Filipino-Indian Chamber of Commerce (Phil.) Inc.

March 15, 1991 Filipino-Indian Chamber of Commerce (Phil.) Inc. Suite 501, Campos Rueda & Sons Bldg. 101 Urban Avenue, Makati Metro Manila Attention : Mr . R . B . S . Ezra Gentlemen: This refers to your letter of March 8, 1991 requesting interpretation of the following provision of the by-laws of Filipino-Indian Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, Inc. "No active member can nominate and/or second a nomination more than once." Under the generally accepted statutory construction of words and phrases, "if the conjunctive 'and' is used , the various member of a sentence are to be taken jointly." On the other hand, "in its elementary sense, 'or' as used in the statute is a disjunctive article indicating an alternative. It often connects a series of words or preposition indicating a choice of either. When "or" is used, the various members of the sentence are to be taken separately." (Martin, Statutory Construction, 1976 Edition p. 90) Accordingly, because of the use of the words "and/or" in the above provision, it should be construed that an active member is entitled to nominate once and may still second another nomination at his option. LibLex Very truly yours, (SGD.) ARMANDO L. GONZALES Associate Commissioner