A WEBINAR ON ELECTORAL POLITICS: FUNCTIONS OF COMELEC AND ELECTION

OFFENSES

I. Summarize through an outline the salient topics discussed in the Webinar

INTRODUCTION

I. VOTER TURNOUT 75.98% (46,937,139)

A. 2019 MID-TERM ELECTIONS
1. GEN X / Generation X (32%)
2. Millennials and Generation Z (31%)
3. Baby Boomers (28%)
4. Voters aged 65 and older (9%)

II. ELECTORAL CYCLE

A. PRE-ELECTORAL PERIOD
• Planning, Training, Information, Dissemination, Registration
B. ELECTORAL PERIOD
• Nomination, Filling of COC, Campaign, Voting, Proclamation of
Results
C. POST-ELECTORAL PERIOD
• Verification of Results, Dispute Resolution, Evaluation, Reform

PRINCIPAL PART

I. HIERARCHY AND ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE OF THE COMMISSION ON

ELECTIONS (COMELEC)
A. COMELEC
• It is an independent constitutional body. (Article IX, 1987
Constitution)
• Conferred with powers and functions not reduced by statute
• Enjoys Fiscal autonomy
B. COMMISSION EN BANC
• Act as quasi-judicial or quasi-legislative body
➢ Commission Secretary & Clerk of the Commission
C. COMELEC FIELD OFFICES
• Office of the Regional Election Director
• Office of the Provincial Election Supervisor
• Office of the Election Officer
II. JURISDICTION AND FUNCTIONS OF COMELEC
A. SECTION 2, ARTICLE IX-C, 1987 CONSTITUTION
• Enforcement and administration of election laws and regulations
• Quasi-judicial power
✓ Election contests
✓ Election offenses
 ✓ Election issues
• Deputization
• Rule-making power
• Registration and accreditation
• Investigation
• Initiation of cases
• Recommendation of measures to Congress
• Recommendation of disciplinary actions to the President
B. HEARING OF CASES (Cases must be heard and decided in division first)
• EN BANC
✓ MR of decisions
✓ Promulgation of rules of procedure
✓ Petition for correction of manifest error in SOV
✓ Exercise of administrative powers
• IN DIVISION
✓ All election cases; proclamation and controversies
✓ Petition to cancel COC
✓ Appealed cases from RTC and MTC
✓ Petition for Certiorari from RTC
• VOTER REGISTRATION
• ELECTION OFFENSES
✓ Prosecutor’s Office or COMELEC
✓ If there are probable cause: To be filed in RTC
• ELECTION CONTEST
✓ Elections, Returns and Qualifications
✓ MTC, RTC, COMELEC, HRET, SET, PET
III. COMMONLY VIOLATED ELECTION OFFENSES & PENALTIES
A. POLLING CENTER IN THE PHILIPPINES VS. JAPAN
• PHILIPPINES (ELECTIONS)
✓ Overspending
✓ political violence
✓ vote buying, vote selling, expensive campaign
✓ Prevalent employment of PAGS
• PHILIPPINES (PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY)
✓ “Kapit-tuko”
• JAPAN (ELECTIONS)
✓ Low-cost campaign,
✓ no police or military visibility in polling centers
✓ Equal access to common poster areas
✓ Non-employment of private-armed groups
• JAPAN (PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY)
✓ Resignation upon the commencement of investigations or for
compelling reasons
B. VOTE-SELLING AND VOTE-BUYING
 ✓ Any person who gives, offers or promises money or anything
of value to withhold vote in election
✓ Any person, association, corporation, group or community
who solicits or receives, directly or indirectly, any expenditure
or promise of any office or employment, public or private, for
any of the foregoing considerations. [BP 881, Sec. 261(a)]
C. THREATS, INTIMIDATION, TERRORISM, USE OF FRAUDULENT DEVICE OR OTHER
FORMS OF COERCION
✓ Any person who directly or indirectly, threatens, intimidates pr
actually causes, inflicts or produces any violence, injury,
punishment, damage, loss or disadvantage upon any
person… [BP 881, Sec. 261 (e)]
D. INTERVENTION OF PUBLIC OFFICERS AND EMPLOYMENT
✓ Any officer or employee in the civil service, except those
holding political offices; any officer, employee, or member or
the Armed Forces of the Philippines…directly or indirectly,
intervenes in any election campaign or engages in any
partisan political activity, except to vote or to preserve public
order, if he is a peace officer. [BP 881, Sec. 261(i)].
E. BAN ON FIREARMS AND SECURITY PERSONNEL
✓ Any person who although possessing a permit to carry
firearms, carries any firearms outside his residence or place of
business during the election period, unless authorized in
writing by the Commission: Provided, that a motor vehicle,
water or aircraft shall not be considered a residence or place
of business or extension hereof. [BP 881, Sec. 261]
✓ ABENES VS. CA AND PEOPLE (2007)
F. MATERIAL REPRESENTATION (BP 881, SEC. 262)
• MATERIAL INFORMATION IN THE COC
✓ Age
✓ Citizenship
✓ Period of Residence
✓ Registration as a voter
G. OVERSPENDING (BP 881, SEC. 100 AND 102, AS AMENDED BY RA 7166)
• PRESIDENT
✓ P 10.00 per voter in the PH
• CANDIDATE WITH POLITICAL PARTY
✓ P 3.00 per voter in the constituency where certificate of
candidacy is filed
• INDEPENDENT CANDIDATE
✓ P 5.00 per voter in the constituency where certificate of
candidacy is filed
IV. PROCEDURE OF FILING CASES IN COMELEC
A. ELECTION OFFENSES
 • NOT MOTU PROPIO
✓ Law Department
✓ Regional Election Director
✓ Provincial Election Supervisor
✓ Election Officer of the State
✓ Provincial or City Prosecutor
• MOTU PROPIO
✓ Law Department conducts the preliminary investigation
B. OTHER ACTIONS (COMELEC MAIN OFFICE NOT FIELD OFFICES)
• ORDINARY ACTIONS
• SPECIAL ACTIONS
• SPECIAL CASES
• SPECIAL RELIEFS
• PROVISIONAL REMEDIES
✓ REMEDIES: Supreme Court through Petition for Certiorari (Rule
64)

REFLECTION

I. CHALLENGES OF COMELEC
A. SEC 55, B.P 881 OR OMNIBUS ELECTION CODE
✓ A suitable office space of the Provincial Election Supervisor
and staff, and the Election Officer and staff shall be provided
by the LGU concerned.
B. SEC. 1 (2), ART. IX-C, 1987 CONSTITUTION
✓ The Chairman and the Commissioners shall be appointed by
the President with the consent of the Commission on
Appointments (Senate President, 12 Senators, and 12
Members of the House of Representatives)

II. VIOLATIONS OF ELECTION LAWS

• Absent an effective law enforcement, legal measures are viewed as unfair

and range of infringement radically increases (E. Ostrom 2015). As a result, the
inefficiency and ineffectiveness of institutions to enforce rules and sanction
offenders increase the opportunistic behavior of citizens to disobey the rules
and the eventual frequent and recurring violations as a norm of behavior.

“The Philippine election management is polycentric! [Belmes, 2019]. The outcome

depends on the approaches employed by different independent decision-makers
interacting in a competitive or cooperative undertaking [V. Ostrom, et al., 1961].”
II. Discuss five (5) learning insights gained from the Webinar. Explain in 2-3
sentences how each learning insight has contributed to your knowledge of
Electoral Politics.

1. Electoral System in the Philippines

Recognizing the repercussions of electoral systems on the political process and

on citizens’ commitment to the political process is a significant topic to be
taken into consideration. Philippine electoral system affects the way ethnic,
linguistic and religious minorities are represented. It is important to guarantee
that minorities are not segregated.

2. Role, powers and functions of Philippine Commission on Elections

(COMELEC)

Elections and other legislative processes are pivotal to the condition of a State's
governance and can either progress or set back its long-term democratic
development. Consequently, it's essential to grasp the importance of an entity
that guards nor enforce and administer all laws and regulations relative to the
conduct of elections, plebiscites, initiatives, referendums, and recalls. It
guarantees me that the democratic goals and functions of our country are
given much attention.

3. Government performance and democracy

The Philippine experience with electoral politics is enlightening in the process

of democratic development. Thus, the government also plays a crucial role in
ensuring that each citizen's right to suffrage's proffered with attention. It is
pivotal to understand that every aspect, including one state's government,
contributes to how electoral politics in such a country like ours works; the
relationship between elections and democratic development in the
Philippines, as well as the emergence and institutionalization of electoral
diplomacies at various junctures in the Philippines.

4. Voter participation

A large turnout at elections is an indispensable element of democracy;

elections let us determine who decides for us. Having to grasp impressions
concerning voter participation in our country would enable us to apprehend
how political culture alters the perception and behavior of each, respectively.

5. Diverse electoral system/practices (JAPAN VS. PHILIPPINES)

Each country operates a different structure of the electoral process. Knowing

the pattern of political socialization, political culture, and electoral process in
diverse states like Japan and comparing it to the Philippines would qualify us
to identify the weaknesses and strengths of our electoral politics.
 Understanding how the pattern of the electoral system in the Philippines has
contributed to its political structure.

III. What is the significance of the COMELEC as a government entity/institution?

Discuss in 4-5 sentences.

An election is the outcome of a multifaceted process requiring the

participation of a multitude of electorates. The stakes are high, and there is a
great temptation to guarantee triumph through unlawful or ethically dubious
(inappropriate or even defective) means. Election returns can be rigged or
disrupted to predetermine who will win or lose, flinging doubt on the legitimacy
of the process. Hence, it is in the hands of the Philippine Commission on
Elections (COMELEC) to ensure that electoral integrity is exercised, persisting
legitimate discretionary standards and methods to help detect, deter and
restrict electoral improprieties and illegalities, as well as to ensure integrity.
Oversights the election process, raise accountability, fosters transparency,
establishes the credibility of the selecting method, and advocates to secure
acquiescence with the legal framework. It is in their authority to assure Filipinos
that their power nor right to suffrage is honestly guarded from any misconduct,
acting in accordance with our democracy.