Law needed to conduct snap polls, says Comelec chief

Commission on Elections Chairman George Erwin Garcia  (INQUIRER.net file photo / NOY MORCOSO)

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections  cannot conduct snap elections without a law mandating it, Comelec Chairperson George Erwin Garcia said on Monday.

Garcia made the remark after Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano floated the idea of a snap election for elected officials in the executive and legislative branches of the government amid the political turmoil caused by allegations of corruption in the government. 

In a Facebook post on Sunday, Cayetano said: “What if we all just resign and allow a snap election from the president, vice president, senate, and congress, with one important addition – no incumbent from the above can run for one election cycle.”

READ: Cayetano urges gov’t officials to resign, pushes for snap elections

Garcia noted that terms of office of the President, Vice President, senators, and representatives are fixed and once the President or the Vice President resigns, there is a need for succession. 

“If they all resign, the Comelec would be needing a law because we can’t just act without a law on conducting elections. What positions are we going to conduct? When will the elections be conducted?,” Garcia said.

Garcia pointed out that it is “problematic” if all the elected officials resign because no one will craft the law to authorize the poll body to conduct the elections. 

Garcia also underscored the importance of having a law for the allotment of budget for the conduct of the snap elections.

“In our system, we can’t conduct an election if there is no authorized budget that the Comelec needs to spend. There will only be a budget if there is a law, either the General Appropriations Act or the special appropriations act for this,” Garcia added.

Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Marcelino Libanan on Monday said that instead of calling for resignation and snap elections, amending the 1987 Constitution would be key to solving corruption in the country. 

Libanan emphasized that it should not just be for elections, but for the “genuine electoral reform our country needs” which includes campaign spending limits. 

On the other hand, retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said that Cayetano’s proposal of not allowing any elective official to run in the snap elections could be considered unconstitutional.

Carpio explained that incumbent elected public officials cannot be disqualified from running for public office “without a lawful cause as provided by law.” /gsg