Adopting the Rules of Procedure of the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on the Automated Election System

February 1, 2018

JOINT CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE ON THE AUTOMATED ELECTION SYSTEM RESOLUTION NO. 01

ADOPTING THE RULES OF PROCEDURE OF THE JOINT CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE ON THE AUTOMATED ELECTION SYSTEM

WHEREAS, the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on the Automated Elections System is mandated to monitor and evaluate the implementation of Republic Act No. 8436, as amended by Republic Act No. 9369, conduct hearings and receive testimonies, reports and technical advice, and to perform such other duties and functions as may be necessary to attain its objectives;

WHEREAS, to attain the purpose for which the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee was constituted, Rules of Procedure must be adopted;

WHEREAS, the Members of the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee hereby agree to adopt the Rules of Procedure to guide the proper conduct of its affairs;

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, AS IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED, that the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee hereby adopts the Rules of Procedure hereunder cited and duly signed by the Chairperson and Members thereof:

SECTION 1. Composition. — The Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on the Automated Elections System (hereinafter referred to as the "Oversight Committee"), created pursuant to Section 27 of Republic Act No. 8436, as amended by Section 27 of Republic Act No. 9369, otherwise known as the Automated Elections System (AES), shall be composed of seven (7) Members each from the Senate and the House of Representatives, four (4) of whom shall come from the majority and three (3) from the minority.

SECTION 2. Mandate. — The Oversight Committee shall have the power to monitor and evaluate the implementation of Republic Act No. 8436, as amended by Republic Act No. 9369.

SECTION 3. Powers and Functions. — The Oversight Committee shall have the following powers and functions:

1. Set the guidelines and over-all framework for the monitoring and the assessment of the implementation of R.A. 8436, as amended by R.A. 9369;

2. Require from any department, bureau, office, agency or instrumentality of the Government such assistance as may be needed, including technical information, preparation and production of reports;

3. Conduct meetings, hearings, consultations and receive testimonies, reports and technical advice;

4. Invite or summon by subpoena any public official, private citizen or any other person to testify before it, or require any person by subpoena duces tecum to produce before it such records, reports, documents or other materials as may be necessary in the performance of its functions;

5. Generally, to exercise all the powers necessary to attain the purposes for which the Oversight Committee was created.

SECTION 4. Chairperson of the Oversight Committee. — The Oversight Committee shall be co-chaired by the Chairpersons of the Senate Panel in the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on the Automated Election System and the House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms.

SECTION 5. Meetings. — The oversight Committee shall meet as often as the Co-Chairpersons shall deem necessary or upon the request of the majority of the members of the Oversight Committee. The date and the determination of the business to be considered in a meeting shall be made by the Co-Chairpersons of the Oversight Committee. Notice, including the agenda of the meeting, shall be given three (3) calendar days in advance to every member before the date of meeting.

SECTION 6. Presiding Officer. — All meetings of the Oversight Committee shall be presided by the Chairpersons of the Oversight Committee. If the Chairpersons are not present during a meeting, the members present may elect among themselves the Presiding Officer for that particular meeting.

SECTION 7. Quorum. — Three (3) members of the Oversight Committee shall constitute a quorum to conduct a meeting; Provided, however, that each panel shall be represented by at least one (1) of its members.

SECTION 8. Conduct of Meetings. — Each meeting for the transaction of business of the Oversight Committee shall be open to the public, except when determined by a majority vote of the members present constituting a quorum that all or part of the meeting on that day shall be closed to the public because disclosure of matters to be considered would endanger national security, compromise sensitive law enforcement information, or tend to defame, degrade or incriminate any person, or otherwise violate any law or rule of any House of Congress.

No person, other than the members of the Oversight Committee and such Staff and witnesses as they may authorize, shall be present in any meeting which has been closed to the public.

SECTION 9. Transcript and Minutes of the Meeting. — There shall be a Transcript of Stenographic Notes (TSN) and Minutes of the meeting of the Oversight Committee. However, TSN and Minutes of the meeting or parts thereof which have been closed to the public shall be made available only to the members of the Oversight Committee and may not be released, in whole or in part, to any other person, unless authorized by the Oversight Committee.

SECTION 10. Report. — The Oversight Committee shall submit a report to Congress of its findings and recommendations, with a program of implementation and recommended adoption of legislative and executive measures pursuant to its findings. cSEDTC

SECTION 11. Other Procedures and Regulations. — The Co-Chairpersons of the Oversight Committee may establish such other procedures and regulations, and take such actions, or exercise such powers as may be deemed necessary to carry out the foregoing Rules or to facilitate the effective operation of the Oversight Committee; and if there is no rule applicable to a specific case, the Rules of the Senate and the House of Representatives, including their Rules Governing Inquiries in Aid of Legislation, insofar as they are applicable, shall be suppletory.

SECTION 12. Effectivity. — These Rules shall take effect on the date of their adoption and shall remain in force until they are amended or repealed.

Adopted, February 1, 2018.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

(SGD.) SHERWIN N. TUGNAChairperson

(SGD.) LUISA LLOREN CUARESMA

(SGD.) PABLO C. ORTEGA

(SGD.) JENNIFER AUSTRIA BARZAGA

(SGD.) EUGENE MICHAEL B. DE VERA

(SGD.) DELPHINE GAN LEE

SENATE OF THE PHILIPPINES

(SGD.) FRANCIS "CHIZ" G. ESCUDEROChairperson

(SGD.) ANTONIO "SONNY" F. TRILLANESVice Chairperson

(SGD.) RICHARD J. GORDON

(SGD.) MARIA LOURDES NANCY S. BINAY

 

(SGD.) SHERWIN GATCHALIAN

(SGD.) FRANCIS "KIKO" PANGILINAN

(SGD.) PAOLO BENIGNO "BAM" AQUINO IV

Published in the Official Gazette, Vol. 114, No. 10, Page 1797 on March 5, 2018.