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A Brief History of the HRET The HRET

HRET Secretariat
The House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET) was constituted under Section 17, Article VI of
the 1987 Philippine Constitution which provides:
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The Senate and the House of Representatives shall each have an Electoral Tribunal, which shall be
the sole judge of all contests relating to the election, returns, and qualifications of their respective 08.02.2022
Members. Each Electoral Tribunal shall be composed of nine Members, three of whom shall be Notice of Vacancies (as of February 8, 2022)
Justices of the Supreme Court to be designated by the Chief Justice, and the remaining six shall be
Members of the Senate or the House of Representatives, as the case may be, who shall be chosen
12.11.2021
on the basis of proportional representation from the political parties and the parties or
Invitation to Bid for the Supply and Delivery of
organizations registered under the party-list system represented therein. The senior Justice in the
Janitorial Serv
Electoral Tribunal shall be its Chairman.
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When the Philippine government was initially established through the passage of the Philippine Bill of
1902 (Cooper Act), the Senate and House of Representatives, respectively, were the sole judges of the
elections, returns, and qualifications of their elective members. (Section 18, Philippine Bill of 1902, 01
July 1902)

Also, in the subsequent Philippine Autonomy Act of 1916 (Jones Law), this authority was placed with
the Philippine Assembly, or the legislature itself. (Section 7, Philippine Autonomy Act, United States
Congress, 29 August 1916)

After a constitutional convention was called pursuant to the Tydings–McDuffie Act or the Philippine
Independence Act of 1934, and the 1935 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines was approved
and ratified through a plebiscite, the Electoral Commission composed of three (3) justices of the
Supreme Court, and six (6) members of the National Assembly was created. Under a unicameral
legislature, the Electoral Commission was the sole judge of all contests relating to the election, returns,
and qualifications of the Members of the then National Assembly. (Section 4, Article VI, 1935
Constitution)

The intention is to have an electoral body composed of three justices of the Supreme Court and six
legislative members, which were equally divided between the majority and the minority parties. It is said
that the inclusion of Supreme Court Justices as members of the Electoral Commission was meant to
compliment the commission's judicial functions and balance blind partisanships during the disposal of
election protests. Should the legislative members happen to vote along party lines, the balance of power
would have been placed in the hands of three (3) justices of the Supreme Court. (Concurring Opinion of
J. Perfecto in Suanes vs. The Chief Accountant, G.R. No. L-2460, October 26, 1948)

In 1940, the 1935 Constitution was amended to create a bicameral legislative department composed of a
Senate and a House of Representatives. This led to the establishment of separte and independent electoral
tribunals for each house of Congress, both of which assumed the authority and jurisdiction previously
held by the Electoral Commission over their respective members (Section 11, Article VI, 1935
Constitution, as amended). This is similar to the present electoral tribunals that we have today.

However, when 1973 Constitution was approved and ratified, no similar provision existed and the
jurisdiction on election contests against the Members of the National Assembly or the Legislature was
lodged with the Commission on Elections. (Section 2(2), Article XII-C, 1973 Constitution)

With the approval and ratification of the 1987 Constitution, the authority of the HRET to be the sole
judge of all contests relating to the election, returns, and qualifications of the Members of the House of
Representatives was revived, and the HRET that it is today was organized.

Under the present setup, the HRET has and exercises all such powers as are vested in it by the
Constitution or by law, and such other powers as may be necessary or incidental to the accomplishment
of its purposes and the effective exercise of its functions. When performing its functions, the Tribunal
has inherent powers to: (1) Preserve and enforce order in its immediate presence; (2) Enforce order in
proceedings before it or before any of its officials acting under its authority; (3) Compel obedience to its
judgments, orders, resolutions and processes; (4) Compel the attendance of witnesses and the production
of evidence in any case or proceeding before it; (5) Administer or cause to be administered oaths in any
case or proceeding before it, and in all other cases where it may be necessary in the exercise of its
powers; (6) Control its processes and amend its resolutions or orders to make them conform with law and
justice; (7) Authorize a copy of a lost or destroyed pleading or other paper to be filed and used in lieu of
the original, and restore and supply deficiencies in its records and proceedings; and (8) Promulgate its
own rules of procedure and amend or revise the same. (Rules 9 and 10, 2015 HRET Rules)

Through the years, the HRET stands proud of its accomplishments since its reconstitution in 1987 as it
strives to fulfill its mandate in furtherance of its established mission and vision as one of the Republic's
constitutional bastions of democracy.

For inquiries, comments and suggestions kindly contact us thru:

Information System and Judicial Records Management Service

Rm. 301, 3rd Floor, Right Wing, Electoral Tribunal Building
Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City
Tel. No. (+632) 931 7642
E-mail: hretgovph@gmail.com

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