An Act Providing for The Organization of The Commission on Elections

August 22, 1940

COMMONWEALTH ACT NO. 607

AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE ORGANIZATION OF THE COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS

SECTION 1. There is organized an independent Commission on Elections composed of a Chairman and two other Members to be appointed by the President with the consent of the Commission on Appointments, who shall hold office for a term of nine years and may not be reappointed. The Chairman and the other Members of the Commission shall have the same qualifications as those provided in the Constitution for Members of the Supreme Court. Of the Members of the Commission first appointed, one shall hold office for nine years, another for six years, and the third for three years.

The Chairman of the Commission shall receive an annual salary of twelve thousand pesos, and the other Members, ten thousand pesos each.

SECTION 2. The Commission on Elections shall have exclusive charge of the enforcement and administration of all laws relative to the conduct of elections. It shall decide, save those involving the right to vote, all administrative questions affecting elections, including the determination of the number and location of polling places, and the appointment of election inspectors and of other election officials. All law enforcement agencies and instrumentalities of the Government, when so required by the Commission, shall act as its deputies for the purpose of insuring free, orderly, and honest elections. The decisions, orders, and rulings of the Commission shall be subject to review by the Supreme Court.

The Commission shall exercise the power of direct supervision heretofore exercised by the Secretary of the Interior over all provincial, municipal, and city officials in the performance of their ministerial duties relative to elections, and upon its recommendation, the President of the Philippines shall suspend or remove any or all such officials whom the Commission shall find guilty of nonfeasance, malfeasance, or misfeasance in office as such election officials.

SECTION 3. The Commission on Elections shall submit to the President and the National Assembly, following each election, a report on the manner in which such election was conducted, together with such recommendations as it may deem necessary.

SECTION 4. The Commission shall have a Secretary, a Deputy Secretary, and such other subordinate officers and employees as may be necessary for the efficient performance of its functions and duties, all of whom shall be appointed by the Commission. The Secretary shall receive an annual salary of four thousand pesos and the Deputy Secretary, three thousand six hundred pesos. The other subordinate officers and employees shall receive such salaries as may be fixed by the President of the Philippines upon recommendation of the Commission, or such salaries as may hereafter be provided by the National Assembly.

SECTION 5. There is appropriated, out of any funds in the National Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of eighty thousand pesos, or so much thereof as may be necessary, for the payment of salaries, purchase of furniture and equipment, and for sundry expenses to be incurred in carrying out the provisions of this Act for the remainder of the fiscal year ending June thirty, nineteen hundred and forty-one.

SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved, August 22, 1940.