AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR A GENERAL REGISTRATION OF VOTERS, APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR, AND OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES.

SECTION 1. General registration of voters. — There
shall be a general registration of all voters throughout the Philippines in
accordance with the provisions of this Decree.

The lists of voters of every city and municipality prepared in accordance
herewith shall be used in the May 14, 1984 election for Members of the Batasang
Pambansa and every election which may be held thereafter. The existing lists of
voters are hereby declared null and void and without further force and effect
for purposes of voting after the January 27, 1984 national plebiscite.

SEC. 2. Permanent list of voters every twelve
years. — There shall be in each city and municipality a permanent list of
voters which shall be completely renewed every twelve years. A new list of
voters shall be prepared for the elections which will be held in nineteen
hundred and eighty-four and said list with such additions, cancellations, and
corrections as may be proper shall constitute the permanent list of voters in
each subsequent election until its renewal in nineteen hundred and
ninety-six.

SEC. 3. Necessity of registration to be entitled to
vote. — In order that a qualified elector may vote in any election, he must
be registered in the permanent list of voters for the city or municipality in
which he resides.

SEC. 4. Who may be registered in the list. — All
persons having complied with the requisites herein prescribed for the
registration of voters shall be registered in the list, provided they
possess all the qualifications and none of the disqualifications of a voter. Any
person who may not have on the date of registration the age or period of
residence required may also be registered upon proof that on the date of the
election he shall have such qualifications.

SEC. 5. Qualifications prescribed for a voter. —
Every citizen of the Philippines, not otherwise disqualified by law, eighteen
years of age or over, who shall have resided in the Philippines for one year and
in the city or municipality wherein he proposes to vote for at least six months
immediately preceding the election, may register as a voter.

Any person who transfers to another city or municipality solely by reason of
his occupation; profession; employment in private or public service; educational
activities; work in military of naval reservations; service in the army, navy or
air force, the constabulary or national police force; or confinement or
detention in government institutions in accordance with law shall be deemed not
to have lost his original residence. Provided, That he may register as
a voter of the city or municipality where he is residing for the foregoing
reasons if on the date of the election he has already resided therein for at
least six months.

SEC. 6. Voters in New Settlement Areas. — Residents
relocated to new settlement areas within six months immediately preceding an
election shall be allowed to register in the new place of resettlement.

SEC. 7. Disqualifications. — The following shall be
disqualified from voting:

1. Any person who has been sentenced by final judgment to suffer imprisonment
   for not less than one year, such disability not having been removed by plenary
   pardon: Provided, however, That any person disqualified to vote under
   this paragraph shall automatically reacquire the right to vote upon expiration
   of five years after service of sentence.
2. Any person who has been adjudged by final judgment by competent court of
   having violated his oath of allegiance to the Republic of the Philippines.
3. Insane or feeble-minded persons.

SEC. 8. Registration of voters. — For the
registration of voters in nineteen hundred and eighty-four and every twelve
years thereafter, the citizens election committee of each voting center shall
hold four meetings in the place designated as voting centers on the ninth
Saturday and Sunday and on the eighth Saturday and Sunday before the date of the
regular election to be held. At these meetings, the Committee shall prepare as
provided in this Decree eight copies of the list of voters of the
voting center.

For the May 14, 1984 elections, said meetings shall be held on March 17, 18,
24 and 25, 1984: Provided, That if after the last day of registration
the Commission on Elections should decide that a substantial number of qualified
voters have not registered, it may authorize additional registration days in
order that said voters shall not be deprived of their right of suffrage.

SEC. 9. Postponement of Registration. — When for
any serious cause such as force majeure, violence, terrorism, or other analogous
causes of such a nature, or where there are ongoing military operations that the
holding of the registration on the prescribed dates should become impossible in
any political subdivision, the Commission, after due notice, shall postpone the
registration therein to such time as it may deem necessary or undertake such
other measures necessary in order in effectively implement the provisions of
this Decree.

SEC. 10. Citizens election committee. — There shall
be a citizens election committee in every voting center composed of two public
school teachers as chairman and poll clerk, and two members, one representing
the ruling party and the other the dominant opposition party in the province and
its component city or cities; highly urbanized city; and district of
Metropolitan Manila.

SEC. 11. Qualifications of members of the committee.
— No person shall be appointed or shall act as chairman, poll clerk or
member of the committee or substitute therein, unless he is of good moral
character and irreproachable reputation, a qualified voter of the city or
municipality, has never been convicted of any election offense or of any other
crime punishable by more than six months of imprisonment, or if he has pending
against him an information for any election offense. He must be able to speak
and write English or the local dialect.

SEC. 12. Disqualification of members of the committee.
— No chairman, poll clerk or member of the committee shall be related
within the fourth civil degree of consanguinity or affinity to any other member
of the committee. In case of such disqualification, the member or members
concerned shall inform the Commission thereof.

SEC. 13. Appointment of the members of the
committee. — The members of the citizens election committee representing
the ruling party and the dominant opposition party and their substitutes shall
be appointed by the Commission on Elections not later than March 7, 1984 upon
nomination by the respective political parties. For this purpose, the
directorates of political parties shall submit in writing to the Commission the
names of their representatives in each province and its component city or
cities; highly urbanized city; and district of Metropolitan Manila who shall in
turn submit likewise in writing not later than February 29, 1984 the names and
addresses of the persons whom they propose to be appointed as representatives to
the citizens election committee for each voting center in the province.

In constituencies where there are more than one opposition party and each of
said parties submits its nomination and such nominations are in favor of
different persons, the Commission shall require said parties to agree on the
nomination of a common representative in the committee. Should they fail to come
to an agreement, the Commission shall determine which among said parties is the
dominant party, based on but not limited to the following guidelines:

1. Capability of the political party to wage a bona fide nationwide campaign as
   evidenced by the number of its members in the Batasang Pambansa and the number
   of its members elected to positions in the local governments, as well as by its
   party organization.
2. Bailiwicks or areas of political support.
3. Platform or program of government distinguishing the political party from
   the other political parties in ideology and orientation.
4. The record of the political party in the matter of its adherence to
   constitutional provisions on elections, including the duty and obligation of
   qualified citizens to register and to vote in elections.

If any of the parties entitled to representation in the committee fails to
nominate its representative therein on or before February 29, 1984, the
Commission shall appoint a public school teacher to fill the vacancy.

SEC. 14. Question of Facts. — Findings of the
Commission on questions of facts shall be final.

SEC. 15. Relief of members of the committee. — Any
member of the citizens elections committee as well as his substitute may at any
time be relieved from office and substituted with another having the legal
qualifications, upon petition of the authorized representatives of the party
upon whose nomination the appointment was made, and it shall be unlawful to
prevent said person from, or disturb him in, the performance of the duties of
the said office. A record of each case of substitution shall be made, setting
forth therein the hour in which the replaced member has ceased in office and the
status of the work of the citizens election committee. Said record shall be
signed by each member of the committee including the incoming and outgoing
officers.

SEC. 16. Temporary vacancies. — If, at the time of
the meeting of the committee, any member or the poll clerk is absent, or the
office is still vacant, the member present shall call upon the substitute of the
absent member to perform the duties of the latter; and, in case such substitute
cannot be found, the member present upon nomination by the representative of the
party of the absent member or in his absence, by the watchers belonging to the
party, shall appoint any qualified elector of the voting center to temporarily
fill said vacancy until the absent member appears or the vacancy is filled. In
case there are two members present, they shall act jointly.

SEC. 17. Arrest of absent member. — The member or
members present may order the arrest of any member or poll clerk or substitute
thereof who, in their judgment, has absented himself with intention of
obstructing the performance of the duties of the committee.

SEC. 18. Temporary designation of member and poll clerks
by watchers. — If at the time in which the committee must meet, all the
offices of members and poll clerks are vacant, or if not one of them shall
appear, the watchers present may designate qualified electors of the voting
center to act in the place of the members and the poll clerks until the
absentees shall appear or the vacancies are filled.

SEC. 19. Oath of the members of the committee. —
The members and poll clerks, whether permanent, substitute or temporary, shall,
before assuming their office, take and sign an oath upon forms prepared by the
Commission before an officer authorized to administer oaths or, in his absence,
before any other member of the committee, or in case no one is present, they
shall take it before any elector. The oaths shall be sent immediately to the
election registrar.

SEC. 20. Compensation of the members of the
committee. — The chairman; poll clerks and members of the committee-shall
each be entitled to a per diem of thirty pesos for each day of actual service
rendered in the committee.

SEC. 21. Duties of the committee. — The committee
shall have the following duties and functions:

1. Undertake the registration of voters as authorized herein;
2. Act as deputies of the Commission in the supervision and control of the
   registration in centers wherein they are assigned to assure that registration of
   qualified voters shall be done in a free, orderly and honest manner;
3. Perform such other functions prescribed by this Decree or by the rules and
   regulations promulgated by the Commission.

SEC. 22. Proceedings of the citizens election committee.
— The citizens election committee shall act through its chairman, by the
vote of the majority of its members, but the poll clerk shall have no vote in
its proceedings. The committee shall decide without delay all questions which
may arise in the performance of its duties. During the meeting of the committee,
not more than one member of the committee shall absent himself from the voting
center at a time, and in no case shall such absence before more than twenty
minutes.

SEC. 23. Meeting to close the list of the voters before
the election. — The citizens election committee shall also meet on May 5,
1984 for the purpose of making such inclusions, exclusions, and corrections as
may be or have been ordered by the courts, stating opposite every name so
corrected, added, or cancelled the date of the order and the court which issued
the same; and for the consecutive numbering of the voters of the voting
center.

Should the committee fail to include in the list of voters any person ordered
by competent court to be so included, said person shall, upon presentation of a
certified copy of the order of inclusion and upon proper identification be
allowed by the committee to vote.

Should the committee fail to exclude from the list of voters any person
ordered by the court to be so excluded, the committee shall not permit said
person to vote upon presentation to it by any interested party of a certified
copy of the order of exclusion.

SEC. 24. Meeting hours of the committee. — The
meetings of the citizens election committee for the registration of voters shall
commence at seven o’clock in the morning and shall continue until five o’clock
in the afternoon. They may be suspended for one hour only at midday.

SEC. 25. Voter’s affidavit. — Every person desiring
to be registered in the list of voters shall, under oath taken before the
citizens election committee, sign and affix the imprint of the thumbs of his
right and left hands in quadruplicate, wherein he shall state: His name and
surname; place of birth; age on his last birthday; civil status; profession,
occupation or trade; residence, giving his correct and exact address; that he
possesses the qualifications required of a voter; and that he is not in any way
legally disqualified from voting. The citizens election committee shall require
that the thumbmarks appear plainly printed.

SEC. 26. Identification of voters. — Any voter who
is not known by the members of the committee may be identified by any voter of
the voting center, or by the presentation of his birth or baptismal certificate
or any other document showing his identity. No fees nor documentary stamps shall
be required on such documents.

SEC. 27. Action by the committee. — Upon receipt of
the voter’s affidavit, the committee shall examine the date therein. If it finds
that the applicant possesses all the qualifications and none of the
disqualifications of a voter, he shall be registered. Otherwise, he shall not be
registered.

The name and address of each registered voter shall, immediately upon his
registration, be entered in the proper alphabetical group in the list.

SEC. 28. Preservation of the voters’ affidavits. —
A copy of the affidavit of each voter shall be kept by the citizens election
committee until after the election, when it shall deliver it to the election
registrar together with the copies of the list of voters and other election
papers for use in the next election. The other two copies shall be sent by the
committee on the day following the date of the affidavit to the office of the
provincial election supervisor and the Commission on Elections in Manila. The
latter shall file and preserve the voter’s affidavits by city and municipality
and in alphabetical order of their surnames. The fourth copy shall be given to
the voter as evidence of his registration.

SEC. 29. Columns in the list of voters. — The list
of voters shall be arranged in columns as follows: In the first column there
shall be entered, at the time of the closing of the list before the election, a
number opposite the name of each voter registered, beginning with number one and
continuing in consecutive order until the end of the list. In the second column,
the surnames generally used by such persons shall be written in alphabetical
order followed by their respective first names, without abbreviations of any
kind. In the third column, the respective residence of such person with the name
of the street and number, or, in case there be none, a brief description of the
locality or place shall be inserted. In the fourth column, there shall be
entered on the day of the election the numbers of the ballot which were given
successively to the voter. In the fifth column, the voter shall stamp on the day
of the election the mark of the thumb of his right and under said mark his
signature. And in the sixth column the signature of the chairman of the
committee who has handed the ballot to the voter. It will be sufficient that the
fourth, fifth, and sixth columns shall be filed in the copy of the list under
the custody of the committee to see to it that the thumbmark is stamped
plainly.

SEC. 30. Certificate of the committee in the list of
voters. — Upon the adjournment of each meeting for the registration of
voters, the citizens election committee shall close each alphabetical group of
surnames of voters by writing the date on the next line in blank, which shall be
forthwith signed by each member, and, before adding a new name on the same page
at the next meeting, it shall write the following: “Added at the . . . .
meeting,” specifying if it is the second, third or fourth meeting of the
committee. If the meeting adjourned is the last one for the registration of
voters, the committee shall, besides closing each alphabetical group of voters
as above provided, add at the end of the list a certificate (a) of the
corrections and cancellations made in the permanent list, specifying them, or
that there has been none, and (b) of the total number of voters registered in
the voting center.

SEC. 31. Publication of the list. — At the first
hour of the working day following the last day of registration of voters, the
poll clerk shall deliver to the election registrar a copy of the list certified
to by the citizens election committee as provided in the preceding
section; another copy, also certified, shall be sent to the provincial election
supervisor of the province, and another, likewise certified, shall be sent to
the Commission on Elections, in whose offices said copies shall be open to
public inspection during regular office hours. On the same day and hour, the
poll clerk shall also post a copy of the list in the voting center in a secure
place on the door or near the same at a height of a meter and a half, where it
may be conveniently consulted by the interested parties. Each member of the
committee shall also have a copy of the list so prepared, which may be inspected
by the public in the residence or office of said member during regular office
hours. Immediately after the meeting for the closing of the list, the poll clerk
shall also send a notice to the official above named regarding the changes and
the number above referred to, to be attached to the copy of the list under their
custody.

SEC. 32. Challenged of right to register. — Any
person applying for registration may be challenged before the citizens election
committee on any registration day by any member, elector, candidate, or watcher.
The committee shall then examine the challenged person and shall receive such
other evidence as it may deem pertinent, after which it shall decide whether the
elector shall be included in or excluded from the list as may be proper. All
challenges shall be heard and decided without delay, and in no case beyond three
days from the date the challenge was made.

After the question has been decided, the committee shall give to each party a
brief certified statement setting forth the challenge and the decision
thereon.

SEC. 33. Power of the committee to administer oaths and
issue summons. — For the purpose of determining the right of applicants to
be registered as voters in the list, the citizens committee shall have the same
powers to administer oaths, to issue subpoena and subpoena duces tecum, and to
compel witnesses to appear and testify, but the latter’s fees and the expenses
incident to the process shall he paid in advance by the party in whose behalf
the summons is issued.

SEC. 34. Proceedings of the committee shall be public.
— All meetings of the citizens election committee shall be public. The
committee shall have full authority to keep order within the voting center and
its environs, to keep the access thereto open and unobstructed, and to enforce
obedience to its lawful commands. If any person shall refuse to obey a lawful
command of the committee, or shall conduct himself in a disorderly manner in its
presence or within its hearing and thus interrupt or disturb its work or the
proceedings in connection with the registration, the chairman shall order any
peace officer to take such offending person into his custody until the
adjournment of the meeting; but such order shall not be so executed as to
prevent the person so taken into custody from registering as a voter. Such order
shall be executed by any peace officer to whom it may be given, but if none
shall be present, by any other person deputized thereto by the committee in
writing.

SEC. 35. Illiterate or disabled applicants. — The
voter’s affidavit of an illiterate or physically disabled person may be prepared
by any relative within the fourth civil degree of consanguinity or affinity or
any member of the committee who shall prepare the affidavit in accordance with
the data supplied by the applicant.

SEC. 36. Voting centers for registration purposes. —
Without prejudice to the establishment of new voting centers, transfer,
merger or splitting of existing ones, the voting centers which functioned as
such during the immediately preceding national election shall be used as centers
for purposes of the registration of voters. Each voting center shall have as far
as practicable three hundred registered voters.

SEC. 37. Jurisdiction in inclusion and exclusion cases.
— The municipal or metropolitan trial courts shall have original and
exclusive jurisdiction over all matters of inclusion in and exclusion of voters
from the list in their respective municipalities or cities. Decisions of the
municipal or metropolitan trial courts may be appealed directly by the aggrieved
party to the proper Regional Trial Court within five days from receipt of notice
thereof, otherwise said decision of the municipal or metropolitan trial court
shall become final and executory after said period. The Regional Trial Court
shall decide the appeal within ten days from the time the appeal was received
and its decision shall be immediately final and executory. No motion for
reconsideration shall be entertained by the courts.

SEC. 38. Application for inclusion of voters in the
list. — Any person whom the citizens election committee has refused to
register or whose name has been stricken out from the list may apply within
twenty days after the last registration day, to the proper Municipal or
Metropolitan Trial Court, for an order directing the citizens election
committees to include or reinstate his name in the list, together with the
certificate of the citizens election committees regarding his case and proof of
service of notice of his application upon a member of the citizens election
committee with indication of the time, place, and court before which the
application is to be heard.

SEC. 39. Voters excluded through inadvertence or
registered with an erroneous or misspelled name. — Any voter registered in
the permanent list, who has not been included in the list prepared for the
election or who has been included therein with a wrong or misspelled name, shall
have the right to file an application on any date with the proper Municipal or
Metropolitan Trial Court, for an order directing that his name be reinstated in
the list or that he be registered with his correct name. He shall attach to such
application a certified copy of the entry of his name in the list of the
preceding election, together with proof that he has applied without success to
the citizens election committees and that he has served notice thereof upon a
member of the committee.

SEC. 40. Application for exclusion of voters
from the list. — Any registered voter in a municipality may apply at any
time except during the period beginning with the twenty-first day after the last
registration day of any election up to and including the election day to the
proper municipal or metropolitan trial court, for the exclusion of a voter from
the list, giving the name and residence of the latter, the voting center in
which he is registered, and the grounds for the challenge. The application shall
be sworn to and accompanied by proof of notice to a member of the citizens
election committee, if the same is duly constituted, and to the challenged
voter.

SEC. 41. Common rules governing judicial proceedings in
the matter of inclusion, exclusion, and correction of names of voters. —
(a) Outside of the regular office hours no application for inclusion, exclusion,
or correction of names of voters shall be received.

(b) Notices to the members of the citizens election committees and to the
challenged voters shall state the place, day and hour in which such application
or motion shall be heard, and such notice may be made by sending a copy thereof
by registered mail or by personal delivery to them, or by leaving it in the
possession of a person of sufficient discretion in the residence of the said
persons, or, in the event that the foregoing procedure is not practicable, by
posting a copy in a conspicuous place in the municipal building and in two other
conspicuous places within the municipality, at least ten days prior to the day
set for the hearing.

In the interest of justice and to afford the challenged voter all the
opportunities to contest the applicant for exclusion, the court concerned may,
when the challenged voter fails to appear on the first day set for the hearing,
order that notice be effected in such manner and within such period of time as
he may decide, which time shall in no case be more than ten days from the day
the respondent is first bound in default.

(c) Each application shall refer to only one voting.

(d) No costs shall be assessed in these proceedings. However, if the court
should be satisfied that the application has been filed for the sole purpose of
molesting the adverse party and causing him to incur expenses, he may condemn
the culpable party to pay the costs and incidental expenses.

(e) Any candidate who may be affected by the proceedings may intervene and
present his evidence.

(f) The decision shall be based on the evidence presented. If the question is
whether or not the voter is real or fictitious his non-appearance on the day set
for hearing shall be prima facie evidence that the registered voter is
fictitious. In no case shall a decision be rendered upon a stipulation of
facts.

(g) These applications shall be heard and decided without delay. The decision
shall be rendered within six hours after the hearing and within ten days from
the date of its filing in court. Cases appealed to the Regional Trial Court
shall be decided within ten days from receipt of the appeal in the office of the
clerk of court. In any case, the court shall decide these petitions not later
than the day before the election and the decision rendered thereon shall be
immediately final and executory, notwithstanding the provisions of Sec. 37 on
the finality of decisions.

SEC. 42. Election offenses. — (a) The following
shall be guilty of a serious election offense punishable in accordance with the
provisions of this Decree:

(1) Any person who deliberately makes any false or untruthful statement
relative to any of the data or information required in the voter’s affidavit as
herein prescribed;

(2) Any member of the citizens election committee who knowingly approves the
application of a person who does not possess all the qualifications or who
possesses, any of the disqualifications prescribed by law for voters, or who
knowingly disapproves the application or a person who possesses all such
qualifications and none of the disqualifications;

(3) Any person who registers in substitution for another whether with or
without the latter’s knowledge and/or consent;

(4) Any person who falsifies any voter’s affidavit or the current list of
voters;

(5) Any person who deliberately imprints blurred or indistinct thumbmark on
any of the copies of the application for registration, or in the corresponding
space on the voter’s voting records; or any member of the citizens election
committee who deliberately or through negligence causes or allows the imprinting
of blurred or indistinct thumbmarks in any of the above-mentioned election
records; or any person who tampers with the thumbmarks in said election
records;

(6) Any person who delays, or hinders or obstructs another from registering
as a voter or from taking steps leading thereto;

(7) Any person who shall falsely certify or identify another as a bona fide
resident of a particular place or locality for the purpose of securing the
latter’s registration as a voter;

(8) Any member of the citizens election committee or any person acting on
their behalf who fails, without cause, to post or to give any of the notices or
to make any of the reports required by this Decree;

(9) Any person who being ineligible for appointment as member of the
citizens’ election committee, accepts an appointment to said committee, assumes
office and actually serves as member thereof; or any public officer or any
person acting on his behalf who appoints such ineligible person knowing him to
be ineligible;

(10) Any person who, without authority, acts as, or assumes or performs any
function of, as member of the citizens election committee;

(11) Any public official, or any person acting in this behalf, who relieves
any member of the citizens’ election committee or who changes or causes the
change of the assignment of members of the Committee without authority of the
Commission; and

(12) Any person who, in the presence or within the hearing of the citizens
election committee during any of its meetings, conducts himself in a disorderly
manner in such a way as to interrupt or disrupt its work or proceedings to the
end of preventing said body from performing its functions, either partly or
totally.

SEC. 43. Penalties. — Any person found
guilty of any election offense under this Decree shall be punished with
imprisonment of not less than one year but not more than six years. In addition,
the guilty party shall be sentenced to suffer disqualification to hold public
office and deprivation of the right of suffrage. If he is a foreigner, he shall
be sentenced to deportation which shall be enforced after the prison term has
been served. Any political party, group or entity found guilty shall be
sentenced to pay a fine of not less than ten thousand pesos, which shall be
imposed upon such party, group or entity after criminal action has been
instituted in which their corresponding officials have been found guilty.

SEC. 44. Prosecution. — The Commission shall,
through its duly authorized legal officers, have the power to conduct
preliminary investigation of all election offenses punishable under this Decree,
and to prosecute the same. The Commission may avail of the assistance of other
prosecuting arms of the Government.

SEC. 45. Prescription. — Election offenses shall
prescribe after three years from the date of their commission. If the discovery
of the offense is made in an election contest proceedings, the period of
prescription shall commence on the date on which the judgment in such
proceedings becomes final and executory.

SEC. 46. Jurisdiction of courts. — The Regional
Trial Court shall have exclusive original jurisdiction to try and decide any
criminal action or proceedings for violation of this Decree. From the decision
of the courts, appeal will lie as in other criminal cases.

SEC. 47. List to be used in the January 27, 1984
Plebiscite. — This Decree shall not in any manner affect the existing books
of voters and the registration records of voters who shall register for the
plebiscite on January 27, 1984. Said books of voters and registration records
shall be the bases for the preparation of the list of voters to be used in the
plebiscite.

SEC. 48. Appropriation. — The
amount of one hundred million pesos or so much thereof as may be necessary to
carry out the purposes of this Decree is hereby set aside out of the Special
Activities Fund provided in the current General Appropriations Act.

SEC. 49. Repealing Clause. — All laws,
decrees, executive orders, rules and regulations or parts thereof, inconsistent
with the provisions of this Decree are hereby repealed, amended or modified
accordingly.

SEC. 50. Effectivity. — This Decree shall take
effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 11th day of January, in the year of Our
Lord, nineteen hundred and eighty-four.