COMISSION ON ELECTIONS

A. History
- Commission on Elections was created by a 1940 amendment to the 1935 Constitution.
- Its members were enlarged and its powers expanded by the 1973 and 1987 Constitutions.
- The Commission exercises not only administrative, but judicial and quasi-judicial powers.

B. Organizational Information
- The COMELEC is the principal government agency tasked by the Constitution to enforce and administer
all laws and regulations concerning the conduct of regular and special elections.
- It is a body that is designed to be constitutionally independent from the executive, legislative and judicial
branches of government to ensure the conduct of free, fair and honest elections.
- As an added measure, the constitution also grants fiscal autonomy to enable the COMELEC to operate
effectively, efficiently and free from political interference.
- The constitution mandates that "funds certified by the Commission as necessary to defray the expenses
for holding regular and special elections, plebiscites, initiatives, referenda, and recalls, will be provided in
the regular or special appropriations and, once approved, will be released automatically upon certification
by the Chairman of the Commission.

C. Judicial, Regulatory and Administrative Functions

- In addition to its primary task of election administration, the COMELEC also performs judicial, regulatory
and administrative functions.
- Its judicial mandate consists of taking exclusive original jurisdiction over all contests relating to the
elections, returns, and qualifications of all elective regional, provincial, and city officials, and appellate
jurisdiction over all contests involving elective municipal officials decided by trial courts of general
jurisdiction, or involving elective barangay officials decided by trial courts of limited jurisdiction.
- Exception issues involving the right to vote, it has regulatory and administrative authority to decide on all
questions affecting elections, including determination of the number and location of polling places,
appointment of election officials and inspectors, and registration of voters.

D. Recommendatory Powers
- The Commission has the power to propose to Congress measures to minimize election spending,
including limitation of places where propaganda materials will be posted, and to prevent and penalize all
forms of election frauds, offenses, malpractices, and nuisance candidacies. Likewise, it can recommend
to the President the removal of any officer or employee it has deputized, or the imposition of any other
disciplinary action, for violation or disregard of, or disobedience to, its directive, order, or decision. On its
own, or upon verified complaint, the COMELEC can file petitions in court for inclusion or exclusion of
voters and investigate/prosecute cases of violations of election laws, including acts or omissions
constituting election frauds, offenses, and malpractices.

E. Powers and Functions

- The Commission performs the following specific powers and functions:

Enforcement of Election Laws

- Enforce and administer all laws and regulations relative to the conduct of an election, plebiscite, initiative,
referendum, and recall.

Decision of Election Contests

- Exercise exclusive original jurisdiction over all contests relating to the elections, returns, and qualifications
of all elective regional, provincial, and city officials, and appellate jurisdiction over all contests involving
elective municipal officials decided by trial courts of general jurisdiction, or involving elective barangay
officials decided by trial courts of limited jurisdiction.

Decision of Administrative Questions

- Decide, except those involving the right to vote, all questions affecting elections, including determination
of the number and location of polling places, appointment of election officials and inspectors, registration
of voters.

Deputization of Law-Enforcement Agencies

- Deputize, with the concurrence of the President, law enforcement agencies and instrumentalities of the
Government, including the Armed Forces of the Philippines, for the exclusive purpose of ensuring free,
orderly, honest, peaceful, and credible elections.

Registration of Political Parties

- Register, after sufficient publication, political parties, organizations, or coalitions which, in addition to other
requirements, must present their platform or program of government; and accredited citizens' arms of the
Commission on Elections.

- File, upon a verified complaint, or on its own initiative, petitions in court for inclusion or exclusion of
voters; investigate and, where appropriate, prosecute cases of violations of election laws, including acts
or omissions constituting elections frauds, offences, and malpractices.

Improvements of Elections
- Recommend to the Congress effective measures to minimize election spending, including limitation of
places where propaganda materials shall be posted, and to prevent and penalize all forms of election
frauds, offences, malpractices, and nuisance candidates.
- Recommend to the President the removal of any officer or employee it has deputized, or the imposition of
any other disciplinary action, for violation or disregard of, or disobedience to its directive, order, or
decision.
 - Submit to the President and the Congress a comprehensive report on the conduct of each election,
plebiscite, initiative referendum, or recall.

F. Membership (Composition and Qualifications)

Composition
- consists of one Chairman and 6 commissioners, all of whom have a 7-year term without reappointment. In
all matters pertaining to election administration and policymaking, the commissioners act as a collegial
body. In election cases and pre-proclamation controversies, however, the Commission sits in two
divisions initially, but decides en banc on motion to reconsider a division decision.
- Appointment to any vacancy shall be only for the unexpired term of the predecessor
- In no case shall any member be appointed or designated in temporary or acting capacity

Qualifications:
- natural-born citizen of the Philippines
- at least thirty-five years of age at the time of appointment
- college degree holder
- must not have been a candidate for any elective position in the immediately preceding elections
- Chairman and majority of the members shall be members of the Philippine bar who have been engaged
in the practice of law for at least ten years
- Chairman and Commissioners shall be appointed by the President with the consent of the Commission
on Appointments

G. Offices and Departments

- Assisting the Chairman in managing the day-to-day affairs and operations of the COMELEC is the
Executive Director.
- As the highest-ranking career official, he implements the policies and decisions of the Commission, takes
charge of the administrative affairs and serves as the communication and operational link between the staff
and Commissioners.
- He is assisted by a Deputy Executive Director for Administration (DEDA) and a Deputy Executive Director
for Operations (DEDO).

H. Present Members of the Commission

- The current membership of the COMELEC is headed by Chairman Sheriff M. Abas. Completing the
composition are Honorable Commissioners Al A. Parreño, Luie Tito F. Guia, Ma. Rowena Amelia V.
Guanzon, Socorro B. Inting, Marlon S. Casquejo and Antonio T. Kho Jr.

I. Election Period

Unless otherwise fixed by the Commission in special cases, the election period shall commence ninety days before
the day of election and shall end thirty days thereafter.

J. Cases

Macalintal vs COMELEC, July 10, 2003

Facts:

Overseas Absentee Voting Act of 2003 (R.A. 9189) was enacted in obeisance to the mandate of the first paragraph
of Section 2, Article V of the Constitution that Congress shall provide a system for voting by qualified Filipinos abroad.
Romulo Macalintal, as a lawyer and a taxpayer, questions the validity of the said R.A. He questions its validity on the
following grounds, among others:

1. That the provision (i.e. Section 5(d)) that a Filipino already considered an immigrant abroad can be allowed to
participate in absentee voting, provided he executes an affidavit stating his intent to return to the Philippines, is void
because it dispenses of the requirement that a voter must be a resident of the Philippines for at least one year and
in the place where he intends to vote for at least 6 months immediately preceding the election;
2. That the provision (i.e. Section 18.5) allowing the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) to proclaim winning
candidates including the winning candidates for president and vice-president, is unconstitutional because it violates
the Constitution for it is Congress which is empowered to do so; and
3. That the Congress may, through the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee, created in Section 25 of R.A. 9189,
exercise the power to review, revise, amend and approve the Implementing Rules and Regulations that the
COMELEC promulgate, without violating the independence of the COMELEC under Section 1, Article IX-A of the
Constitution.

Issue:

Whether or not the said provisions of R.A. 9189 are unconstitutional

Ruling:

1. No. The Court does not find Section 5(d) of R.A. No. 9189 as constitutionally defective. There can be no absentee
voting if the absentee voters are required to physically reside in the Philippines within the period required for non-
absentee voters. Further, as understood in election laws, domicile and resident are interchangeably used. Hence,
one is a resident of his domicile (insofar as election laws is concerned). The domicile is the place where one has
the intention to return to. Thus, an immigrant who executes an affidavit stating his intent to return to the Philippines
 is considered a resident of the Philippines for purposes of being qualified as a voter. If the immigrant does not
execute the affidavit then he is not qualified as an absentee voter.

2. Yes. The constitutionality of Section 18.5 of R.A. No. 9189 is upheld with respect only to the authority given to the
COMELEC to proclaim the winning candidates for the Senators and party-list representatives but not as to the
power to canvass the votes and proclaim the winning candidates for President and Vice-President which is lodged
with Congress under Section 4, Article VII of the Constitution. It could not be the intention of Congress to allow
COMELEC to include the proclamation of the winners in the vice-presidential and presidential race. To interpret it
that way would mean that Congress allowed COMELEC to usurp its power. The canvassing and proclamation of
the presidential and vice presidential elections is still lodged in Congress and was in no way transferred to the
COMELEC by virtue of R.A. 9189.

3. The Court ruled that some portions of Sections 17.1, 19 and 25 are unconstitutional. The Court held that the
Congress went beyond the scope of its constitutional authority by vesting itself with the powers to approve, review,
amend, and revise the IRR for The Overseas Absentee Voting Act of 2003. Congress trampled upon the
constitutional mandate of independence of the COMELEC. Under such a situation, the Court is left with no option
but to withdraw from its usual silence in declaring a provision of law unconstitutional.

Señeres vs COMELEC, 585 SCRA 557

Facts:
In 1999, Melquiades Robles was elected president and chairperson of BUHAY, a party-list group duly registered
with the Commission on Elections (COMELEC). The constitution of BUHAY provides for a three-year term for all its party
officers, without re-election. BUHAY participated in the 2001 and 2004 elections, with Robles as its president. All the
required Manifestations of Desire to Participate in the said electoral exercises, including the Certificates of Nomination of
representatives, carried the signature of Robles as president of BUHAY. In the corresponding certificate for the 2004
elections, Señeres, the petitioner, was included as one of the nominees.

On March 29, 2007, Robles signed and filed a Certificate of Nomination of BUHAY’s nominees for the 2007
elections. On January 26, 2007, in connection with the May 2007 elections, BUHAY again filed a Manifestation of its Desire
to Participate in the Party-List System of Representation. As in the past two elections, the manifestation to participate bore
the signature of Robles as BUHAY president.

As a result, Señeres, filed with the COMELEC a Petition to Deny Due Course to Certificates submitted by Robles
on the grounds that the same were void owing to the latter’s term. Señeres alleged that he was the acting president and
secretary-general of BUHAY, since August 17, 2004 when Robles vacated the position. Further, he asserted that Robles
was, disqualified from being an officer of any political party since Robles is the Acting Administrator of the Light Railway
Transport Authority (LRTA), a government-controlled corporation. Robles, then, was into a partisan political activity which
civil service members, like him, were enjoined from engaging in.

Issue:

Whether or not Robles should be disqualified as president of BUHAY.

Ruling:

No. The Court ruled in favor of the respondent. The Court held that as long as the acts embraced under Sec. 79 of the
Omnibus Election Code pertain to or are in connection with the nomination of a candidate by a party or
organization, then such are treated as internal matters and cannot be considered as electioneering or partisan political
activity. The twin acts of signing and filing a Certificate of Nomination are purely internal processes of the party or
organization and are not designed to enable or ensure the victory of the candidate in the elections. The act of submitting a
nomination list cannot be considered electioneering or partisan political activity within the context of the Election Code. Also,
petitioner was unable to cite any legal provision that prohibits Robles’ concurrent positions of LRTA President and acting
president of a party-list organization or that bars him from nominating.

In addition, the Court ruled that the nominations made by Robles’ are valid even if they were made after the
expiration of his term due to the hold-over doctrine. As a general rule, officers and directors of a corporation hold over after
the expiration of their terms until such time as their successors are elected or appointed. Lastly, Señeres was estopped
from questioning the authority of Robles as President of BUHAY since he did not object to the latter’s authority when he
was nominated by Robles on the 2004 election. Thus, the Court dismissed the petition.