Plebiscite defined.

Secs. 1 & 4, Article XVII, 1987 Constitution- AMENDMENTS OR REVISIONS Section 1. Any amendment to, or revision of, this Constitution may be proposed by: 1. The Congress, upon a vote of three-fourths of all its Members; or 2. A constitutional convention. Section 4. Any amendment to, or revision of, this Constitution under Section 1 hereof shall be valid when ratified by a majority of the votes cast in a plebiscite which shall be held not earlier than sixty days nor later than ninety days after the approval of such amendment or revision. Section 3(e), RA 6735. The Initiative and Referendum Act "Plebiscite" is the electoral process by which an initiative on the Constitution is approved or rejected by the people. Initiative defined.

RA 6735. Section 10. Prohibited Measures. The following cannot be the subject of an initiative or referendum petition: (a) No petition embracing more than one (1) subject shall be submitted to the electorate; Section 2, Article XVII, 1987 Constitution Amendments to this Constitution may likewise be directly proposed by the people through initiative upon a petition of at least twelve per centum of the total number of registered voters, of which every legislative district must be represented by at least three per centum of the registered voters therein. No amendment under this section shall be authorized within five years following the ratification of this Constitution nor oftener than once every five years thereafter.
CASE: Santiago v Comelec, G.R. No. 127325, March 19, 1997- The right of the people to directly propose amendments to the Constitution through thesystem of initiative would remain entombed in a cold niche until Congress provides for itsimplementation. Section 2 of Article XVII is not selfexecuting.

Sec 3(a), RA 6735. The Initiative and Referendum Act "Initiative" is the power of the people to propose amendments to the Constitution or to propose and enact legislations through an election called for the purpose. RA 6735. Section 5. Requirements. (b) A petition for an initiative on the 1987 Constitution must have at least twelve per centum (12%) of the total number of registered voters as signatories, of which every legislative district must be represented by at least three per centum (3%) of the registered voters therein. Initiative on the Constitution may be exercised only after five (5) years from the ratification of the 1987 Constitution and only once every five (5) years thereafter. (c) The petition shall state the following: c.1. contents or text of the proposed law sought to be enacted, approved or rejected, amended or repealed, as the case may be; c.2. the proposition; c.3. the reason or reasons therefor; c.4. that it is not one of the exceptions provided herein; c.5. signatures of the petitioners or registered voters; and c.6. an abstract or summary in not more than one hundred (100) words which shall be legibly written or printed at the top of every page of the petition. RA 6735. Section 7. Verification of Signatures. The Election Registrar shall verify the signatures on the basis of the registry list of voters, voters' affidavits and voters identification cards used in the immediately preceding election.

Recall defined.

RA 7610. Local Government Code of 1991 Section 69. By Whom Exercised. - The power of recall for loss of confidence shall be exercised by the registered voters of a local government unit to which the local elective official subject to such recall belongs. Section 70. Initiation of the Recall Process. (a) Recall may be initiated by a preparatory recall assembly or by the registered voters of the local government unit to which the local elective official subject to such recall belongs. (b) There shall be a preparatory recall assembly in every province, city, district, and municipality which shall be composed of the following: (1) Provincial level. - All mayors, vice-mayors, and sanggunian members of the municipalities and component cities; (2) City level. - All punong barangay and sanggunian barangay members in the city; (3) Legislative District level. - In case where sangguniang panlalawigan members are elected by district, all elective municipal officials in the district; and in cases where sangguniang panlungsod members are elected by district, all elective barangay officials in the district; and (4) Municipal level. - All punong barangay and sangguniang barangay members in the municipality. (c) A majority of all the preparatory recall assembly members may convene in session in a public place and initiate a recall proceedings against any elective official in the local government unit concerned. Recall of provincial, city, or municipal

officials shall be validly initiated through a resolution adopted by a majority of all the members of the preparatory recall assembly concerned during its session called for the purpose. (d) Recall of any elective provincial, city, municipal, or barangay official may also be validly initiated upon petition of at least twenty-five percent (25%) of the total number of registered voters in the local government unit concerned during the election in which the local official sought to be recalled was elected. (1) A written petition for recall duly signed before the election registrar or his representative, and in the presence of a representative of the petitioner and a representative of the official sought to be recalled and, and in a public place in the province, city, municipality, or barangay, as the case may be, shall be filed with the COMELEC through its office in the local government unit concerned. The COMELEC or its duly authorized representative shall cause the publication of the petition in a public and conspicuous place for a period of not less than ten (10) days nor more than twenty (20) days, for the purpose of verifying the authenticity and genuineness of the petition and the required percentage of voters. (2) Upon the lapse of the aforesaid period, the COMELEC or its duly authorized representative shall announce the acceptance of candidates to the position and thereafter prepare the list of candidates which shall include the name of the official sought to be recalled. Section 71. Election on Recall. - Upon the filing of a valid resolution or petition for recall with the appropriate local office of the COMELEC, the Commission or its duly authorized representative shall set the date of the election on recall, which shall not be later than thirty (30) days after the filing of the resolution or petition for recall in the case of the barangay, city, or municipal officials. and forty-five (45) days in the case of provincial officials. The official or officials sought to be recalled shall automatically be considered as duly registered candidate or candidates to the pertinent positions and, like other candidates, shall be entitled to be voted upon. Section 72. Effectivity of Recall. - The recall of an elective local official shall be effective only upon the election and proclamation of a successor in the person of the candidate receiving the highest number of votes cast during the election on recall. Should the official sought to be recalled receive the highest number of votes, confidence in him is thereby affirmed, and he shall continue in office. Section 73. Prohibition from Resignation. - The elective local official sought to be recalled shall not be allowed to resign while the recall process is in progress. Section 74. Limitations on Recall. (a) Any elective local official may be the subject of a recall election only once during his term of office for loss of confidence. (b) No recall shall take place within one (1) year from the date of the official's assumption to office or one (1) year immediately preceding a regular local election.

!!! cannot be found: COMELEC RES. No. 7505, June 6,2005

CASE: Angobung vs COMELEC - Section 74 of the Local Government Code of 1991 provides that "no recall shall take place within one year immediately preceding a regular local election." For the time bar to apply, the approaching regular local election must be one where the position of the official to be recalled is to be actually contested and filled by the electorate. Section 69 [d] of the Local Government Code of 1991 expressly provides that "recall of any elective municipal official may also be validly initiated upon petition of at least 25% of the total number of registered voters in the local government unit concerned during the election in which the local official sought to be recalled was elected." The law is plain and unequivocal as to what initiates recall proceedings: only a petition of at least 25% of the total number of registered voters may validly initiate recall proceedings. The law does not state that the petition must be signed by at least 25% of the registered voters but rather it must be "of" or by, at least 25%of the registered voters, i.e., the petition must be filed, not by one person only, but by at least 25% of the total number of registered voters. CASE: Paras v. COMELEC FACTS: A petition for recall was filed against Paras, who is the incumbent Punong Barangay. The recall election was deferred due to Petitioners opposition that under Sec. 74 of RA No. 7160, no recall shall take place within one year from the date of the officials assumption to office or one year immediately preceding a regular local election. Since the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) election was set on the first Monday of May 2006, no recall may be instituted. ISSUE: W/N the SK election is a local election. HELD: No. Every part of the statute must be interpreted with reference to its context, and it must be considered together and kept subservient to its general intent. The evident intent of Sec. 74 is to subject an elective local official to recall once during his term, as provided in par. (a) and par. (b). The spirit, rather than the letter of a law, determines its construction. Thus, interpreting the phrase regular local election to include SK election will unduly circumscribe the Code for there will never be a recall election rendering inutile the provision. In interpreting a statute, the Court assumed that the legislature intended to enact an effective law. An interpretation should be avoided under which a statute or provision being construed is defeated, meaningless, inoperative or nugatory.

Revision defined.

Section 1, Artilce XVII, 1987 Constitution Any amendment to, or revision of, this Constitution may be proposed by:

1. 2.

The Congress, upon a vote of three-fourths of all its Members; or A constitutional convention.
CASE: Lambino v Comelec, G.R. No. 174153, October 25, 2006- Raul Lambino of Sigaw ng Bayan and Erico Aumentado of the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP) filed a petition for people's initiative before the Commission on Elections on August 25, 2006, after months of gathering signatures all over the country. Lambino claimed that the petition is backed by 6.3 million registered voters. The COMELEC denied the petition, reasoning that a lack of an enabling law keeps them from entertaining such petitions. It invoked a 1997 Supreme Court ruling (Santiago vs. COMELEC), where the Supreme Court declared RA 6735 inadequate to implement the initiative clause on proposals to amend the Constitution. COMELEC's ruling prompted Lambino and Aumentado to bring their case before the Supreme Court. However, the Supreme Court upheld COMELEC's ruling on the petition for people's initiative. The decision came out on October 25, 2006, with a close8-7vote. SUMMARY OF THE SUPREME COURT DECISION The Lambino Group miserably failed to comply with the basic requirements of the Constitution for conducting a peoples initiative. The Constitution requires that the amendment must be "directly proposed by the people through initiative upon a petition." o Lambino's group failed to include the full text of the proposed changes in the signature sheets-- a fatal omission, according to the Supreme Court ruling, because it means a majority of the 6.3 million people who signed the signature sheets could not have known the nature and effect of the proposed changes.

COMELEC merely followed the Supreme Court's earlier ruling on Santiago vs. COMELEC.

Referendum defined.

Section 3(c), RA 6735 "Referendum" is the power of the electorate to approve or reject a legislation through an election called for the purpose. It may be of two classes, namely: c.1. Referendum on statutes which refers to a petition to approve or reject an act or law, or part thereof, passed by Congress; and c.2. Referendum on local law which refers to a petition to approve or reject a law, resolution or ordinance enacted by regional assemblies and local legislative bodies. Amendment defined.

Section 1, Article XVII, 1987 Constitution Any amendment to, or revision of, this Constitution may be proposed by: 1. The Congress, upon a vote of three-fourths of all its Members; or 2. A constitutional convention.
CASE: Lambino v Comelec, G.R. No. 174153, October 25, 2006, SUPRA
What are the requisites before an amendment to the Constitution by peoples initiative is sufficient in form and in substance? In the case of RAUL L. LAMBINO and ERICO B. AUMENTADO , together with 6,327,952 registered voters vs. THE COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS, G.R. No. 174153, October 25, 2006, 505 SCRA 160, the following requisites must be present: 1. The people must author and must sign the entire proposal. No agent or representative can sign for and on their behalf; 2. As an initiative upon a petition, THE PROPOSAL MUST BE EMBODIED IN A PETITION. These essential elements are present only if the full text of the proposed amendments is first shown to the people who will express their assent by signing such complete proposal in a petition. Thus, an amendment is DIRECTLY PROPOSED BY THE PEOPLE THROUGH INITIATIVE UPON A PETIITON ONLY IF THE PEOPLE SIGN ON A PETITION THAT OCNTAINS THE FULL TEXT OF THE PROPOSED AMENDMENTS. Distinguish Revision from amendment of the Constitution. Revision is the alterations of the different portions of the entire document [Constitution]. It may result in the rewriting whether the whole constitution, or the greater portion of it, or perhaps some of its important provisions. But whatever results the revision may produce, the factor that characterizes it as an act of revision is the original intention and plan authorized to be carried out. That intention and plan must contemplate a consideration of all the provisions of the Constitution to determine which one should be altered or suppressed or whether the whole document should be replaced with an entirely new one. Amendment of the Constitution, on the other hand, envisages a change or only a few specific provisions. The intention of an act to amend is not to consider the advisability of changing the entire constitution or of considering that possibility. The intention rather is to improve specific parts of the existing constitution or to add to it

o A peoples initiative to change the Constitution applies only to an

amendment of the Constitution and not to its revision. Only Congress or a constitutional convention may propose revisions to the Constitution. A peoples initiative may propose only amendments to the Constitution. "A popular clamor, even one backed by 6.3 million signatures, cannot justify a deviation from the specific modes prescribed in the Constitution itself." -Supreme Court The Supreme Court sees no need to revisit an earlier ruling since the present case (Lambino vs. COMELEC) can be resolved on some other grounds. In a 1997 ruling on Santiago vs. COMELEC, the Supreme Court ruled that RA 6735 (the law regulating the people's right of initiative) was inadequate to cover the system of initiative on constitutional amendments. In the present case, the Lambino group failed to comply with the basic requirements of the Constitution on conducting a people's initiative. That alone warrants the petition's dismissal. An affirmation or reversal of Santiago will not change the its outcome of the present petition. The COMELEC did not commit grave abuse of discretion in dismissing the Lambino Group's petition for people's initiative.

provisions deemed essential on account of changed conditions or to suppress portions of it that seem obsolete, or dangerous, or misleading in their effect. (SINCO, Vicente, PHILIPPINE POLITICAL LAW)

7.

Rule-making power of Comelec.

8.

Sec. 2, Article IX(C), 1987 Constitution The Commission on Elections shall exercise the following powers and functions: 1. Enforce and administer all laws and regulations relative to the conduct of an election, plebiscite, initiative, referendum, and recall. 2. 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. Decisions, final orders, or rulings of the Commission on election contests involving elective municipal and barangay offices shall be final, executory, and not appealable. 3. 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, and registration of voters. 4. 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. 5. Register, after sufficient publication, political parties, organizations, or coalitions which, in addition to other requirements, must present their platform or program of government; and accredit citizens' arms of the Commission on Elections. Religious denominations and sects shall not be registered. Those which seek to achieve their goals through violence or unlawful means, or refuse to uphold and adhere to this Constitution, or which are supported by any foreign government shall likewise be refused registration. Financial contributions from foreign governments and their agencies to political parties, organizations, coalitions, or candidates related to elections, constitute interference in national affairs, and, when accepted, shall be an additional ground for the cancellation of their registration with the Commission, in addition to other penalties that may be prescribed by law. 6. 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 election frauds, offenses, and malpractices.

9.

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, offenses, malpractices, and nuisance candidacies. 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.

Sec. 52(c), Omnibus Election Code Powers and functions of the Commission on Elections. - In addition to the powers and functions conferred upon it by the Constitution, the Commission shall have exclusive charge of the enforcement and administration of all laws relative to the conduct of elections for the purpose of ensuring free, orderly and honest elections, and shall: (c) Promulgate rules and regulations implementing the provisions of this Code or other laws which the Commission is required to enforce and administer, and require the payment of legal fees and collect the same in payment of any business done in the Commission, at rates that it may provide and fix in its rules and regulations. Rules and regulations promulgated by the Commission to implement the provisions of this Code shall take effect on the sixteenth day after publication in the Official Gazette or in at least daily newspapers of general circulation. Orders and directives issued by the Commission pursuant to said rules and regulations shall be furnished by personal delivery to accredited political parties within fortyeight hours of issuance and shall take effect immediately upon receipt. In case of conflict between rules, regulations, orders or directives of the Commission in the exercise of its constitutional powers and those issued by any other administrative office or agency of the government concerning the same matter relative to elections, the former shall prevail
CASE: Gallardo v Tabamo, 218 SCRA 253, 263-264 (1993) - The present Constitution, however, implicitly grants the Commission the power to promulgate such rules and regulations. The pertinent portion of Section 2 of Article IX-C thereof reads as follows: Sec. 2. The Commission on Elections shall exercise the following powers and functions: (1) Enforce and administer all laws and regulations relative to the conduct of an election, plebiscite, initiative, referendum, and recall. (Emphasis supplied). xxx xxx xxx The word regulations is not found in either the 1935 or 1973 Constitutions. It is thus clear that its incorporation into the present Constitution took into account the Commission's power under the Omnibus Election Code (Batas Pambansa

Blg. 881), which was already in force when the said Constitution was drafted and ratified, to: xxx xxx xxxchanrobles virtual law library Promulgate rules and regulations implementing the provisions of this Code or 16 other laws which the Commission is required to enforce and administer, . . . . Hence, the present Constitution upgraded to a constitutional status the aforesaid statutory authority to grant the Commission broader and more flexible powers to effectively perform its duties and to insulate it further from legislative intrusions. Doubtless, if its rule-making power is made to depend on statutes, Congress may withdraw the same at any time. Indeed, the present Constitution envisions a truly independent Commission on Elections committed 17 to ensure free, orderly, honest, peaceful and credible elections, and to serve as the guardian of the people's sacred right of suffrage - the citizenry's vital weapon in effecting a peaceful change of government and in achieving and promoting political stability. CASE: Aruelo Jr. v CA, 227 SCRA 311Facts: Aruelo claims that in election contests, the COMELEC Rules of Procedure gives the respondent therein only five days from receipt of summons within which to file his answer to the petition (Part VI, Rule 35, Sec. 7) and that this five-day period had lapsed when Gatchalian filed his answer. According to him, the filing of motions to dismiss and motions for bill of particulars is prohibited by Section 1, Rule 13, Part III of the COMELEC Rules of Procedure; hence, the filing of said pleadings did not suspend the running of the five-day period, or give Gatchalian a new five-day period to file his answer. Issue: whether the trial court committed grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction when it allowed respondent Gatchalian to file his pleading beyond the five-day period prescribed in Section 1, Rule 13, Part III of the COMELEC Rules of Procedure Held: No. Petitioner filed the election protest with the Regional Trial Court, whose proceedings are governed by the Revised Rules of Court. Section 1, Rule 13, Part III of the COMELEC Rules of Procedure is not applicable to proceedings before the regular courts. As expressly mandated by Section 2, Rule 1, Part I of the COMELEC Rules of Procedure, the filing of motions to dismiss and bill of particulars, shall apply only to proceedings brought before the COMELEC. Section 2, Rule 1, Part I provides: Sec. 2. Applicability These rules, except Part VI, shall apply to all actions and proceedings brought before the Commission. Part VI shall apply to election contests and quo warranto cases cognizable by courts of general or limited jurisdiction. It must be noted that nowhere in Part VI of the COMELEC Rules of Procedure is it provided that motions to dismiss and bill of particulars are not allowed in election protests orquo warranto cases pending before the regular courts. Constitutionally speaking, the COMELEC cannot adopt a rule prohibiting the filing of certain pleadings in the regular courts. The power to promulgate rules concerning pleadings, practice and procedure in all courts is vested on the Supreme Court (Constitution, Art VIII, Sec. 5 [5]).

System of elections.

Multi-party system Wikipedia: A multi-party system is a system in which multiple political parties have the capacity to gain control of government offices, separately or in coalition. Sec. 6, Article IX(C), 1987 Constitution A free and open party system shall be allowed to evolve according to the free choice of the people, subject to the provisions of this Article. Registration of political parties Sec. 2(5), Article IX(C), 1987 Constitution The Commission on Elections shall exercise the following powers and functions: Register, after sufficient publication, political parties, organizations, or coalitions which, in addition to other requirements, must present their platform or program of government; and accredit citizens' arms of the Commission on Elections. Religious denominations and sects shall not be registered. Those which seek to achieve their goals through violence or unlawful means, or refuse to uphold and adhere to this Constitution, or which are supported by any foreign government shall likewise be refused registration. Financial contributions from foreign governments and their agencies to political parties, organizations, coalitions, or candidates related to elections, constitute interference in national affairs, and, when accepted, shall be an additional ground for the cancellation of their registration with the Commission, in addition to other penalties that may be prescribed by law.
CASE: Veterans Federation Party v Comelec, 342 SCRA 244- The Party List System, is a mechanism of proportional representation in the election of representatives to the House of Representatives, from national, regional and sectoral parties, organizations and coalitions thereof registered with the COMELEC. The Party list system was devised to replace the reserve seat system the very essence of the party list system is representation by election. CASE: Bagong Bayani-OFW v Comelec, GR No. 147589, June 26, 2001Proportional representation refers to the representation of the marginalized and underrepresented as exemplified by the enumeration in Sec/ 5 of the law, namely; labor peasant, fisherfolk, urban poor, indigenous cultural communities, elderly,handicapped, women youth, veterans, overseas workers and professionals. The party list organization or party must factually and truly represent the marginalized and underrepresented constituencies mentioned in Sec. 5. CASE: In the Matter of the Petition for Registration of Ang Ladlad LGBT Party for the Party-List System SPP Case No. 09-228 (PL), Nov. 11, 2009

CASE: Ang Ladlad v Comelec, GR No. 190582, April 8, 2010 CASE: Atienza v Comelec, GR No. 188920, Feb. 16, 2010 - Although political parties play an important role in our democratic set-up as an intermediary between the state and its citizens, it is still a private organization, not a state instrument. The discipline of members by a political party does not involve the right to life, liberty or property within the meaning of the due process clause. An individual has no vested right, as against the state, to be accepted or to prevent his removal by a political party. The only rights, if any, that party members may have, in relation to other party members, correspond to those that may have been freely agreed upon among themselves through their charter, which is a contract among the party members. Members whose rights under their charter may have been violated have recourse to courts of law for the enforcement of those rights, but not as a due process issue against the government or any of its agencies. But even when recourse to courts of law may be made, courts will ordinarily not interfere in membership and disciplinary matters within a political party. A political party is free to conduct its internal affairs, pursuant to its constitutionally-protected right to free association.

Party-List System Sec. 5(2), Article VI, 1987 Constitution The party-list representatives shall constitute twenty per centum of the total number of representatives including those under the party list. For three consecutive terms after the ratification of this Constitution, one-half of the seats allocated to party-list representatives shall be filled, as provided by law, by selection or election from the labor, peasant, urban poor, indigenous cultural communities, women, youth, and such other sectors as may be provided by law, except the religious sector. Sec. 8, Article IX(C), 1987 Constitution Political parties, or organizations or coalitions registered under the party-list system, shall not be represented in the voters' registration boards, boards of election inspectors, boards of canvassers, or other similar bodies. However, they shall be entitled to appoint poll watchers in accordance with law.
CASE: Paglaum v Comelec, 2 April 2013- April 2, 2013, is a sad day for the poor and powerless. On that day, our Supreme Court in Atong Paglaum vs Comelec decreed that the party-list system may now be invaded by the privileged and powerful. It is no longer the sacred domain of the marginalized and underrepresented. read the case

CASE: BARA 7941 v Comelec, 4 May 2007 CASE: Ang Ladlad v Comelec, 11 November 2009