AKBAYAN YOUTH V COMELEC

During the General Registration for the May 14, 2001 General Elections, allegedly 4M youth, particularly new
voters ages 18 to 21, failed to register before the Dec. 27, 2000 deadline set by the COMELEC. Subsequently,
they requested for a 2-day additional registration day on Feb. 17 & 18, 2001.
Sen. Raul Roco, chair of Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms, Suffrage, and People's Participation, invited
the COMELEC to a public hearing.
The COMELEC Commissioners who attended the hearing eventually filed a report where they expressed
concern that said special registration may open the flood parts for hakot system and laid down guidelines to
serve as safeguards against fraudulent applicants. They also stated that the Commission en banc has to
discuss all aspects regarding this request with directives to the Finance Services Department (FSD) to submit
certified available funds for the purpose, and for the Deputy Executive Director for Operations (DEDO) for the
estimated costs of additional 2 days of registration.
In a Resolution, the COMELEC DENIED the request after a consultation meeting with the regional heads where
they agreed to disapprove the request on the ground that Sec. 8 of R.A. 8189 (Voter's Registration Act of
1996) explicitly provides that no registration shall be conducted during the period starting 120 days before a
regular election and that the Commission has no more time left to accomplish all pre-election activities.
Aggrieved, petitioners AKBAYAN-Youth, SCAP, UCSC, MASP, KOMPIL II (YOUTH) et al. filed before SC the
instant Petition for Certiorari and Mandamus
o To nullify COMELEC's Resolution and to declare Sec. 8 of R. A. 8189 unconstitutional insofar as it
causes the disenfranchisement of petitioners and others similarly situated.
o To direct COMELEC to conduct a special registration of new voters and to admit for registration
petitioners and other similarly situated young Filipinos
o COMELEC possess a "standby power" under Sec. 29 of R.A. No. 6646 & Sec. 28 of R.A. No. 8436 to
fix additional periods and dates for registration of voters other than those already provided for under
existing laws.
Petitioner Michelle Betito, a UP student, likewise filed a Petition for Mandamus, for same purposes

ISSUE:

Whether or not COMELEC committed grave abuse of discretion in issuing COMELEC Resolution denying the
request for special registration of the youth voters? (NO)
The COMELEC, in denying the request of petitioners to hold a special registration, acted within the bounds and
confines of the applicable law on the matter Sec. 8 of RA 8189.
o COMELEC simply performed its constitutional task to enforce and administer all laws and regulations
relative to the conduct of an election, inter alia, questions relating to the registration of voters
o Whatever action COMELEC takes in the exercise of its wide latitude of discretion, specifically on
matters involving voters' registration, pertains to the wisdom rather than the legality of the act.
The right of suffrage is not at all absolute. It is subject to existing substantive and procedural requirements
embodied in our Constitution, statute books and other repositories of law.
o SUBSTANTIVE LIMITATION: Sec. 1, Article V of the Const: Suffrage may be exercised by all citizens of
the Philippines not otherwise disqualified by law, who are at least 18 years of age, and who shall have
resided in the Philippines for at least 1 year and in the place wherein they propose to vote for at least 6
months immediately preceding the elections. No literacy, property or other substantive requirement shall
be imposed on the exercise of suffrage."
o PROCEDURAL LIMITATION: The right of a citizen to vote is necessarily conditioned upon certain
procedural requirements he must undergo: among others, the process of registration.
The act of registration is an indispensable precondition to the right of suffrage. For registration is part and parcel
of the right to vote and an indispensable element in the election process. Registration cannot and should not
be denigrated to the lowly stature of a mere statutory requirement.
The State, in the exercise of its inherent police power, may then enact laws to safeguard and regulate the act of
voter's registration for the ultimate purpose of conducting honest, orderly and peaceful election, to the incidental
yet generally important end, that even pre-election activities could be performed by the duly constituted
authorities in a realistic and orderly manner.
2 prohibitive periods:
o Sec. 8 of R.A. 8189 (System of Continuing Registration of Voters): The Personal filing of application of
registration of voters shall be conducted daily in the office of the Election Officer during regular office
 hours. No registration shall, however, be conducted during the period starting 120 days before a
regular election and 90 days before a special election.
o Sec. 35 of R.A. 8189 (Petition for Exclusion of Voters from the List): - Any registered voter,
representative of a political party x x x may file x x x except 100 days prior to a regular election xxx."
Prohibitive period within which to file a sworn petition for the exclusion of voters from the
permanent voter's list
The petition for exclusion is a necessary component to registration since it is a safety mechanism that gives a
measure of protection against flying voters, non-qualified registrants, and the like. The prohibitive period, on
the other hand serves the purpose of securing the voter's substantive right to be included in the list of
voters.
If a special voter's registration is conducted, then the prohibitive period for filing petitions for exclusion must
likewise be adjusted to a later date. The period serves a vital role in protecting the integrity of the
registration process. Without the prohibitive periods, the COMELEC would be deprived of any time to
evaluate the evidence on the application and would be obliged to simply take them at face value.
The very possibility that we shall be conducting elections on the basis of an inaccurate list is enough to cast a
cloud of doubt over the results of the polls.
Stand-by/Residual Powers of the COMELEC
Petitioners: COMELEC may validly and legally conduct a 2-day special registration, through the expedient of
the letter of Section 28 of R.A. 8436.The act of registration is a pre-election act. Hence, under Sec. 29 of R.A.
66461 as adopted in Sec. 282 of R.A. 8436, the COMELEC, pursuant to its standby or residual powers, may fix
other periods and dates in order to ensure that voters shall not be deprived of their right to suffrage.
SC: The act of registration is concededly, by its very nature, a pre-election act. Under Sec. 3(a) of R.A. 8189,
registration, as a process, has its own specific definition, precise meaning and coverage, thus: a) Registration
refers to the act of accomplishing and filing of a sworn application for registration by a qualified voter before the
election officer of the city or municipality wherein he resides and including the same in the book of registered
voters upon approval by the Election Registration Board;"
However, the provisions invoked by petitioners and Sec. 8 of R.A. 8189 volunteered by COMELEC actually share
some common ground and are capable of being reconciled.
o Sec. 8 of R.A. 8189 applies considering that it explicitly provides that no registration shall be
conducted during the period starting 120 days before a regular election.
o Sec. 28, R.A. 8436 would come into play in cases where the pre-election acts are capable of being
reasonably performed within the available period prior to election day
CAB: COMELEC has emphasized the "operational impossibility" of conducting a special registration, which can
no longer be accomplished within the time left.
o COMELEC has a rigorous schedule3 of pre-election activities and taking this into consideration, it will
have roughly a month to act as a buffer against any number of unforeseen occurrences that might delay
the elections. According to the COMELEC, registration of voters does not refer only to the act of going
to the Election Officer and writing names. Registration is, in fact, a long process that takes about 3
weeks to complete not even counting how long it would take to prepare for the registration in the first
place.
o According to its timetable4, if it were to hold a special election, it would finish preparations only on June
10, well past the election date on May 14.

1 An Act introducing additional reforms in the Electoral System and for other purposes
2 An Act authorizing the COMELEC to use an automated election system in the May 11, 1998 National or Local elections and in subsequent national
and local electoral exercises, providing funds therefor and for other purposes
SEC. 28. Designation of other Dates for Certain Pre-election Acts - If it should no longer be possible to observe the periods and dates prescribed
by law for certain pre-election acts, the Commission shall fix other periods and dates in order to ensure accomplishments of the activities so voters
shall not be deprived of their right to suffrage.
3 The last 60 days will not be a walk in the park for the Comelec.
1) We have to complete the Project of Precincts by the 19th of March. Without the Project of Precincts, we won't know how many forms to print and so
we're liable to come up short.
2) The Board of Elections Inspectors must be constituted on or before the 4th of March.
3) The Book of Voters, which contains the approved Voter Registration Records of registered voters in particular precinct, must be inspected, verified,
and sealed beginning March 30, until April 15.
4) The Computerized Voters' List must be finalized and printed out of use on election day; and finally
5) The preparation, bidding, printing, and distribution of the Voters Information Sheet must be completed on or before April 15.
4 Possible time table:
Apr. 16 & 17: Special registration - filling the application for registration with the Election Officer.
Apr. 24: Posting requirement - The application, according to Section 17 of R.A. 8189, is set for hearing, with notice of that hearing being posted in
the city or municipal bulletin board for at least one week prior
May 1 & 2: Election Registration Board is convened for hearing considering that time must be allowed for the filling of oppositions
May 2 to 7: Election Registration Board rules on the Applicant's registration and post notices of its action assuming that there are no challenges
May 10: Copies of the notice of the action taken by the Board will have already been furnished to the applicants and the heads of registered
political parties. (Only at this point can our Election Officers once again focus on the business of getting ready for the elections.)
 The determination of administrative agency as to the operation, implementation and application of a law would
be accorded great weight considering that these specialized government bodies are in the best position to know
what they can possibly do or not do, under prevailing circumstances.
Also, the law obliges no one to perform an impossibility, expressed in the maxim, nemo tenetur ad impossible.
There is no obligation to do an impossible thing. Impossibilium nulla obligato est.
CAB: The "stand-by power" of COMELEC under Sec. 28 of R.A. 8436, presupposes the possibility of its being
exercised or availed of, and not otherwise.
On disenfranchisement
Petitioners: They were disenfranchised when COMELEC pegged the registration deadline on Dec. 27, 2000
instead of Jan. 13 (pwede 14), 2001 -> 120 days from May 14, 2001, the date of the regular election.
SC: There is no allegation that anyone of the petitioners has filed an application to be registered as a voter which
was denied by the COMELEC nor filed a complaint before the COMELEC alleging that he or she proceeded to
the Office of the Election Officer to register between the period starting from December 28, 2000 to January 13,
2001, and that he or she was disallowed or barred by COMELEC from filing his application for registration.
Also, the petitioners are not without fault. They admit that they failed to register, for whatever reason, within the
period of registration. Impuris minibus nemo accedat curiam. Let no one come to court with unclean hands.

ISSUE:
Whether or not SC can compel COMELEC, through the extraordinary writ of mandamus, to conduct a special
registration of new voters during the period between the COMELEC's imposed December 27, 2000 deadline and the
May 14, 2001 general elections? (NO)
As an extraordinary writ, the remedy of mandamus lies only to compel an officer to perform a ministerial duty,
not a discretionary one.
The determination of w/n the conduct of a special registration of voters is feasible, possible or practical within the
remaining period before the actual date of election, involves the exercise of discretion and thus, cannot be
controlled by mandamus.
Bayan vs. Executive Secretary Zamora: SC's function is merely to check whether or not the governmental
branch or agency has gone beyond the constitutional limits of its jurisdiction, not that it erred or has a different
view. In the absence of a showing of GAD amounting to lack of jurisdiction, there is no occasion for the Court to
exercise its corrective power.
Also, certain factual circumstances show that both the executive and legislative departments intimate that,
indeed, there is a legal obstacle in the way of the conduct by COMELEC of a special registration.
o SC takes judicial notice of the fact that the President has now issued Proclamation No. 15 calling
Congress to a Special Session, to allow the conduct of Special Registration of new voters.
o HB No. 12930 and SB No. 2276 have also been filed in Congress seeking the amendment of R.A. 8189
as to the 120-day prohibitive period provided for under said law.
DISPOSITION: DENIED.

KAPUNAN, J., CONCURRING OPINION

The "standby power" of the COMELEC to fix additional dates and periods for registration under Sec. 29 of R.A.
6646 and Sec. 28 of R.A. 8436 must be understood in the context of the inadequacy of the registration period
under the law then prevailing, i.e. the period provided in Sec. 126 of B.P. 881 which provided that the registration
of voters is to be held only on the seventh and sixth Saturdays before a regular election. There was insufficiency
of the 2-day registration period under Section 126.
Sec. 126 of B.P. 881 has, however, been impliedly repealed by R.A. No. 8189, which prescribes an entirely new
system of registration, and which in fact allows a prolonged period of registration for potential voters.
Moreover, Section 29 of R.A. 6646 and Section 28 of R.A. 8436 cannot prevail over R.A. 8189 with respect to the
pre-election activity of registration since the latter deals specifically with registration of voters.
PARDO, J., DISSENTING OPINION
Comelec committed GAD ousting itself of jurisdiction, first, in ruling that the deadline for registration of voters
was on December 27, 2000, and failing to give adequate publicity for the dissemination of this deadline
and, second, in denying the petition of the "youth" or of those who were unable to register before the deadline
to be given a special time to register
On Stand-by Power of COMELEC

May 11: Once the results of the special registration are finalized, they can be encoded and a new Computerized Voters' List generated; after
which the new CVL would be posted. [This would be improper as the R.A. 8189 provides that the CVL be posted at least 90 days before the
election].
May 15 - Finish the inspection, verification, and sealing of the Book of Voters [Already overshot the May 14 election date]
May 15-June 10 (26 days): Prepare the allocation of Official Ballots, Election Returns, and other Non-Accountable Forms and Supplies to be
used for the new registrants. Once the allocation is ready, the contracts would be awarded, the various forms printed, delivered, verified, and
finally shipped out to the different municipalities.
 R.A. No. 6646, Sec. 29 is reproduced verbatim in R.A. No. 8436, Section 28 which shows a Congressional
intention to retain the "standby power" of the Commission to fix periods for pre-election activities given even
under B.P. 881, Sec. 52 [m].
The prohibition to conduct registration 120 days before a regular election is directory, not mandatory, and
Comelec is vested with residual power to conduct pre-election activities, including registration of voters beyond
the deadline prescribed by law.
Comelec has actually misled the public by its erroneous resolution declaring that the last day for registration
under the system of continuing registration was on December 27, 2000. Counting the 120 days from May 14,
2001, the date of the regular election, the last day fell on January 14, 2001.
The legal and operational problems which Comelec claim they would encounter with the holding of a special
registration as well as the effect on its preparation for the May 14, 2001, elections, are matters that can be solved
with proper planning, coordination and cooperation among its Members, staff and other deputized agencies of
the government
On the matter of the exclusion/inclusion of voters as prescribed in B.P. 881
The period fixed therein within which to file petitions with the municipal or metropolitan trial courts may be
shortened and the courts may resolve the applications in time to be received by the election officers or the board
of election inspectors concerned not later than 30 days before the May 14, 2001 elections