shall contribute or make any expenditure in connection
therewith;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
b) Any voter or any other person who gives or accepts
free of charge, directly or indirectly, transportation, food, or drinks
during public meeting and during the three hours before and after such
meeting, on the day preceding the referendum and on the day of the
referendum; or who gives or contributes, directly or indirectly, money
or things of value for such purposes;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
c) Any person who solicits votes or undertakes any
propaganda on the day of the referendum for or against any issue within
the barangay center and within a radius of thirty meters thereof;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
d) Any public officer, or officer of any commercial,
industrial, agricultural, economic or social enterprise, private
corporation or association, or any employer, who coerces or intimidates
or compels directly or indirectly, any of his subordinates or
employees, tod, campaign or vote for or against any issue in any
referendum;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
e) Any officer, member or employee of the armed
forces of the Philippines or any member thereof without specific
authority to assist the Commission in maintaining a free, orderly and
honest referendum, or any member of a police force who shall influence
in any manner any referendum or take part therein, except to vote if
entitled thereto or to preserve public order, if he is a peace
officer; chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
f) Any person who, without authority, prints or
causes the printing of any barangay ballot that appears as official
ballot; or who distributes or causes the same to be distributed to be
used in the referendum, whether or not they are actually used;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
g) Any person who, without authority, keeps, uses or
carries out or causes to be kept, used or carried out, any official
ballot or printed proof thereof, type-form mould, electro-type printing
plates and any other plates, numbering machines and other printing
paraphernalia being used in connection with the printing of official
ballots;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
h) Any official or employee of any printing
establishment or of the Commission or any member of the committee in
charge of the printing of official ballots who causes official ballots
to be printed in quantities exceeding those authorized by the
Commission or who distributes, delivers or in any manner disposes or
causes to be distributed, delivered, or disposed of, any official
ballots to any person or persons not authorized by law or by the
Commission to receive or keep official ballots or who sends or causes
them to be sent to any place not designated by law or by the Commission;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
i) Any person who opens the package of any pad or
official ballots before the hour fixed for the start of the voting in
the barrio or barangay center on referendum day;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
j) Any person who, being a registered voter of the
barrio or barangay fails to cast his vote without justifiable excuse;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
k) Any person who votes more than once in the same
referendum;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
l) Any person who votes in substitution for another
whether with or without the latter's knowledge and/or consent;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
m) Any person who avails himself of any scheme to
discover the contents of the ballot of a voter who is preparing or
casting his vote or who has just voted, except as otherwise authorized
in this decree; chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
n) Any voter, who in the course of voting, uses a
ballot other than the one given by the barangay election committee or
who has in his possession more than one official ballot;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
o) Any person who places under arrest or details a
voter without lawful cause, or molests him in such a manner as to
obstruct or prevent him from going to the barangay center to cast his
vote or from returning home after casting his vote or to compel him to
reveal how he voted;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
p) Any member of the barangay election committee
charged with the duty of reading the ballots during the counting of
votes who deliberately omits to read the vote duly written on the
ballot, or misreads the vote actually written thereon, or reads a vote
where no vote is written on the ballot;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
q) Any person who, without authority, acts as, or
assumes or performs any function of, a member of the barangay election
committee, or deputy or representative of the Commission;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
r) Any person who, in the presence or within the
hearing of the barangay election committee during any of its meeting,
conducts himself in a disorderly manner in such a way as to interrupt
or disrupt its work or proceedings to the end of preventing said body
from performing its functions, either partially or totally;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
s) Any person who, for the purpose of disrupting or
obstructing referendum processes or causing confusion among the voters
propagates false and alarming reports or information regarding any
matter related to the printing of the official ballots, the
postponement of referendums, and the transfer of barangay
centers; chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
t) Any person who, without or against the lawful
order of the Commission, holds or causes the holding of a referendum on
a day other than that fixed by law or by the Commission, or stops a
referendum being legally held, or who holds a referendum not legally
authorized;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
u) Any person who, without legal authority, destroys,
or takes away from the possession of those having legal custody
thereof, or from the place where they are legally deposited, any ballot
box which contains official ballots or other documents used in the
referendum or any referendum results;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
v) Any person having legal custody of the ballot box
containing the official ballots used in the referendum who opens or
destroys said box or removes or destroys its contents without or
against the order of the Commission; or who tampers with the same or
any of its contents; or who through Commission or negligence enables
any person to commit any of the aforementioned acts, or take away said
ballot box from his custody; chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
w) Any public official, or any person acting in his
behalf, who relieves any member of the barangay referendum committee or
who changes or causes the change of the assignment of members of said
committee without authority of the commission;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
x) Any member of the barangay referendum committee
who knowingly uses ballots other than the official ballots, except in
those cases where the use of emergency ballots is authorized by the
Commission;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
y) Any provincial, city, municipal and municipal
district treasurer who neglects or fails to properly preserve and
account for any ballot box, documents, forms and other referendum
supplies and materials received by him and kept under his custody; and
z) Any person who reveals the contents of any ballot
in violation of Sec. 10 of this decree.
Section 18. Jurisdiction of court. — The municipal or
city courts as the case may be shall have jurisdiction over all the
offenses punishable under this decree, subject to appeal to the court
of first instance the decision of which shall be final.
Section 19. Prosecution of offenses. — The Commission
on Elections shall, through its duly authorized legal officers, have
the power to conduct preliminary investigation of all election offenses
punishable by this decree and to prosecute the same.
Section 20. Promulgation of rules and regulations. —
The Commission on Elections shall promulgate such rules and regulations
and prescribe such forms necessary to carry out the provisions of this
decree. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
The Commission on Elections may procure any supplies, materials or
services needed for the holding of the referendum either by negotiation
or through sealed quotations if it finds the requirements of public
bidding impracticable to observe.
The Commission may hire under contractual basis the services of
personnel of this method is found to be more expedient and economical.
If upon the effectivity of this Decree, it should no longer reasonably
be possible to observe the periods and dates herein prescribed, the
Commission on Elections shall promulgate rules and regulations
governing the same.
Section 21. Repealing clause. — All laws, executive
orders, decrees, rules and regulations, or parts thereof inconsistent
with the provisions of this Decree are hereby repealed, amended or
modified accordingly.
Section 22. Appropriations. — The sum of Four million
five hundred pesos is hereby appropriated out of any funds in the
national treasury not otherwise appropriated to be sent under the
executive authority of the Commission on Elections to carry out the
purposes of this Decree.
Section 23. Effectivity. — This Decree shall take
effect immediately.
Done in the City of Manila,
this 28th day of June, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and
seventy-three.
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