Article V - CONSTITUTION

Suffrage

Section 1

Suffrage may be exercised by all citizens of the Philippines not otherwise disqualified by law, who are at least eighteen years of age, and who shall have resided in the Philippines for at least one year, and in the place wherein they propose to vote, for at least six months immediately preceding the election. No literacy, property, or other substantive requirement shall be imposed on the exercise of suffrage.

Concept, Qualifications and Occasions for Exercise

Suffrage – right to vote in elections.

Qualifications:1. Citizen of the Philippines2. Not disqualified by law.

Disqualifications

Those with final judgment to suffer imprisonment of not less than 1 year,

Those convicted of the violation of his allegiance to the Republic of the Philippines

Those who suffer insanity and feeble-mindedness.

Sec.1, “…No literacy, property, or other substantive requirement shall be imposed on the exercise of suffrage.”

3. At least 18 years old

4. Resident of the Philippines for at least 1 year.

5. Resident of the place wherein he/she proposes to vote for at least 6 months immediately preceding the election.

Residency RequirementResidency requirement under Sec.1 Art. V has 2 senses:

Residence can either mean Domicile or Temporary residence.

1. Domicile/ Permanent Residence – this is in reference to the 1 year residency requirement in the Philippines.

The principal elements of domicile –a) physical presence in the

country andb) intention to adopt it as one’s

domicile – must concur.

2. Temporary Residence – This is in reference to the 6 mos. Residency requirement in the place where one wants or intend to vote.

• Note that, the right of the citizen to vote is also conditioned upon certain procedural requirements, he must first undergo; among others, the process of REGISTRATION. (under the provision of R.A. 8189, Voter’s Registration Act of 1996)

CASEThe right to vote has reference to a constitutional

guarantee of the utmost significance. It is a right without which the principle of sovereignty residing in the people becomes nugatory. It is a political right enabling every citizen to participate in the process of government to assure that it derives its power from the consent of the governed. The COMELEC is not empowered to decide questions “involving the right to vote.” The power to determine whether or not a person can exercise or precluded from exercising the right of suffrage is a judicial question, and the power to resolve such question has been excluded from the Commission's power to be judge of election contests (Pungutan vs. Abubakar, GR No. L-33541, Januray 20, 1972).

Section 2, Article V The Congress shall provide a system for

securing the secrecy and sanctity of the ballot as well as a system for absentee voting by qualified Filipinos abroad.

The Congress shall also design a procedure for the disabled and the illiterates to vote without the assistance of other persons. Until then, they shall be allowed to vote under existing laws and such rules as the Commission on Elections may promulgate to protect the secrecy of the ballot.

Absentee voting – Republic Act 9189

Sec. 4 of RA 9189 says: “Coverage. – All citizens of the Philippines abroad, who are not otherwise disqualified by law, at least eighteen (18) years of age on the day of elections, mat vote for president, vice-president, senators and party-list representatives.”

This rule applies to those who have not lost their domicile in the Philippines.

To whom does absentee voting apply?

1. Persons who have the qualifications of a voter but who happen to be temporarily abroad.

2. Qualified voters who are in the Philippines but are temporarily absent from their voting places.

CASE

Under Sec. 5(d) of RA 9189, one of those disqualified from voting is an immigrant or permanent resident who is recognized as such in the host country unless he/she executes an affidavit declaring that he/she shall resume actual physical permanent residence in the Philippines not later than three years from approval of his/her registration under said act.

Petitioner questions the rightness of the mere act of an execution of an affidavit to qualify the Filipinos abroad who are immigrant or permanent residents, to vote. He focuses solely on Section 1, Article V of the Constitution in ascribing constitutional infirmity to Sec. 5 (d) of RA 9189, totally ignoring the provisions of Section 2 empowering Congress to provide a system for absentee voting by Filipinos abroad. It is clear from the discussions of the members of the Constitutional Commission that they intended to enfranchise as much as possible all Filipino citizens abroad who have not abandoned their domicile of origin. The Commission even intended to extend to young Filipinos who reach voting age abroad who parents' domicile of origin is in the Philippines, and consider them qualified as voters for the first time.

It is in pursuance of that intention that the Commission provided for Sec. 2 immediately after the residency requirement of Sec. 1. By the doctrine of necessary implication in statutory construction, the strategic location of Sec. 2 indicates that the Constitutional Commission provided for an exception to the actual residency requirement of Sec. 1 with respect to qualified Filipinos abroad. The same commission has in effect declared that qualified Filipinos who are not in the Philippines may be allowed to vote even though they do not satisfy the residency requirement in Sec. 1, Article V of the Constitution.(Macalintal vs. Comelec, Gr No. 157013, July 10, 2003)