This document discusses voting rights and responsibilities in the Philippines. It begins by explaining that voting is both a privilege and a right for Filipino citizens. It then outlines the legal qualifications to vote according to the Voters Registration Act of 1996 and disqualifications according to related laws. The document also discusses different ways that elections can be illegally manipulated, such as voter disenfranchisement, vote buying, and ballot tampering. The overall purpose is to educate citizens on responsible and legal voting.

1. SAFEGUARDING the
ELECTORAL and
POLITICAL PROCESSES
A Good Citizenship Guide to Responsible Voting

2. •Why should I VOTE?
•VOTING : RIGHT or PRIVILEGE?

3. PRIVILEGE
• Are legal, social, or ethical
principles of freedom or
entitlement; that is, rights are
the fundamental normative
rules about what is allowed
of people or owed of people,
according to some legal
system, social convention, or
ethical theory
RIGHT
• A special right, advantage, or
immunity granted or available
only to a particular person or
group
• To privilege someone or
something means to treat them
better or differently than other
people or things rather than treat
them all equally

4. A privilege is a certain entitlement to
immunity granted by the state or another
authority to a restricted group, either by birth
or on a conditional basis. …By contrast, a
right is an inherent, irrevocable entitlement
held by citizens or all human beings from the
moment of birth.

5. VOTING (SUFFRAGE)
• Is a privilege and right given to every Filipino citizen. More than
anything else however, it is a responsibility that every Filipino is
expected to fulfill in earnest.
• By voting, a Filipino is given the opportunity to be directly
involved in the affairs of the nation and have a stake in national
interest. Thus, voting is a privilege.
• Upon having met the prescriptions of the law, every citizen is
entitled to vote and cannot be deterred from fulfilling this function.
Hence, voting is one of the Filipino’s most inalienable rights.

6. •By casting his vote, a Filipino makes himself a part of
the nation’s conscience whereby his decisions affect
the history of the whole nation, the well-being of his
community and the fate of his family. Therefore, by
deciding the fate and interest of the whole nation, the
Filipino is charged with the responsibility to promote
and uphold what is beneficial to the Common Good.
Thus, voting is a critical responsibility of every
qualified Filipino citizen.

7. REPUBLIC ACT NO. 8189
JUNE 11, 1996
AN ACT PROVIDING FOR A GENERAL REGISTRATION OF
VOTERS, ADOPTING A SYSTEM OF CONTINUING
REGISTRATION, PRESCRIBING THE PROCEDURES THEREOF
AND AUTHORIZING THE APPROPRIATION OF FUNDS
THEREFOR

8. Section 1. Title. This Act shall be known as "The Voters Registration Act of
1996.“
Sec. 9. Who may Register. All citizens of the Philippines not otherwise
disqualified by law who are at least eighteen (18) years of age, and who shall
have resided in the Philippines for at least one (1) year, and in the place wherein
they propose to vote, for at least six (6) months immediately preceding the
election, may register as a voter.
Any person who temporarily resides in another city, municipality or country
solely by reason of his occupation, profession, employment in private or public
service, educational activities, work in the military or naval reservations within
the Philippines, service in the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the National
Police Forces, or confinement or detention in government institutions in
accordance with law, shall not be deemed to have lost his original residence.
Any person, who, on the day of registration may not have reached the required
age or period of residence but, who, on the day of the election shall possess such
qualifications, may register as a voter.

9. Sec. 11. Disqualification. The following shall be disqualified from registering:
a) Any person who has been sentenced by final judgment to suffer
imprisonment of not less than one (1) year, such disability not having been
removed by plenary pardon or amnesty: Provided, however, That any person
disqualified to vote under this paragraph shall automatically reacquire the right
to vote upon expiration of five (5) years after service of sentence;
b) Any person who has been adjudged by final judgment by a competent
court or tribunal of having committed any crime involving disloyalty to the
duly constituted government such as rebellion, sedition, violation of the
firearms laws or any crime against national security, unless restored to his full
civil and political rights in accordance with law: Provided, That he shall
automatically reacquire the right to vote upon expiration of five (5) years after
service of sentence; and
c) Insane or incompetent persons declared as such by competent
authority unless subsequently declared by proper authority that such person is
no longer insane or incompetent.

10. PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO.
1187
PROVIDING FOR A GENERAL REGISTRATION
OF ALL QUALIFIED VOTERS THROUGHOUT
THE PHILIPPINES

11. Sec. 4. Qualifications of a voter. Any citizen of the Philippines, not otherwise disqualified by law,
eighteen years of age or over, who has resided in the Philippines for at least one year and in the
city, municipality or municipal district where the proposes to vote for at least six months
immediately preceding the election, may register as a voter.
Any person who cannot read and write or who is physically unable to write his application for
registration but who possesses all the qualifications of a voter and none of the disqualifications
may register in the manner hereinafter prescribed.
Sec. 5. Disqualifications. The following shall be disqualified from registering:
(a) Any person who has been sentenced by final judgment to suffer imprisonment for not less
than one year, such disability not having been removed by plenary pardon; provided, however,
That any person disqualified to vote under this paragraph shall automatically reacquire the right
to vote upon expiration of ten years after service of sentence unless during such period, he shall
have been sentenced by final judgment to suffer an imprisonment of not less than one year.
(b) Any person who has been adjudged by final judgment by competent court or tribunal of
having violated his oath of allegiance to the Republic of the Philippines.
(c) Insane or feeble-minded persons.
(d) Persons suffering temporary special disqualifications from exercising the right of suffrage in
accordance with existing law.

12. CHEATING DURING
ELECTIONS

13. REGISTRATION
1. Registration of non-qualified voters
- can also be called “packing of voters list”. To
ensure that a candidate will have captive votes,
he/she will haul in voters even if these voters do not
meet the citizenship, age, or residence
requirements.

14. REGISTRATION
2. Disenfranchisement of qualified voters
- this is resorted to when a candidate believes that
a voter or group of voters will vote for his/her
opponent/s. It can come in the form of discouraging
them from registering at all or, if they managed to
register, to exclude them from the voters’ lists through
an ostensibly legal exclusion proceeding in court.

15. ELECTION
1. Vote buying
a. with or without chained balloting
Some candidates will take the word of the bought voter.
However, if he wants to be sure that he gets his money’s worth, the
candidate will employ chained balloting or “lansadera”. At the start
of the day, all the potential “buyees” are gathered in one place and,
as soon as the polls are opened, one of them is sent to the polling
place.
After he has signed and has been given a ballot by the
clerk, he now takes it with him to the polling both.

16. ELECTION
b. with or without identifying marks
Another way of ensuring that the brought
voter will live up to his end of the bargain is to
specify how that voter will fill out his ballot. The
voter can be required to write the candidate’s name
in a peculiar way.

17. ELECTION
2. Negative vote buying
This is the simplest way of buying votes,
where a candidate is certain that a voter will
not vote for him/her, he can pay him not to
vote.

18. ELECTION
3. Waylaying of Voters
This has the same objective as negative vote buying
except that no financial benefit accrues to the voter. With
the connivance of the Board of Election Inspectors (BOI),
the voter’s name is deleted from the list. This results in
confusion resulting to voter’s disenfranchisement.

19. ELECTION
4. Stuffing of ballot boxes with fake ballots
5. Ballots writing by only one person or group of persons
6. Voting by persons other than the registered voters

20. ELECTION
7. Misreading of ballots
8. Ballots/Ballot boxes snatching or destruction
9. Ballots/Ballot boxes substitution

21. ELECTION
10. Falsification (Tampering) of Election Returns
After counting is completed in the precinct, the votes are
recorded in a document called the Election Return.
The intercalation of a single digit can result in a hundred
votes in favor of a candidate. This is so easy to do because by
this time the level of awareness has been relaxed, the recording
being anti-climatic to the counting.

22. ELECTION
11. Falsification of Statement of Votes or Certificate of
Canvass in the Municipal or City Board of Canvassers
Falsification even becomes more vicious when the
manipulation is done at the level of the city or municipal board of
canvassers.
The results of all the precincts in a city or municipality are
recorded in a document called the Statement of Voters prepared by
the Board of Canvassers.