Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
Quezon City

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

House Bill No.___1386

Introduced by Representative Fredenil H.Castro

"AN ACT
PROHIBITING PREMATURE ELECTORAL CAMPAIGNING AND OTHER PARTISAN
POLITICAL ACTIVITIES, AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE REPUBLIC ACT N 0.
8436, AS AMENDED, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE “AUTOMATED ELECTION
SYSTEM LAW”, AND PROVIDING PENALTIES THEREFOR”

EXPLANATORY NOTE

With the promulgation by the Honorable Supreme Court of the case of Penera ys.
Comelec, et al., GR. No. 181613, November 25, 2009, the prohibition against premature
campaigning was in effect abrogated. Consequently, a candidate can already campaign even
before the start of the campaign period without being held liable for premature campaigning,
Unfortunately, the Penera case had a more far-reaching effect than just the decriminalization
of premature campaigning. Since the aspiring candidate can only be considered as a
candidate if he/she has filed his/her certificate of candidacy and the campaign period has
already commenced, any and all election offense committed by the said aspiring candidate
prior to the start of the campaign period cannot yet be considered as such offense. What is
more, the Penera case has created undue advantage against those aspiring candidates whose
campaign resources are limited.

Significantly, this bill re-establishes the prohibition against premature campaigning
and holds liable for election offense the offenders who commit elections offet even before
the start of the campaign period. While premature campaigning is being reinslated as an
election offense, under this bill only those persons or aspiring candidate who ¢itimately file
their certificate of candidacy shall be held liable.

Accordingly, the passage of this bill is imperative at

FREDENIL H. CASTRO
Representative, 2"! Dist. Capiz


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

Eighteenth Congress
First Regular Session

House Bill No. _1386

Introduced by Representative Fredenil H. Castro

“AN ACT
PROHIBITING PREMATURE ELECTORAL CAMPAIGNING AND OTHERPARTISAN
POLITICAL ACTIVITIES, AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE REPUBLIC ACT N O.
8436, AS AMENDED, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE “AUTOMATED ELECTION
SYSTEM LAW”, AND PROVIDING PENALTIES THEREFOR”

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress
assembled:

SECTION 1. Section 15 of Republic Act No. 8436, as amended by Republic Act No.
9369 is further amended to read as follows:

SEC. 15. Official Ballot. - The Commission shall prescribe
the format of the electronic display and/or the size and form of the
official ballot, which shall contain the titles of the position to be
filled and/or the proposition to be voted upon in an initiative,
referendum or plebiscite. Where practicable, electronic displays must
be constructed to present the names of all candidates for the same
position in the same page or screen, otherwise, the electronic
displays must be constructed to present the entire ballot to the voter,
in a series of sequential pages, and to ensure that the voter sees all of
the ballot options on all pages before completing his or her vote and
to allow the voter to review and change all ballot choices prior to
completing and casting his or her ballot. Under each position to be
filled, the names of candidates shall be arranged alphabetically by
surname and uniformly indicated using the same type size. The
maiden or married name shall be listed in the official ballot, as
preferred by the female candidate. Under each proposition to be vote
upon. the choices should be uniformly indicated using the same font
and size.

XXX XXX_XXX
For this purpose, the Commission shall set the deadline for

the filing of certificate of candidacy/petition of registration/
manifestation to participate in the election. Any person ASPIRING


FOR OR SEEKING AN ELECTIVE PUBLIC OFFICE, who
HAS file[s]D [his] THE certificate of candidacy PERSONALLY
OR THROUGH A DULY AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE
OR AN ACCREDITED POLITICAL, PARTY,
AGGROUPMENT, OR COALITION OF PARTIES within this
period shall [only] be considered as a candidate [at the start of the
campaign period for which he filed his] UPON THE FILING OF
THE certificate of candidacy: Provided, That, PREMATURE
ELECTORAL CAMPAIGNING, PARTISAN POLITICAL
ACTIVITIES AND OTHER unlawful acts or omissions applicable
to a candidate shall take effect [only upon that start of the aforesaid
campaign period) UPON THE FILING ' OF THE
CERTIFICATE OF CANDIDACY: Provided, finally, That any
person holding a public appointive office or position, including
active members of the armed forces, and officers, and employees in
government-owned or-controlled corporations, shall be considered
ipso facto resigned from his/her office and must vacate the same at
the start of the day of the filing of his/her certificate of candidacy.

XXX XXX XXX,

SEC. 2. Section 35 of the same Act is also further amended to read
as follows:

SEC. 35. Prohibited Acts and Penalties. - The following
shall be penalized as provided in this Act, whether or not said acts
affect the electoral process or results:

(a) xxx
(b) xxx
(c) xxx
(d) xxx

(©) xxx

(f) xxx

(g) xxx

(H) ENGAGING IN PREMATURE — ELECTORAL
CAMPAIGNING AND PARTISAN POLITICAL ACTIVITIES.

SEC. 3. All laws, decrees, executive orders, rules and regulations or parts thereof
inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

SEC. 4. This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in the Official
Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.

Approved,