Executive Order No. 201 of the Chairman of the Philippine Executive Commission

by Chairman of the Philippine Executive Commission

OFFICE OF THE CHAIRMAN OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMISSION
MALACAÑAN PALACE

BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMISSION

EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 201

PROVIDING FOR THE ELECTION OF DELEGATES TO THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

⁠Pursuant to the authority conferred upon me as Head of the Central Administrative Organization by Order No. 1 in connection with Order No. 3 of the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Japanese Forces in the Philippines and in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines, it is hereby ordered, upon the recommendation of the Executive Commission, that—

SECTION 1. The election of the delegates to the First National Assembly of the Republic of the Philippines shall be held on September 20, 1943, in the provincial and city government office buildings.

SEC. 2. All officers and members of duly organized provincial, municipal, municipal district, city, and city district, committees of the "KAPISANAN SA PAGLILINGKOD SA BAGONG PILIPINAS" shall have the right to vote in the said election. The officers and members of provincial, municipal, and municipal district committees shall vote for the delegates from the provinces; and those of city and city district committees, for delegates from the cities.

SEC. 3. Candidates for the office of delegate to the National Assembly must be registered with the secretary of the provincial or city committee, as the case may be, by means of a certificate of candidacy, duly sworn to, stating the name, residence and post-office address of the candidate and that he is eligible for election. The certificate of candidacy may be presented by the candidate himself or by a group of not less than five qualified electors, and must be filed not later than the day prior the day of election.

SEC. 4. All duly qualified provincial or city electors shall convene promptly at 9 o'clock a. m., on the day of the election, at their respective provincial or city government office buildings, upon call by the chairman, or, in his absence, by the vice-chairman of the provincial or city committee. Said chairman or vice-chairman shall be the president of the election, while the secretary of the provincial or city committee shall act as the secretary thereof.

SEC. 5. Immediately after the opening of the meeting, the register of electors shall be prepared by the secretary from the lists furnished by the chairman of all the committees. Each chairman shall furnish the list of the members of the committee of the province, city, city district, municipality or municipal district presided over by him in triplicate, duly signed by him and certified to as correct by the secretary. After the names of all electors are entered in the register, the names appearing therein shall be announced by the secretary, to give opportunity for the inclusion of the name of any elector qualified to vote in the election, or the exclusion therefrom of the name of such elector as is not qualified to vote. Any elector shall have the right to propose the inclusion or exclusion of any name, stating briefly the grounds thereof. The president, after hearing the chairman of the committee concerned, shall have the power to decide any matter for the inclusion or exclusion of the name of any elector. He shall also have the power to decide all other matters not herein otherwise provided for.

The secretary shall keep a record of the minutes of all the proceedings, including those for the inclusion or exclusion of names of electors, and shall, in addition, act generally as the poll clerk of the election. The president shall, however, have the power to appoint such assistants as he may deem necessary.

SEC. 6. The head of the provincial or city committee shall provide, at public expense, a suitable ballot box, such voting booths as may be necessary at the rate of one for every fifty qualified electors, and the necessary number of ballots for the election. Ballots shall be uniform and shall bear at the back the signature of the president and the secretary.

SEC. 7. Every registered candidate shall be entitled to a watcher designated in writing by him or by those who signed his certificate of candidacy. Three copies of the appointment shall be filed with and received by the secretary of the provincial or city committee, as the case may be, on the day prior to the election.

The watcher shall have the right to witness and inform himself of the proceedings, to take notes of what he may see or hear, register a protest against any irregularity which he believes may have been committed, and read the ballots after they shall have been read by the presiding officer, without touching them; but he shall not talk with any one in such a manner as to interrupt the proceedings, except in the exercise of the right granted him herein.

SEC. 8. Upon the completion of the register of electors, the president of the election shall declare the meeting ready for the election. Thereupon the voting shall proceed as follows: As his name is called, every elector shall approach the poll clerk, receive a blank ballot, retire to one of the unoccupied booths and, in not more than three minutes, write the name of only one candidate, fold his ballot twice toward the bottom, and deposit the same in the ballot box. This procedure shall be followed uninterruptedly until all qualified electors present shall have cast their votes.

No elector shall be allowed to vote more than once.

SEC. 9. If an elector shall spoil or deface his ballot in such a way that it can no longer be used, he shall surrender it to the poll clerk who shall publicly cancel it and give the elector another one.

SEC. 10. It shall be unlawful to solicit votes or campaign for or against any candidate on the day of the election.

SEC. 11. Only election officers, watchers, the deputy of the Director-General of the "KAPISANAN SA PAGLILINGKOD SA BAGONG PILIPINAS" and persons entitled to vote, shall be allowed within the polling place. The president shall have full authority to keep order within the polling place and its environs and to enforce obedience to his lawful orders and to the provisions of this Executive Order. Any person who shall refuse to obey the lawful commands of the president, or shall observe a disorderly conduct and thus interrupt or disturb the proceedings, may be arrested and taken into custody until the adjournment of the meeting, upon order of the president; but such order shall not be so executed as to prevent the person so taken into custody from exercising his right to vote. Such order shall be executed by any peace officer to whom it may be directed, but if none shall be present, by any other person deputed by the presiding officer.

SEC. 12. As soon as the voting is finished, and in the immediate presence of the watchers, the poll clerk shall count the ballots found in the ballot box, without unfolding them or exposing their contents, except so far as to ascertain that each ballot is single, and shall compare the number of ballots in the box with the number of electors who voted. If there are excess ballots, they shall be replaced in the box, shall be thoroughly mingled therein and the poll clerk, without seeing the ballots and with his back to the box, shall publicly draw out as many ballots as may be equal to such excess and, without unfolding them, place them in a package which shall be marked "EXCESS BALLOTS," shall be sealed and signed by the president, the poll clerk and the watchers, and replaced in the box with the other ballots and their contents shall not be read in the counting of votes. If in the course of this examination, any ballots shall be found folded together in such manner that they must have been so folded before they were deposited in the box, they shall be placed in the package for excess ballots hereinbefore mentioned.

The ballots shall then be read publicly by the president one by one while the poll clerk records the number of votes received by each candidate on a blackboard provided for the purpose, each time by means of a vertical line, except every fifth vote of the same candidate which shall be noted with a diagonal line. The ballots shall then be replaced in the box.

The electors shall not adjourn or postpone or delay the count until it shall be fully completed.

SEC. 13. A ballot should be counted whenever it expresses the intention of the elector with reasonable certainty.

SEC. 14. Immediately after the count, the president shall orally and publicly announce the total number of votes received by each one of the candidates and shall declare the candidate receiving the highest number of votes elected delegate to the National Assembly. In case two or more candidates receive the same number of votes, said candidates shall draw lots in the presence of the president, the poll clerk, the watchers, and such electors as may be present, and the president shall thereafter publicly announce the result of the draw. A written statement containing the name of the delegate-elect and the number of votes received by him shall be signed in triplicate by the president and attested to by the poll clerk. The name of the delegate-elect shall also be transmitted by telegram to the President and to the Director-General of the Association.

SEC. 15. Before leaving the polling place, the poll clerk shall prepare and sign in triplicate the minutes of the meeting, stating when the meeting was called to order and by whom, when the lists of electors were read, the petitions for inclusion or exclusion filed and the corresponding resolutions of the chair, the names of the candidates and their respective watchers, the number and nature of protests filed by particular watchers, when the voting commenced and when it ended, the number of ballots available for use in the election, the number of ballots distributed, the number of unused, spoiled and excess ballots, if any, and the number of electors who cast their votes.

SEC. 16. Before adjournment, the original copy of the lists of voters, of the president's statement and of the minutes of the meeting, shall be deposited in the ballot box, which shall be delivered for safe-keeping to the Senior Inspector of the Constabulary, who shall sign a receipt therefor and keep the box and its contents in his possession, in a secure place and under his responsibility, for a period of three months, unless they are the subject of an election contest or of an official investigation by competent authority. One copy each of the lists of voters, of the statement and of the minutes shall be sent by messenger or by registered mail to the President and to the Director-General of the "KAPISANAN SA PAGLILINGKOD SA BAGONG PILIPINAS."

SEC. 17. The Bureau of Communications shall receive and transmit, without delay and free of charge, all reports and documents relating to the election provided for herein.

SEC. 18. The delegates to the National Assembly elected in accordance with this Executive Order shall be proclaimed as elected by the Chairman of the Executive Commission, in his capacity as President of the "KAPISANAN SA PAGLILINGKOD SA BAGONG PILIPINAS."

SEC. 19. The Director-General of the "KAPISANAN SA PAGLILINGKOD SA BAGONG PILIPINAS" shall have immediate supervision over provincial, municipal and city officials of the Association in the performance of their duties relative to the election provided for herein and may suspend and, with the previous approval of the President of the Association, may remove recalcitrant officers and appoint temporary substitutes, request the aid of the Solicitor-General, fiscals and other prosecuting officers, and of peace officers, and designate one deputy for each province and city to secure an orderly, free and honest election. Each deputy shall be entitled to a per diem of ten pesos, plus actual expenses in going to and returning from his station.

SEC. 20. At least twenty printed copies of this Executive Order in English or Tagalog shall be furnished every provincial, municipal, municipal district, city and city district committee, of the "KAPISANAN SA PAGLILINGKOD SA BAGONG PILIPINAS," at least two days prior to the election.

SEC. 21. Any one found guilty of the malicious violation of any provision of this Executive Order shall be punished with imprisonment for not less than one year nor more than six years and shall be further sentenced to suffer disqualification to hold a public office and deprivation of the right of suffrage for not less than one nor more than ten years, and to pay the costs. If the one responsible be an entity, its president or chief, the officials and employees of the same performing duties connected with the offense committed, and its members who may be principals, accomplices, or accessories, shall be responsible; and the responsible entity shall, in addition, be sentenced, after a criminal action has been instituted against it and its legal representative duly summoned by means of notice or by publication, to a fine of not less than one nor more than twenty thousand pesos.

SEC. 22. The sum of five hundred thousand pesos, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated out of any funds in the National Treasury not otherwise appropriated for the expenses of the election herein provided.

SEC. 23. This Order shall take effect upon its approval by the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Japanese Forces in the Philippines.

⁠Done in the City of Manila, Philippines, this 9th day of September, 1943.

(Sgd.) JORGE B. VARGAS
Chairman of the Executive Commission

⁠APPROVED by the Highest Commander of the Imperial Japanese Army in the Philippines on September 9, 1943.

Source: Official Gazette. Manila, Philippines. Vol. 2. Bureau of Printing. 1943. pp.828–830.