The Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) held an oath taking ceremony for its new members at the Hyatt Hotel in Manila on 12 September 2013 during its regular meeting. The Tribunal (SET) is constituted under Section 17, Article VI of the 1987 Constitution to be the sole judge of all contests relating to the election, returns and qualification of members of the Senate of the Philippines. It is an independent, impartial and non-partisan tribunal composed of nine (9) members – three (3) members are Justices of the Supreme Court designated by the Chief Justice and six (6) Senator members. As envisioned by the framers of the Constitution, the Supreme Court Justices serve to neutralize the partisanship that may arise from political affiliation. The Tribunal is chaired by the most senior Justice-Member.

The members of the Tribunal are as follows:

For more information on previous Tribunal members, please check the SET Interactive Timeline.

After the oath taking ceremony, the new Senate Electoral Tribunal website (www.set.gov.ph) was officially launched. The website contains Tribunal information such as its mandate, history, organizational structure, and members, among others. It also features a comprehensive archive of Supreme Court rulings on election cases from 1901 to 2001. For more information on the new SET website, please read article “The Senate Electoral Tribunal Launches New Website”.

The Proposed Revision Rules of the Tribunal (Annex “B”) as well as the Proposed Rules on the Appreciation (Annex “C”) is discussed before concluding the meeting.