Reference: Annual Audit Report on the Senate Electoral Tribunal

For the Calendar Year 31 December 1989

 Historical Background

The Senate Electoral Tribunal was created by virtue of Section 17, Article VI (Legislative Department) of the 1986 Constitution which mandates that the Senate and the House of Representatives shall each have an Electoral Tribunal.

The Senate Electoral Tribunal is composed of nine (9) Members, three of whom are Justices of the Supreme Court who were designated by the Chief Justice and the remaining six are members of the Senate who were chosen on the basis of proportional representation from the political parties and the parties or organizations registered under the party-list system. The senior Justice in the Electoral Tribunal is the Chairman. Likewise, Section 19, Article VI mandates that, the Electoral Tribunals be constituted within thirty (30) days after the Senate and House of Representatives shall have been organized with the election of the Senate President and Speaker, respectively.

Functions

The Senate Electoral Tribunal shall be the sole judge of all contests relating to the election, returns and qualifications of the Members of the Senate.

Organizational Set-up

The agency is governed by the Tribunal composed of the following:

  1. Justice Andres R. Narvasa – Chairman
  2. Justice Hugo E. Gutierrez, Jr. – Member
  3. Justice Edgardo L. Paras – Member
  4. Senator Teofisto T. Guingona – Member
  5. Senator Neptali A. Gonzales – Member
  6. Senator Juan Ponce Enrile – Member
  7. Senator Jose D. Lina, Jr. – Member
  8. Senator Mamintal A.J. Tamano – Member
  9. Senator Victor S. Ziga – Member

Performance and Accomplishments

The Tribunals goal to collect 1,000 ballot boxes and election paraphernalia out of the 2,688 precincts subject of Election Case No. 001-87 (Sanchez vs. Enrile) before starting the revision of ballots was not attained. Only 354 ballot boxes and election paraphernalia was collected or 35.4% of the target. The failure, however, was not the fault of the Tribunal, rather, it is the failure of the protestee to make additional deposits to cover the estimated expenses amounting to Php764,727.80. The protestee’s initial deposit as required under Section 16 of the Rules of the Tribunal is only Php10,000.00.