Amendment on National Referendum Voting Rules

Presidential Decree No. 1031 is titled: “AMENDING PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 991 BY DECLARING THE PROVISIONS OF PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 229 ENTITLED 'PROVIDING FOR THE MANNER OF VOTING AND CANVASS OF VOTES IN BARANGAYS (CITIZENS ASSEMBLIES)' APPLICABLE TO THE NATIONAL REFERENDUM-PLEBISCITE OF OCTOBER 1976, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.”
The decree is enacted to implement the Batasang Bayan recommendation through Resolution No. 3 dated September 21, 1976.
The decree is intended to govern the conduct of the October 1976 National Referendum-Plebiscite under an amended legal framework.

Section 1 vests the Commission on Elections with exclusive supervision and control over the October 1976 National Referendum-Plebiscite.
Section 1 declares that the provisions of Presidential Decree No. 229 dated June 30, 1973 govern the conduct of the October 1976 National Referendum-Plebiscite.
Section 1 includes in this governing effect the provisions on prohibited acts, imposition of penalties, prosecution of offenses, and jurisdiction of courts connected to the referendum-plebiscite.

Presidential Decree No. 229—entitled “Providing for the Manner of Voting and Canvass of Votes in Barangays (Citizens Assemblies)”—is made applicable to the October 1976 National Referendum-Plebiscite.
Section 1 provides that the application covers both conduct of the referendum-plebiscite and related enforcement mechanisms.

Section 2 requires translation of the questions into as many major dialects as possible.
Section 2 requires printing of translated questions in leaflet or poster form using cheap but appropriate material.
Section 2 requires that at least fourteen days before referendum-plebiscite day, the translated questions in leaflet form must be disseminated as widely as possible to all barangays where the dialect used in the translation is spoken.

Section 3 makes applicable, in a suppletory character, all provisions of presidential decrees related to the referenda of July 1973 and February 1975.
Section 3 limits the suppletory application to provisions not inconsistent with Presidential Decree No. 1031.
Section 3 covers these provisions for the October 1976 national referendum-plebiscite.

Section 4 repeals Sections 4, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14 and 15 of Presidential Decree No. 991.
Section 4 repeals all other provisions of Presidential Decree No. 991 that are inconsistent with Presidential Decree No. 1031.
Section 4 renumbers the remaining sections of Presidential Decree No. 991 so that Sections 5, 6, 7, 11, 12, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20 become Sections 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13, respectively.

Section 5 appropriates EIGHT MILLION PESOS (P8,000,000.00) to carry out the provisions of Presidential Decree No. 1031.
Section 5 directs that the appropriation be taken out of any funds in the National Treasury not otherwise appropriated.
Section 5 provides that spending is under the exclusive authority of the Commission on Elections.