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Mga Batas Pambansa : MGA BATAS PAMBANSA
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BATAS PAMBANSA BILANG. 125BATAS PAMBANSA BLG. 125 - AN ACT
PROVIDING FOR THE ELECTION OF PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES UNDER THE
CONSTITUTION, AS AMENDED, AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR
Section 1. Date
of election. — The election for President under the Constitution, as
amended, shall be held on June 16, 1981.
Sec. 2. Direct vote. — All registered voters shall
be entitled to vote in the election herein provided.
Sec. 3. Registration in the voting center and
preparation of the list of voters. — The Citizens Election Committee,
in voting centers determined by the Commission on Elections, shall meet
on May 30, 1981, to receive and act on applications for registration of
qualified voters, from seven o'clock in the morning to four o'clock in
the afternoon. Thereafter, the Citizens Election Committee shall
immediately continue its meeting to prepare the list of voters in
accordance with the Election Code of 1978. No further registration
shall be allowed within ten days prior to the day of election. For this
purpose, the Election Registrar shall deliver to the Citizens Election
Committee the Precinct Book of Voters corresponding to the voting
center concerned.
Sec. 4. Certificate of candidacy. — No person
shall be elected President of the Philippines unless he files in
triplicate with the Commission on Elections, not later than April 28,
1981, a sworn certificate of candidacy in the form prescribed by the
Commission on Elections in accordance with the 1978 Election
Code.
Sec. 5. Nomination of official candidates. —
Political parties, coalitions, and other similar groups or
organizations shall submit to the Commission on Elections a certificate
of nomination of their respective official candidates not later than
April 28, 1981.
Sec. 6. Election and campaign periods. — The
election period shall be fixed by the Commission on Elections in
accordance with Sec. 6, Article XII (C) of the Constitution. The
campaign period shall commence on April 24, 1981 and terminate on June
14, 1981.
Sec. 7. Composition of Citizens Election
Committees. — For purposes of the election herein provided, the
Commission on Elections shall directly or through its duly authorized
representatives, appoint a Citizens Election Committee for each
election precinct to be composed of a chairman and four members, one of
whom shall be designated concurrently as poll clerk.
The chairman, the poll clerk and one member, as well as their
corresponding substitutes, shall be public school teachers, precedence
being given to civil service eligibles who have been in the service for
more than five years and are registered voters of the city,
municipality or municipal district. The public school teachers and
other individuals who served in the Citizens Plebiscite Committees on
April 7, 1981 shall continue to serve in the same polling centers,
subject to the powers of the Commission on Elections to make new
appointments or transfers whenever the need arises.
The appointment of the other two members and their substitutes shall be
proposed by the accredited political parties.
Sec. 8. Pay of chairman and members of the
Citizens Election Committee. — The chairman and members of the Citizens
Election Committee shall each receive a per diem of fifty pesos on
election day and twenty-five pesos for every meeting day before
election. The per diem shall be paid on election day and on each
meeting day.
Sec. 9. Election returns. — The Citizens Election
Committee shall prepare in handwriting and sign the return of the
election in quintuplicate in their respective voting centers on a form
to be prescribed by the Commission on Elections. One copy shall be
deposited in the compartment of the ballot box for valid ballots, and
in the case of municipalities or municipal districts, two copies
including the original copy shall be handed to the municipal Election
Registrar who shall immediately deliver the original copy to the
Provincial Election Officer and forward the other copy to the
Commission on Elections, and one copy each to the authorized
representatives of the accredited political parties or groups. In the
case of cities, the City Registrar shall retain the original copy and
forward the other copy to the Commission on Elections.
Sec. 10. Composition and appointment of Provincial
and City Board of Canvassers. — (1) The Provincial Board of Canvassers
shall be composed of the Provincial Election Officer or a
representative of the Commission on Elections, as chairman, and the
following as members: the Provincial Fiscal, the Division or Provincial
Superintendent of Schools, and two representatives of the accredited
political parties: Provided, That in case there are two or more
Division Superintendents of Schools in a province, the Commission shall
appoint as member the more senior superintendent who is not a native of
the province.
(2) The City Board of Canvassers shall be composed of
a representative of the Commission on Elections who should be a lawyer,
as chairman, and the following as members: the City Fiscal, City
Superintendent of Schools, and two representatives of the accredited
political parties.
Sec. 11. Canvass by the Provincial and City Boards
of Canvassers. — The Provincial or City Boards of Canvassers, as the
case may be, shall meet not later than six o'clock in the evening on
election day to canvass the returns that may have already been received
by them, respectively. It shall meet continuously from day to day until
the canvass is completed, but may adjourn only for the purpose of
awaiting the other election returns. Each time the board adjourns it
shall make a total of all the votes cast for each candidate for
President, furnishing the Commission on Elections in Manila by the
fastest means of communication a copy thereof, and making available the
data contained therein to mass media and other interested parties. As
soon as the other election returns are delivered, the Board shall
immediately resume canvassing until all the votes cast in the province
or city have been canvassed. Upon the completion of the canvass, the
board shall make a statement of all votes received by each candidate
for the Office of the President. Upon the completion of the statements,
the board shall certify and transmit the returns as provided in the
Constitution.
The Provincial and City Boards of Canvassers shall prepare the
certificate of election returns, supported by a statement of votes by
voting center, for the election of President, in quintuplicate by the
use of carbon papers or such other means as the Commission on Elections
shall prescribe to the end that all five copies shall be produced in
one handwriting. Upon the completion of these certificates and
statements, they shall be enclosed in envelopes furnished by the
Commission and sealed, and immediately distributed as follows: the
original copy shall be enclosed and sealed in the envelope directed to
the Speaker and delivered to him at the Batasang Pambansa by the
fastest possible means; and the second copy shall likewise be enclosed
and sealed in the envelope directed to the Commission on Elections; the
third copy shall be retained by the Provincial Elections Officer, in
the case of the Provincial Board of Canvassers, and by the City
Election Registrar, in the case of the City Board of Canvassers; and
one copy each to the authorized representative of the accredited
political parties or groups.
Sec. 12. Counting of votes. — The returns of
election for President, duly certified by the Board of Canvassers of
each province or city, shall be transmitted to the Speaker of the
Batasang Pambansa, who shall, not later than June 21, 1981, and in the
presence of the Batasang Pambansa open all the certificates, and the
votes shall then be counted.
The person having the highest number of votes shall be proclaimed
elected; but in case two or more shall have an equal and the highest
number of votes, one of them shall forthwith be chosen by a vote of a
majority of all the Members of the Batasang Pambansa in session
assembled.
Sec. 13. When certificate of canvass is incomplete
or bears erasures or alterations. — When the certificate of canvass,
duly certified by the Board of Canvassers of each province or city, and
transmitted to the Speaker of the Batasang Pambansa as provided in the
Constitution, appears to be incomplete, the Speaker shall require the
Board of Canvassers concerned to transmit to his office, by personal
delivery, the statement from voting centers that were not included in
the returns transmitted. Said supplemental certificate of canvass shall
be prepared in the same manner as provided for in Section ten hereof
and submitted by personal delivery to the Speaker within two days from
receipt of notice.
When it appears that any certificate of canvass or supporting statement
of votes by precinct bears erasures or alterations which may cast doubt
as to the veracity of the number of votes stated therein and may affect
the result of the election, the Batasang Pambansa upon request of the
presidential candidate concerned or his party shall, for the sole
purpose of verifying the actual number of votes cast for President
count the votes as they appear in the statement of election returns
from all the precincts in the province or city in question; and for
this purpose, the Speaker shall require the Provincial Election Officer
or City Registrar concerned to deliver personally to the Batasang
Pambansa the copy of such statements of election returns canvassed by
the provincial or city board of canvassers; and may also require the
Commission on Elections to place its copy of such statements of
election returns at the disposal of the Batasang Pambansa.
Sec. 14. Correction of errors in returns already
transmitted to the Speaker. — No correction of errors allegedly
committed in the returns already transmitted to the Speaker of the
Batasang Pambansa shall be received and given due course.
Sec. 15. Applicability of the 1978 Election Code
and other laws. — The election shall be conducted and supervised by the
Commission on Elections and shall be governed by the pertinent
provisions of the 1978 Election Code and other applicable laws not
inconsistent with this Act.
Sec. 16. Rules and regulations. — The Commission
on Elections shall promulgate rules and regulations to implement this
Act.
Sec. 17. Separability Clause. — If for any reason
any section or provision of this Act or any portion thereof, or the
application of such section, provision or portion to any person, group
or circumstance, is declared invalid or unconstitutional, the remainder
of the Act or the application of such provision to other persons,
groups or circumstances shall not be affected by such declaration.
Sec. 18. Appropriations. — The cost of the
election shall be charged to the appropriations of the Commission on
Elections authorized for the purpose in the current General
Appropriations Act. In case of deficiency, the appropriations herein
provided may be augmented from the special activities fund intended for
special priority activities currently authorized in the General
Appropriations Act.
Subject to accounting rules and regulations, the Commission on
Elections shall prescribe the procedures and requirements for the
reimbursement of actual expenses incurred by public school teachers in
connection with the performance of their duties as chairman and members
of the Citizens Election Committees. The reimbursements above
authorized shall be chargeable to the appropriations herein provided.
Sec. 19. Effectivity and applicability. — This Act
shall take effect upon its approval and shall be applicable only to the
presidential election of 1981. In case of conflict or inconsistency
with other laws, decrees, orders, rules and regulations, or parts
thereof, the provisions of this Act shall prevail.
Approved: April 20, 1981. (C.B.
No. 43)
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