Constitutional basis and intent
- Article XII (C), Section 2 (6) of the Constitution is invoked to curb political malpractice, opportunism, guest or nuisance candidacy, and similar acts.
- Article XII (C), Section 10 provides that no elective public officer may change his political party affiliation during his term of office and no candidate may change his political party affiliation within six months immediately preceding or following an election.
- The decree is enacted to apply the constitutional rule to members of the Interim Batasang Pambansa while they are in office.
Coverage: who is bound
- Section 1 applies to every member of the Interim Batasang Pambansa.
- Section 1 prohibits each covered member from changing political party affiliation during his term of office.
- The only stated allowance in Section 1 is where the Constitution provides otherwise.
Core prohibition on party-switching
- Section 1 mandates that no member of the Interim Batasang Pambansa shall change his political party during his term of office.
- The prohibition in Section 1 operates except as otherwise provided in the Constitution.
- Section 1 treats the term of office as the controlling period for the ban.
Consequence and forfeiture of seat
- Section 2 provides that any member who changes his political party during his term of office shall forfeit his seat.
- The forfeiture under Section 2 lasts for the remaining period of his term of office.
- Section 2 ties the forfeiture consequence to the act of changing political party affiliation during the term.
Implementation, penalties, and separability
- Section 3 sets immediate effect, making the rules operative without waiting for publication.
- The decree provides a specific sanction in Section 2: forfeiture of the seat for the remaining term period.
- No separate implementing body, filing requirement, hearing process, or administrative procedure is established in the decree.
- The decree contains no separability or sunset clause.