[Note: The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) issued a set of guidelines to help voters during the 2016 National and Local Elections. We are reproducing the guidelines to assist in disseminating this important information. Here’s the full text of the “Gabay sa Pagboto: 2016 National and Local Elections” released by the COMELEC.] Continue reading
[Note: The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) issued Resolution No. 10095, or the Rules and Regulations on the Liquor Ban in Connection with the May 9, 2016 National and Local Elections. The liquor ban will be in force on the day before the election (May 8, 2016) and on election day (May 9, 2016). On these days, it will be unlawful for any person, including owners and managers of hotels, resorts, restaurants, and other establishments of the same nature, to sell, furnish, offer, buy, serve, or take intoxicating liquor anywhere in the Philippines. Violations are punishable with imprisonment. The full text of Resolution No. 10095 is reproduced below.] Continue reading
Congress has moved the 2015 Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections to the last Monday of October 2016. The law, Republic Act No. 10656 (full text below), was signed by President Benigno Aquino III on 25 March 2015. Here’s a rundown of relevant dates:
Continue reading[Malacanang has endorsed the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law, commonly referred to as BBL, for the consideration of the House of Representatives. The BBL is the product of the peace talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front or MILF. The deliberations on the proposed law, docketed as House Bill No. 4994, is ongoing. We are reproducing the full text of House Bill 4994 for easy reference.]
Continue readingFull English text of the Inaugural address delivered by President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III on June 30, 2010. Vice-President Jejomar “Jojo” Binay also took his office before Pres. Aquino. The original Filipino version of the Inaugural Address is here.
Continue reading[Full text of Proclamation No. 1959 dated 4 December 2009, declaring martial law in the Province of Maguindanao. See also Declaration of Martial Law under the Philippine Constitution: Exercise and Review.]
The rule in elections, as people know it, is that an appointed official is deemed automatically resigned from their positions once he/she files the Certificate of Candidacy (CoC) for any elective position. This rule on automatic resignation does not apply to elected officials. The Supreme Court initially struck down the assailed provisions for being unconstitutional (Eleazar Quinto vs. COMELEC, G.R. No. 189698, 1 December 2009), but the decision was subsequently reconsidered and reversed, in the Supreme Court’s Resolution dated 22 February 2010.
Continue readingPremature campaigning is now gone from our statute books. This is the effect of the Supreme Court resolution in Rosalinda Penera vs. Commission on Elections, G.R. No. 181613, 25 November 2009 (Justice Carpio, pontente).
Continue readingThere are two conflicting concepts of sovereign immunity, according to the Philippines Supreme Court: (a) Classical or absolute theory — a sovereign cannot, without its consent, be made a respondent in the courts of another sovereign; and (b) Restrictive theory — the immunity of the sovereign is recognized only with regard to public acts or acts jure imperii of a state, but not with regard to private acts or acts jure gestionis.
Continue reading[Full text of the 2009 SONA. The State of the Nation Address or “SONA” is given by the President before a joint session of both houses of Congress, pursuant to Article VII, Section 23 of the 1987 Constitution, which reads: “The President shall address the Congress at the opening of its regular session. He may also appear before it at any other time.” Here’s the full text of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo‘s 2009 State of the Nation Address [July 27, 2009]; See also ; 2010 SONA]
Continue reading