Extension of Periods for Voter Registration and Related Proceedings

September 8, 1967

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 5178

AN ACT TO FACILITATE IMPLEMENTATION OF REPUBLIC ACT NUMBERED THREE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED EIGHTY-EIGHT, AS AMENDED, ON THE REGISTRATION OF VOTERS FOR NINETEEN HUNDRED SIXTY-SEVEN ONLY, EXTENDING THE PERIODS FOR REGISTRATION OF VOTERS AND RELATED PROCEEDINGS THEREUNDER, PROVIDING FOR ADDITIONAL REGISTRATION BOARDS, AND GRANTING ADDITIONAL POWERS TO THE COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

SECTION 1. The provisions of Republic Act Numbered Thirty-five hundred eighty-eight, as amended by Republic Act Numbered Forty-seven hundred thirty, and of any other law to the contrary notwithstanding, and for purposes of the registration of voters in nineteen hundred sixty-seven only, it is hereby provided:

(a) Any qualified voter may register on any date not later than October fifteen, nineteen hundred sixty-seven: Provided, That if, for any reason, the representatives of the two political parties in any election registration board shall jointly request the Commission on Elections, or if, after verification, the latter shall find that more than ten percent of the number of voters who voted in the nineteen hundred sixty-five elections were not able to apply for registration as of October fifteen, nineteen hundred sixty-seven in any precinct or precincts, the Commission on Elections shall extend the period of registration, in said precinct or precincts only, up to October twenty-seven, nineteen hundred sixty-seven;

(b) Validation of approved applications for registration shall continue until October twenty-seven, nineteen hundred sixty-seven;

(c) Voters who, for any reason whatsoever, have not been allowed to apply for registration or to register or whose applications shall have been disapproved on or before September fifteen, nineteen hundred sixty-seven shall have until September thirty, nineteen hundred sixty-seven within which to file their petitions for inclusion provided for in Section ten of Republic Act Numbered Thirty-five hundred eighty-eight as amended; those after September fifteen, nineteen hundred sixty-seven shall have a period of not more than ten days from notice of disapproval within which to do so; in all cases, the petition shall be decided within two (2) days. The decisions of the Municipal Court shall be appealable to the Court of First Instance within two (2) days from receipt of notice by the parties and the decisions of the City Court and the Court of First Instance shall be immediately executory and shall be final as to questions of fact.

(d) Petitions for exclusion of voters whose applications for registration were validated or approved on or before September fifteen, nineteen hundred sixty-seven may be filed as provided by Section eighteen of Republic Act Numbered Thirty-five hundred eighty-eight, as amended, on or before September thirty, nineteen hundred sixty-seven; and in order to facilitate the filing of these petitions, each election registration board shall prepare complete lists of: (a) all the voters whose applications for registration have been validated and (b) all newly registered voters as of September fifteen, nineteen hundred sixty-seven, which lists shall be furnished the local representatives of the two major political parties, and published in the bulletin board, not later than September eighteen, nineteen hundred sixty-seven; petitions for exclusion of voters whose applications were validated or approved after September fifteen, nineteen hundred sixty-seven may be filed within a period of not more than ten (10) days from the date the validation or approval is published in the bulletin board but not later than October thirty, nineteen hundred sixty-seven; in all cases, the petition shall be decided within seven (7) days. The decisions of the Municipal Court shall be appealable to the Court of First Instance within five (5) days from receipt of notice by the parties and the decisions of the City Court and the Court of First Instance shall be immediately executory and shall be final as to questions of fact.

(e) Petitions for inclusion and exclusion shall be sworn to and shall be accompanied by proof of notice on the registration board and, in petitions for exclusion, also on the challenged voter; and the procedure prescribed by Sec. 123 of the Revised Election Code shall be followed, except that the notice required by said section shall be made to the registration board instead of the board of inspectors, and the period fixed in this Act, instead of those fixed in said section, shall be observed;

( f ) All precinct books of voters shall be sealed on October thirty, nineteen hundred sixty-seven and, thereafter, shall not be available for examination by the public;

(g) Publications of the precinct list of voters as required by Section Twenty-three of Republic Act Numbered Thirty-five hundred eighty-eight, as amended, shall be made on October thirty, nineteen hundred and sixty-seven;

(h) The election registrar and the members of the election registration board may hold office as a board in any district, barrio or sitio within their jurisdiction and shall be allowed transportation expenses, subject to the rules and regulations of the Commission on Elections, for the purpose of taking photographs of voters whose registration are subject of validation and to facilitate the filing of new applications for registration.

(i) The Commission on Elections is hereby authorized, for purposes of the nineteen hundred and sixty-seven elections, to appoint and to fix the salaries of as many additional election registrars, and to constitute their corresponding election registration boards, as may be necessary in any city or municipality where, upon approval of this Act, the number of voters still to be registered exceeds one thousand voters, at the rate of not more than one election registrar for every one thousand unregistered voters: Provided, That the party representatives in these election registration boards shall be proposed by the respective political parties within three days from notification thereof, otherwise, the Commission on Elections shall appoint such members until replaced by the political party concerned: Provided, further, That if there are no qualified persons for appointment as additional election registrars, the Commission on Elections may appoint qualified voters who are at least high school graduates. For the purpose of determining the number of unregistered voters on the date of approval of this Act, the basis shall be the total number of voters who actually voted in the nineteen hundred and sixty-five elections minus the number of voters whose registration have been validated by the election registration board;

( j) The election registrar, his clerk, or any member of the election registration board shall, upon request of the applicant, assist any applicant for registration in the accomplishment of his application, but may not fill out or write any of the data required by law to be written by the applicant himself;

(k) The city or municipal treasurer shall perform the duties and exercise the powers of the election registrar in case the latter is temporarily absent or unable for any reason to perform his duties, or in the event of a permanent vacancy, pending appointment of the regular incumbent: Provided, That if both the election registrar and the Municipal or city treasurer are absent or incapacitated, the election clerk shall act as substitute election registrar: Provided, further, That the election clerk shall immediately report to the election registrar or to the Municipal or city treasurer, in case the latter is acting as election registrar, all actions performed by him; and cd

(l) The procedures and periods provided for in Republic Act Numbered Thirty-five hundred eighty-eight, as amended by Republic Act Numbered Forty-seven hundred thirty, shall be followed, except as hereinabove provided: Provided, That the Commission on Elections may, upon notice and hearing, by general resolution, modify or waive the requirements for affixing of photographs to applications and identification cards in order to prevent disenfranchisement of qualified voters whose applications are not or may not be validated or approved with in the periods herein fixed solely due to the absence of such photograph, but the photographs must be affixed as soon as possible after the 1967 election.

SECTION 2. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved: September 8, 1967.

Published in the Official Gazette, Vol. 65, No. 15, p. 3633 on April 14, 1969