Deputy Speaker Rufus Rodriguez expressed gratitude to the House of Representatives for approving House Bill 9315, a bill mandating the expeditious resolution of election protests against winning candidates from the President down to barangay officers, on its final reading yesterday.  

As the author of the bill, Rodriguez said that this would answer the country’s need for electoral reformation. The indefinite delays in resolving protests inflicted doubt to the victors, and some of the candidates are not hesitant to cheat, knowing that the protests took years to decide. 

“To prevent this scenario from being repeated, the bill gives the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET), House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET), appellate courts, and the Commission on Elections (Comelec)  deadlines to resolve protests,” Rodriguez said. 

In terms of its duration in resolving protests, the President, Vice President, and Senators will need to be decided within 24 months following their proclamation on their posts. 

Moreover, the deadline for resolving protests against House members, regional, provincial, city, and municipal officials is 12 months, while it is six months for cases against barangay officers.

For the quo warranto cases, the deadline for resolving the said case would be six months for all officials. 

There would be sanctions for failure to resolve cases within the mandatory period. The bill states that salaries of PET, SET, HRET, Comelec, and judges’ will be put on hold until the protests have already been decided upon.  

Rodriguez hoped that his bill would be approved in time for the 2022 elections. 

Photo Credit: Facebook/RufusBRodriguez/