COMELEC Rules of Procedure - Rule 3

PART II

POWERS OF THE COMMISSION AND TRANSACTION OF BUSINESS

Rule 3

How the Commission Transacts Business

Section 1.  How Business is Transacted. - In the exercise of its Constitutional or statutory powers, functions, and duties, the Commission may sit en banc or in to Divisions.

Sec. 2.  The Commission En Banc. - The Commission shall sit en banc in cases hereinafter specifically provided, or in pre-proclamation cases upon a vote of a majority of the members of the Commission, or in all other cases where a division is not authorized to act, or where, upon a unanimous vote of all the Members of a Division, an interlocutory matter or issue relative to an action or proceeding before it is decided to be referred to the Commission en banc.

Sec. 3.  The Commission Sitting in Divisions. - The Commission shall sit in two (2) Divisions to hear and decide protests or petitions in ordinary actions, special actions, special cases, provisional remedies, contempt, and special proceedings except in accreditation of citizen's arms of the Commission.

Sec. 4.  Composition of a Division. - Each Division shall be composed of three Commissioners, one of whom shall be the Presiding Commissioner.  The Commission en banc shall determine who shall compose a Division.

Sec. 5.  Quorum; Votes Required. -

a.  When sitting en banc, four (4) Members of the Commission shall constitute a quorum for the purpose of transacting business.  The concurrence of a majority of the Members of the Commission shall be necessary for the pronouncement of a decision, resolution, order or ruling.

b.  When sitting in Division, two (2) Members of a Division shall constitute a quorum to transact business.  The concurrence of at least two (2) Members of a Division shall be necessary to reach a decision, resolution, order or ruling.  If this required number is not obtained, the case shall be automatically elevated to the Commission en banc for decision or resolution.

c.  Any motion to reconsider a decision, resolution, order or ruling of a Division shall be resolved by the Commission en banc except motions on interlocutory orders of the division which shall be resolved by the division which issued the order.

Sec. 6.  Change in Composition; Substitution. - The composition of a Division may be changed by the Chairman of the Commission whenever necessary, Provided that no change shall be made more than once every three (3) months; Provided Moreover, that notice thereof in writing shall be furnished the parties in cases pending before the Division concerned.  Whenever there is a vacancy in a Division because a member inhibits himself, is absent, or is disqualified from sitting in a case, or when a division has only two (2) regular members, the Chairman may appoint a substitute Commissioner, or the Chairman himself may sit as substitute or third member, and in that event he shall preside.

Sec. 7.  Sessions. - The Commission or the Divisions shall hold sessions on such days and time as it may specify at the session hall of the Commission, or at such other places in the Philippines as it may designate.

Sec. 8.  Assignment of Cases. - The assignment of cases of the two (2) Divisions herein constituted shall be done strictly through raffle to be conducted regularly by the Chairman of the Commission in the presence of at least a majority of the Commissioner; Provided, That the assignment of cases shall be made as evenly as possible.

Sec. 9.  Consolidation of Cases. - When an action or proceeding involves a question of law and fact which is similar to or common with that of another action or proceeding, the same may be consolidated with the action or proceeding bearing the lower docket number.

Part II	RULES OF PROCEDURE	Part II
Rule 2	Table of Contents	Rule 4

COMELEC Rules of Procedure - Rule 8

Part III

INITIATION OF ACTIONS OR PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE COMMISSION

Rule 8

Intervention

Section 1. When Proper and Who may be Permitted to Intervene. - Any person allowed to initiate an action or proceeding may, before or during the trial of an action or proceeding, be permitted by the Commission, in its discretion, to intervene in such action or proceeding, if he has legal interest in the matter in litigation, or in the success of either of the parties, or an interest against both, or when he is so situated as to be adversely affected by such action or proceeding.

Sec. 2. Motion for Intervention. - A person desiring to intervene shall file a motion for leave of the Commission or the Division with notice upon all the parties to the action.

Sec. 3. Discretion of Commission. - In allowing or disallowing a motion for intervention, the Commission or the Division, in the exercise of its discretion, shall consider whether or not the intervention will unduly delay or prejudice  the adjudication of the rights of the original parties and whether or not the intervenor's rights may be fully protected in a separate action or proceeding.

Sec. 4. Protest/Petition or Answer in Intervention. - The intervention shall be made by protest or petition filed and served in due form, and may be answered as if it were an original protest or petition; but where intervenor unites with the protestee or respondent in resisting the claims of protestant or petitioner, the intervention may be made in the form of an answer to the protest or petition.

Part III	RULES OF PROCEDURE	Part III
Rule 7	Table of Contents	Rule 9

COMELEC Rules of Procedure - Rule 7

Part III

INITIATION OF ACTIONS OR PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE COMMISSION

Rule 7

Pleadings

Section 1. Filing of Pleadings. - Every pleading, motion and other papers must be filed in ten (10) legible copies.  However, when there is more than one respondent or protestee, the petitioner or protestant must file additional number of copies of the petition or protest as there are additional respondents or protestees.

Sec. 2. How Filed. - The documents referred to in the immediately preceding section must be filed directly with the proper Clerk of Court of the Commission personally, or, unless otherwise provided in these Rules, by registered mail.  In the latter case, the date of mailing is the date of filing and the requirement as to the number of copies must be complied with.

Sec. 3. Form of Pleadings, etc. -

a.  All pleadings allowed by these Rules shall be printed, mimeographed or typewritten on legal size bond paper and shall be in English or Filipino. 

b. Protests or petitions in ordinary actions, special actions, special cases, special reliefs, provisional remedies, and special proceedings, as well as counter-protests, counter-petitions, interventions, motions for reconsideration, and appeals from rulings of board of canvassers shall be verified.  All answers shall be verified. 

c. A pleading shall be verified only by an affidavit stating that the person verifying the same has read the pleading and that the allegations therein are true of his own knowledge.  Verifications based on "information or belief" or upon "knowledge," "information" or "belief" shall be deemed insufficient. 

d.  Each pleading shall contain a caption setting forth the name of the Commission, the title of the case, the docket number and the designation of the pleading.  When an action or proceeding has been assigned to a Division, the caption shall set forth the name of the Division.

Sec. 4. Docket and Assignment of Numbers. - Upon the Filing of a protest or petition, the Clerk of Court of the Commission concerned shall docket the same and assign to it a docket number.  The numbering must be consecutive according to the date it is filed, must bear the year, and prefixed as follows:

a. EPC - for Ordinary Actions 

b. EAC - for Appealed Cases 

c. SPA - for Special Actions 

d. SPC - for Special Cases 

e. SPR - for Special Reliefs 

f. SPP - for Special Proceedings 

g. EO - for Election Offenses

Sec. 5. Non-acceptance of Pleadings. - No pleading shall be accepted by the Commission unless it conforms to the formal requirement provided herein.

Part III	RULES OF PROCEDURE	Part III
Rule 6	Table of Contents	Rule 8

COMELEC Rules of Procedure - TOC

COMELEC

Rules of Procedure

February 15, 1993

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PURSUANT to Section 6 of Article IX-A and Section 3 of Article IX-C of the Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines and the powers vested in it by existing laws, the Commission on Elections hereby promulgates the following rules governing pleadings, practice and procedure before it or any of its offices:

PART	DESCRIPTION
I	INTRODUCTORY PROVISIONS
II	POWERS OF THE COMMISSION AND TRANSACTION OF BUSINESS
III	INITIATION OF ACTIONS OR PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE COMMISSION
IV	DISPOSITION OF ACTIONS OR PROCEEDINGS
V	PARTICULAR ACTIONS OR PROCEEDINGS
VI	PROVISIONS GOVERNING ELECTION CONTESTS AND QUO WARRANTO CASES BEFORE TRIAL COURT
VII	ELEVATION OF DECISIONS TO THE SUPREME COURT
VIII	GENERAL PROVISIONS
IX	CONCLUDING PROVISIONS
	SIGNATORIES

Additional registrants will be "like chance passengers"

Like chance passengers in a fully booked flight, additional registrants for the 2010 polls could only vote if there would be extra ballots.  The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) will no longer print additional ballots for voters who will register starting December 21.

“We won’t be printing any additional ballots. They will be like chance passengers," COMELEC spokesperson James Jimenez said on Saturday, reiterating an earlier statement made by Jose Melo, the chief of the poll body.

Aside from the ballots that are scheduled to be printed on January 28 based on the number of voters that had registered prior to the ruling of the Supreme Court, the poll body would no longer produce extra ballots, according to Jimenez.

There are over 49 million registered voters as of December 10. The ratio of ballot to voter was supposed to be one is to one.

“We can’t print anymore (ballots), we cannot delay it (poll preparations) anymore," Jimenez told GMANews.TV in a phone interview.

He said additional voters could still vote if there would be “spare" ballots on election day. Jimenez said that “usually there’s low voter turnout" during the polls, thus there could still be extra ballots for additional registrants.

Last December 15, the Supreme Court extended the voter registration for the 2010 elections to January 9 after it nullified a Comelec resolution that limited the said registration to October 31, 2009.

In its nine-page decision, the high tribunal directed the Comelec to immediately reopen the registration as a reply to the petition of Kabataan party-list Rep. Raymond Palatino, who questioned the shortened period for registration.

Last week, in an interview with Mike Enriquez, Melo also said that additional registrants would be like “chance passengers."

“Halimbawa, ang registered sa inyong presinto, 200, eh magpi-print po kami ng 200 ballots for that number.  Ngayon, hindi naman siguro pwedeng 100 percent ang turnout, baka magboto riyan mga 110 to 150, whatever. So, limit na number of ballots, yung mga nagpa-register ngayon, makahabol din. Dun sa number of ballots we will print, di na ho sila kasali do’n...," said Melo.

(For instance, if the number of registered voters in your precinct is 200, we will print 200. But the voter-turnout can’t be always 100 percent, it could be 110 to 150, whatever.  So those who will register could still have the chance to vote.  But they will no longer be included in the number of ballots that we will print.)

Asked by Enriquez if the situation could be compared to that of people taking chances to ride on an already passenger-loaded bus or board an already fully booked plane, Melo agreed, saying they could be compared to “chance passengers."

Asked if the poll body would be prepared for criticisms on its decision not to print additional ballots for new voters, Jimenez said that the COMELEC could no longer do anything about it because “this is what was already decided."

The tentative schedule for the continuation of registration has been set on December 21 to 23 and on 28 to 29.   Meanwhile, January 2 to 9 will be allotted for “administrative matters."

COMELEC Law Department head Ferdinand Rafanan said the poll body would post the list of the new applicants on January 4, giving the registrants until January 6 to file an opposition to any of the other registrations.

By January 9, the Election Registration Board is expected to begin its hearings to weed out ineligible registrants, according to Rafanan. - GMANews.TV