RESOLUTION NO. 99-15 April 23, 1999

SENATE ELECTORAL TRIBUNAL

The SENATE ELECTORAL TRIBUNAL, as the sole judge of all contest relating to the election, returns and qualifications of Members of the Senate under Article VI, Section 17 of the Constitution, at its Regular Meeting held on April 23, 1999, Revolved to amend the Revised Rules of the Senate Electoral Tribunal as follows:

1. RULE 3 of the Revised Rules is hereby amended to read as follows:

RULE 3. Meetings; Quorum; Executive Committee, Action on Matters In Between Regular Meetings

(a) The Tribunal shall meet on such days and hours as it may designate or at the call of the Chairman or of a majority of its Members. The presence of a majority of the Members with at least one Justice shall be necessary to constitute a quorum. In the absence of the Chairman, the next senior Justice shall preside, and in the absence of both, the Justice shall take the Chair.

(b) In the absence of quorum, provided there is at least one Justice and one Senator in attendance, the Members present, who shall not be less than three (3), may constitute themselves as an Executive Committee to act on the agenda for the meeting concerned; Provided, however, that its action thereon shall be subject to confirmation by the Tribunal at any subsequent meeting where a quorum is present.

(c) In between the regular meetings of the Tribunal, any three (3) of its Members, provided there is at least one (1) Justice-Member and one (1) Senator-Member, may sit as the Executive Committee to act on the following matters requiring immediate action by the Tribunal:

1. Any pleading, such as a motion,

(a) where delay in its resolution may result in irreparable or substantial damage or injury to the rights of a party or would cause delay in the proceedings or action concerned;

(b) which is urgent in character but does not affect the rights of the adverse party, such as for extension of time to comply with an order/resolution of the Tribunal or file a pleading if such extension has not earlier been prohibited and is within the discretion of the Tribunal;

(c) where the Tribunal would require a comment, reply, rejoinder or any other similar pleading from any of the parties or their attorneys; and,

2. Administrative matters which do not involve new applications or allocations of the appropriations of the Tribunal;

Provided, however, that any such action/resolution thereon shall be included in the Order of Business in the agenda of the immediately succeeding meeting of the Tribunal for latter's confirmation.

(d) The Tribunal may constitute itself into three (3) divisions for the purpose of allocating and distributing its workload. Each division shall be composed of one (1) Justice and two (2) Senators as members.

Each division shall act on such matters as may be assigned to it by the Tribunal en banc, including the appreciation of contested ballots and election documents pertaining to the particular contested municipality, city or province assigned to it by raffle and the submission to the Tribunal en banc of its findings and recommendations thereon within the time specified therefor.

2. RULE 27 is hereby amended to read as follows:

RULE 27. Other Pleadings; How Filed. — Except for original protests or petitions for quo warranto which the Tribunal itself causes to be served on the adverse party or parties, all other pleadings, motion and other papers shall be filed with the Office of the Secretary of the Tribunal personally or by registered mail, return receipt requested, in fifteen (15) clearly legible copies and must be accompanied by proof of service upon the adverse party or parties. No action shall be taken on pleading that fail to comply with these requirements.

All pleadings, motions and other papers filed with the Tribunal in connection with election protests and/or cases pending before other Tribunals, courts or agencies shall likewise be accompanied by proof of service upon the adverse party or parties in the said election protests and cases. No action shall be taken on pleadings, motions and other papers that fail to comply with this requirement.

3. RULE 28-A and RULE 28-B are hereby added to the Revised Rules of the Tribunal as follows:

RULE 28-A. Priorities in Modes of Service and Filing. — Whenever practicable, the service and filing of pleadings, motions and other papers shall be done personally. Except with respect to papers emanating from the Tribunal, a resort to other modes must be accompanied by a written explanation why the service or filing was not done personally. A violation of this rule may be cause to consider the paper as not filed.

RULE 28-B. No Hearing or Oral Arguments for Motion. — Motions shall not be set for hearing and, unless the Tribunal otherwise determines, no hearing or oral argument shall be allowed in support thereof. The adverse party may file objections to the motion within three (3) days from service, upon the expiration of which such motion shall be deemed submitted for resolution.

4. These amendments shall take effect fifteen (15) days after their publication in a newspaper of general circulation.

APPROVED, April 23, 1999.

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