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Mga Batas Pambansa : MGA BATAS PAMBANSA
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BATAS PAMBANSA BILANG. 52BATAS PAMBANSA BLG. 52 - AN ACT
GOVERNING THE ELECTION OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS
Section 1.
Election of Certain Local Officials. — There shall be an election of
provincial governors, provincial vice-governors, city and municipal
mayors, municipal district mayors, city and municipal vice-mayors,
municipal district vice-mayors, and members of each Sangguniang
Panlalawigan, Sangguniang Panlungsod and Sangguniang Bayan, including
the elective officials in the cities and municipalities of the
Metropolitan Manila area. The election shall be held on January 30,
1980.
Sec. 2. Assumption of Office. — The local
officials elected shall assume office within thirty (30) days after
their proclamation, but not earlier than the first Monday of March 1980.
Sec. 3. Qualifications. — An elective local
official must be a citizen of the Philippines, a qualified voter;
resident of the district, municipality, city or province where he
proposes to be elected, as the case may be, for at least six (6) months
at the time of the filing of his certificate of candidacy; must be at
least twenty one (21) years of age on election day; and must be able to
read and write.
Sec. 4. Special Disqualifications. — In addition
to violations of Sec. 10 of Article XII (C) of the Constitution and
disqualifications mentioned in existing laws, which are hereby declared
as disqualifications for and of the elective officials enumerated in
Sec. 1 hereof, any retired elective provincial, city or municipal
official, who has received payment of the retirement benefits to which
he is entitled under the law and who shall have been 65 years of age at
the commencement of the term of office to which he seeks to be elected,
shall not be qualified to run for the same elective local office from
which he has retired.
Any person who has committed any act or disloyalty to the State,
including acts amounting to subversion, insurrection, rebellion or
other similar crimes, shall not be qualified to be a candidate for any
of the offices covered by this Act, or to participate in any partisan
political activity therein: Provided, That a judgment of conviction for
any of the aforementioned crimes shall be conclusive evidence of such
fact and the filing of charges for the commission of such crimes before
a civil court or military tribunal after preliminary investigation
shall be prima facie evidence of such fact.
Any person who is a permanent resident of, or an immigrant to a foreign
country, shall not be qualified to run for any elective office under
this Act.
Any person who offers a false testimony against a candidate by reason
whereof charges are filed against him for any of the offenses
above-enumerated shall, upon conviction be sentenced to suffer the
penalty one degree higher than that provided for in the Revised Penal
Code and without prejudice to actual, moral and exemplary damages.
Sec. 5. Failure of Election. — Whenever for any
serious cause such as violence, terrorism, loss or destruction of
election paraphernalia or records, force majeure and other analogous
causes of such a nature that the holding of a free, orderly and honest
election should become impossible, the election for a local office
fails to take place on the date fixed by law, or is suspended, or such
election results in a failure to elect, the Commission on Elections
shall, on the basis of a verified petition and after due notice and
hearing, call for the holding or continuation of the election as soon
as practicable.
Sec. 6. Election and Campaign Period. — The
election period shall be fixed by the Commission on Elections in
accordance with Sec. 6, Article XII (C) of the Constitution. The
period of campaign shall commence on December 29, 1979, and terminate
on January 28, 1980.
Sec. 7. Certificate of Candidacy. — The sworn
certificate of candidacy shall be filed in triplicate not later than
January 4, 1980.
Certificates of candidacy for city, municipal and municipal district
offices shall be filed with the election registrar concerned while
certificates of candidacy for provincial offices shall be filed with
the provincial election officer: Provided, however, That certificates
of candidacy for the aforementioned offices may be filed directly with
the Commission on Elections.
The election registrar and the provincial election officer shall send
the original copies of all certificates of candidacy received by them
to the Commission not later than two (2) days after receipt
thereof.
Except as herein provided, the pertinent provisions of the 1978
Election Code on certificates of candidacy shall be applicable to the
elections herein contemplated.
The Commission on Elections shall, motu propio, or upon sworn petition
of any voter, political party or candidate, after due notice and
hearing, refuse to give due course to a certificate of candidacy if it
is shown that the person filing the same does not possess all the
necessary qualifications for the office concerned or is disqualified
from running for said office as provided by law.
Sec. 8. Registration of Voters. — The provisions
of the 1978 Election Code on registration of voters shall be
applicable: Provided, however, That for the purpose of the election
herein provided, the Commission on Elections is hereby empowered to
order, when the necessity therefor arises, registration in the voting
centers: Provided, further, that the number of days to be fixed for the
purpose shall not exceed two (2) days, the last day to be at least
seven (7) days before the date of the election.
Sec. 9. Preparation of Official Ballots and Manner
of Election. — The preparation and printing of the official ballots and
the manner of election shall be governed by the pertinent provisions of
Presidential Decree No. 1296, otherwise known as cited as "The 1978
Election Code": Provided, That in case the Commission on Elections
finds it impractical or due to lack of sufficient time to print in the
official ballot the ticket of duly accredited or registered political
parties or the names of individual candidates as required under the
1978 Election Code, the printing of the certified list of the official
tickets and the names of individual candidates and the posting of
copies thereof in each voting booth during the hours, of voting shall
be considered sufficient and substantial compliance with this
requirement.
Sec. 10. Provincial Board of Canvassers. — The
provincial board of canvassers shall be composed of the provincial
election officer or a representative of the Commission, as chairman,
and the provincial fiscal and the division superintendent of schools,
as members: 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.
Sec. 11. City Board of Canvassers. — The city
board of canvassers shall be composed of a representative of the
Commission who should be a lawyer, as chairman, and the city fiscal and
the city superintendent of schools, as members.
Sec. 12. Municipal or Municipal District Board of
Canvassers. — The municipal or municipal district board of canvassers
shall be composed of a representative of the Commission as chairman,
the municipal district treasurer and the most senior district
supervisor or in his absence any ranking public official of the
Ministry of Education in the municipality or municipal district as
members.
Sec. 13. Quorum. — A majority of the members of
the board of canvassers shall constitute a quorum.
Sec. 14. Disqualification Due to Relationship. —
In no case shall the chairman and the members of the provincial, city,
municipal, and municipal district boards of canvassers be related
within the fourth civil degree of consanguinity or affinity to any of
the candidates in their respective jurisdictions.
Sec. 15. Incapacity and Substitution of Members of
Board of Canvassers. — In case of non-availability, absence,
disqualification due to relationship, or incapacity for any cause of
the chairman or any member of the provincial, city, municipal or
municipal district board of canvassers; the Commission shall authorize
the substitute to assume.
Sec. 16. Election Returns. — The provisions of the
1978 Election Code on election returns shall be applicable to the
elections herein contemplated: Provided, however, That the
quadruplicate copies of the election returns shall be distributed as
follows: the first copy of the election returns shall be delivered to
the election registrar of the city, municipal or municipal district for
transmittal to the Commission on Elections, to second copy shall be
delivered to the provincial election officer for use in the provincial
canvass; the third copy shall be delivered to the chairman of the city,
municipal or municipal district board of canvassers for use in the
canvass by said body; the fourth copy shall be deposited in the
compartment for valid ballots.
Sec. 17. Powers of the Commission on Elections. —
The Commission on Elections shall, with respect to the election herein
provided, exercise such powers and jurisdiction and discharge such
duties as are conferred upon it by the Constitution and by law.
Sec. 18. Applicability. — The provisions of the
1978 Election Code, including all the provisions of Sec. 140, shall
govern the election of local officials insofar as they are not
inconsistent with the provisions of this Act: Provided, That in case
the number of public school teachers available to serve in the citizens
election committees is insufficient, the Commission on Elections may
appoint private school teachers, members of the katipunan ng mga
kabataang kawani of the Civil Service Commission, ROTC cadets, or
members of barangay councils.
Sec. 19. Funding. — The costs of conducting local
elections shall be charged to the appropriations of the Commission on
Elections authorized for the purpose and any deficiency thereof shall
be covered by appropriations authorized for special priority activities
of government as embodied in the Special Activities Fund or its
equivalent.
Sec. 20. Separability clause. — The provisions of
this Act are hereby declared to be separable, and in the event any one
or more of such provisions are held unconstitutional, such shall not
affect the validity of the other provisions.
Sec. 21. Effectivity. — This Act shall take effect
upon its approval.
Approved: December 22,
1979.
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