Article
II
ELECTION
OF PRESIDENT AND VICE-PRESIDENT
Sec. 13. Regular election for President and
Vice-President. - The regular election for
President and Vice-President of the Philippines shall be held on the first
Monday of May Nineteen hundred eighty seven (1987) and on the same day every
six years thereafter. The
President-elect and the Vice-President-elect shall assume office at twelve
o'clock noon on the thirtieth day of June next following the election and shall
end at noon of the same date, six years thereafter when the term of his
successor shall begin.
Sec. 14. Special election for President and
Vice-President. - In case a vacancy occurs for
the Office of the President and Vice-President, the Batasang Pambansa shall, at
ten o'clock in the morning of the third day after the vacancy occurs, convene
in accordance with its rules without need of a call and within seven days enact
a law calling for a special election to elect a President and a Vice-President
to be held not earlier than forty-five days nor later than sixty days from the
time of such call. The bill calling such
special election shall be deemed certified under paragraph (2), Section 19,
Article VIII of the Constitution and shall become law upon its approval on
third reading by the Batasang Pambansa. Appropriations for the special election
shall be charged against any current appropriations and shall be exempt from
the requirements of paragraph (4), Section 16 of Article VIII of the
Constitution. The convening of the
Batasang Pambansa cannot be suspended nor the special election postponed. No
special election shall be called if the vacancy occurs within seventy days
before the date of the presidential election of 1987.
Sec. 15. Canvass of votes for President and
Vice-President by the provincial or city board of canvassers.- The provincial, city, or district boards of canvassers in Metropolitan
Manila, as the case may be, shall meet not later than six o'clock in the
evening on election day to canvass the election 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 and for Vice-President, duly authenticated by the signatures and
thumbmarks of all the members of the provincial, city or district board of
canvassers, furnishing the Commission 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. Upon the completion of the canvass, the board
shall prepare a certificate of canvass showing the votes received by each
candidate for the office of the President and for Vice-President, duly
authenticated by the signatures and thumbmarks of all the members of the
provincial, city or district board of canvassers. Upon the completion of the certificate of
canvass, the board shall certify and transmit the said certificate of canvass
to the Speaker of the Batasang Pambansa.
The provincial, city and district boards
of canvassers shall prepare the certificate of canvass for the election of
President and Vice-President, supported by a statement of votes by polling
place, in quintuplicate by the use of carbon papers or such other means as the
Commission shall prescribe to the end that all five copies shall be legibly
produced in one handwriting. The five
copies of the certificate of canvass must bear the signatures and thumbmarks of
all the members of the board. 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; the second copy shall likewise be enclosed and sealed in the envelope
directed to the Commission; the third copy shall be retained by the provincial
election supervisor, 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 representatives of the ruling party and the
dominant opposition political party. Failure
to comply with the requirements of this section shall constitute an election
offense.
Sec. 16. Counting of votes for President and
Vice-President by the Batasang Pambansa. - The
certificates of canvass, duly certified by the board of canvassers of each
province, city or district in Metropolitan Manila shall be transmitted to the
Speaker of the Batasang Pambansa, who shall, not later than thirty days after
the day of the election, convene the Batasang Pambansa in session and in its
presence open all the certificates of canvass, and the votes shall then be
counted.
Sec. 17. Correction of errors in certificate
and supporting statement already transmitted to the Speaker. - No correction of errors allegedly committed in the certificate
of canvass and supporting statement already transmitted to the Speaker of the
Batasang Pambansa shall be allowed, subject to the provisions of the succeeding
section.
Sec. 18. Preservation of ballot boxes, their
keys, and disposition of their contents. -
Until after the completion by the Batasang Pambansa of the canvassing of the
votes and until an uncontested proclamation of the President-elect and
Vice-President-elect shall have been obtained, the provincial, city or district
board of canvassers under the joint responsibility with the provincial, city or
municipal treasurers shall provide for the safekeeping and storage of the
ballot boxes in a safe and closed chamber secured by four padlocks: one to be
provided by the corresponding board chairman; one by the provincial or city
treasurer concerned; and one each by the ruling party and the accredited
dominant opposition political party.
Sec. 19. 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, city or district in Metropolitan Manila 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 election returns from polling
places that were not included in the certificate of canvass and supporting
statements. Said election returns shall
be 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 polling place 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 or Vice-Presidential candidate
concerned or his party shall, for the sole purpose of verifying the actual
number of votes cast for President or Vice-President, count the votes as they
appear in the copies of the election returns for the Commission. For this
purpose, the Speaker shall require the Commission to deliver its copies of the
election returns to the Batasang Pambansa.
Sec. 20. Proclamation of the President-elect
and Vice-President-elect. - Upon the completion of
the canvass of the votes by the Batasang Pambansa, the persons obtaining the
highest number of votes for President and for Vice-President shall be declared
elected; but in case two or more shall have an equal and the highest number of
votes, one of them shall be chosen President or Vice-President, as the case may
be, by a majority vote of all the Members of the Batasang Pambansa in session assembled.
In case there are certificates of
canvass which have not been submitted to the Speaker of the Batasang Pambansa
on account of missing election returns, a proclamation may be made if the
missing certificates will not affect the results of the election.
In case the certificates of canvass
which were not submitted on account of missing election returns will affect the
results of the election, no proclamation shall be made. The Speaker shall immediately instruct the
boards of canvassers concerned to obtain the missing election returns from the
boards of election inspectors or, if the returns have been lost or destroyed
upon prior authority from the Commission, to use any authentic copy of said election
returns for the purpose of conducting the canvass, and thereafter issue the certificates
of canvass. The certificates of canvass
shall be immediately transmitted to the Speaker of the Batasang Pambansa.
Proclamation shall be made only upon
submission of all certificates of canvass or when the missing certificates of
canvass will affect the results of the election.
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