PRESIDENTIAL DECREE No. 1676

AMENDING THE 1978 ELECTION CODE BY PROVIDING THAT THE INVESTIGATION, PROSECUTION AND DISPOSITION OF CASES INVOLVING VIOLATIONS OF ELECTION LAWS SHALL BE GIVEN PREFERENCE AND PRIORITY.

WHEREAS, The sanctity of the ballot is one of the fundamental principles of popular government:

WHEREAS, the main purposes of election laws is to secure the rights of the electors to the end that they may express their choices freely, and untrammeled by threats, violence, intimidation, and/or corruption;

WHEREAS, public interest demands that violation of election laws be immediately investigated, prosecuted and decided, to safeguard and secure the free expression of the people's will at the polls.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby order and decree as follows:

Section 1. The 1978 Election Code is hereby amended by adding a next session to be known as "Section 184-A" which shall read as follows:

"Sec. 184-A. Preferential Disposition of Election Offenses. The investigation and prosecution of cases involving violations of the elections laws shall be given preference and priority by the Commission on Elections and prosecuting officials. Their investigation shall be commenced without delay, and shall be resolved by the investigation officer within (5) days from its submission for resolution. The courts shall likewise give preference to election offices over all other cases, except petitions for writ of habeas corpus. Their trial shall likewise be commenced without delay, and shall be conducted continuously until terminated, and the case shall be decided within thirty (30) days from its submission for decision."

Section 2. This decree shall take effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 19th day of February, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and eighty.