BATAS 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.
Section 2. Direct vote. All registered voters shall be entitled to vote in the election herein provided.
Section 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.
Section 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.
Section 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.
Section 6. Election and campaign periods. The election period shall be fixed by the Commission on Elections in accordance with Section 6, Article XII (C) of the Constitution. The campaign period shall commence on April 24, 1981 and terminate on June 14, 1981.
Section 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. acd
The appointment of the other two members and their substitutes shall be proposed by the accredited political parties.
Section 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.
Section 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.
Section 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.
Section 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.£á⩊phi£ 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.
Section 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.
Section 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.
Section 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.
Section 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.
Section 16. Rules and regulations. The Commission on Elections shall promulgate rules and regulations to implement this Act.
Section 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.
Section 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.
Section 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
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