Section 14
SEC. 14. The same Act is amended by inserting between Sections seventeen and eighteen thereof new sections to be known as Sections seventeen-A, seventeen-B seventeen C, seventeen-D, seventeen-E, seventeen-F, seventeen G and seventeen-H, to read as follows: "SEC. 17-A. Barrio Assembly.—The barrio assembly shall consist of all persons who have been residents of the barrio for at least six months, are twenty-one years of age or over, citizens of the Republic of the Philippines and who are duly registered in the list of barrio assembly members kept by the barrio secretary. "The barrio secretary shall keep a list wherein the names of all members of the barrio assembly shall be entered in alphabetical order, keeping a separate list for every group belonging to one alphabetical group and, in addition, the list shall indicate the age, status, occupation, and the name of the sitio where the member resides. "The barrio secretary shall revise the list of barrio assembly members not later than the first Saturday of January of each year. The revision shall be made by deleting therefrom names of members who have died during the year as certified to by the local civil registrar, stating the date and place of death; names of members who have transferred residences upon application of the members transferring, stating the date of transfer and place transferred to, if known; and finally, by including therein the names of those who have acquired the qualifications to become members of the barrio assembly, stating therein the date of admission to the barrio assembly. "SEC. 17-B. Powers of Barrio Assembly.—The powers of the barrio assembly shall be as follows: "(a) To recommend to the barrio council the adoption of measures for the welfare of the barrio; "(b) To decide on the holding of a plebiscite on matters that vitality affect the barrio; and "(c) To hear the annual report of the barrio council concerning activities and finances of the assembly. "SEC. 17-C. Eelection of Barrio Council.—On the second Sunday of January immediately following the regular elections for municipal and provincial officials, and on the days thereafter in the month of January, a regular election shall be held to elect a barrio captain and six councilmen for each barrio. The date of the election in the barrio shall be set by the Mayor, upon the written recommendation of the barrio council. "In case of failure to hold the election on the date set it may be held on any other day within the month January to be determined by the Mayor: Provided, that if, for any reason, no election in any of the barrios is held within the month of January, the Mayor shall, upon resolution of the barrio council or written petition of at least fifty members of the barrio assembly, fix the date of the election which shall not be beyond forty days from receipt of said resolution or petition. "In the case of a newly created barrio the election shall be held on a date to be fixed by the Mayor which shall be not more than forty days from the approval by the municipal board of the resolution creating said barrio. "The elected officials of the newly created barrio shall assume office immediately by taking oath before any person authorized to administer it and shall hold office for the unexpired term or until their successors shall have been elected and qualified. "Not later than the last Sunday of December of the year immediately preceding the local elections, the barrio council shall elect a board of election tellers for each regular precinct situated in said barrio, one of whom shall be a public school teacher who shall be the chairman, one belonging to the party who obtained the highest number of votes in the last presidential elections, and one from the party who received the second highest number of votes in the elections, to conduct the elections, count the votes, and proclaim the winners in their respective precincts. The barrio council shall also recommend the polling place and date of election to the Mayor and immediately after its approval by the Mayor, it shall cause the publication of the date and place of the election and the office to be filled. "On the first Sunday of January of an election year in accordance with this section, there shall be a registration of new voters to be conducted by the board of election tellers of each precinct. Any voter may challenge the qualification of any person seeking to register, and said challenge shall be heard and decided by the board of election tellers on the same day. On the Tuesday immediately following the day of registration as herein provided for, the board of election tellers shall meet to prepare the list of qualified voters entitled to vote in the barrio election. Revision shall be made by copying all the names of the registered voters appearing in the list of voters used in the previous election, deleting therefrom all the names of registered voters who have died, transferred residences, as shown by the list of the members of the barrio assembly, furnished by the barrio secretary, and those who have become disqualified under the law.A copy of the aforesaid list shall be furnished the barrio secretary. "Voting shall be by secret ballot. It shall be held in a place designated by the barrio council; voting shall be from seven o'clock in the morning to six o'clock in the afternoon, except when there are still voters within thirty meters of the polling place, in which case they shall be allowed to vote. The voters shall have the right to vote in the order of their entrance to the polling place, identifying themselves to the board of election tellers who will check their names against the list of voters prepared by them in accordance herewith. "Each candidate shall be allowed to appoint one watcher, who, upon presentation of his appointment signed by the candidate to the board of election tellers, may be allowed inside the polling place during the election proceedings. No person shall be allowed to enter the voting booths except voters actually voting. Immediately after the close of voting and when all the voters entitled to vote have cast their votes, the board of election tellers shall immediately proceed to canvass the votes and those who obtained the highest number of votes for the position for which they are candidates shall be declared elected. In case of a tie, the same shall be decided by drawing lots immediately after the counting of the votes and the winner shall be declared elected. "The board of election tellers shall prepare in quintuplicate the results of the election of the precinct, which election return shall contain the names of the candidates voted for in the said election, segregating therefrom the names of the winning candidates from those of the losing ones, the offices to which they have been voted for, the number of votes obtained by each, which number of votes shall be written in words and then in figures. The certificates above referred to shall be certified to and signed by all the members of the board of election tellers. The original shall be transmitted by personal service to the barrio secretary, one copy shall be deposited in the ballot box together with all other documents used in the election, one copy shall be sent to the city treasurer and the remaining two copies shall be for each of the two other members of the board of election tellers. "On the day immediately following the elections, the barrio council acting as a board of canvassers, shall canvass the results of the election in the barrio, which canvass shall be based upon the election returns submitted by the board of election tellers to the secretary and immediately thereafter proclaim the winning candidates. The members of the barrio council who are running for reelection are disqualified to act in the said, board of cavassers and the Mayor is hereby empowered to appoint their substitutes who shall be chosen from the same political party to which the disqualified member belongs. "The officials elected shall assume office immediately by taking oath before any person authorized to administer oaths and shall hold office for four years or until then successors shall have been elected and qualified. "SEC. 17-D. Candidates—Their qualifications and failure to file certificates of candidacy.—Candidates shall file their certificates of candidacy with the barrio secretary not later than the first Sunday of the election year. Any five registered voters may also file the certificate of candidacy of any qualified person. "Every citizen of the Philippines, twenty-one years of age or over, able to read and write, who has been a resident of the barrio during the six months immediately preceding the election, duly registered in the list of voters kept by the barrio secretary, who is not otherwise disqualified, may vote or be a candidate in the barrio elections. "Any vote in favor of a person who has not filed a certificate of candidacy or in favor of a candidate for an office for which he did not present himself, shall be void and counted as a stray vote but shall not invalidate the whole ballot. "SEC. 17-E. Qualification of voters.—Every citizen of the Philippines, twenty years of age or over, able to read and write, who has been a resident of the barrio during the six months immediately preceding the elections, duly registered in the list of voters kept by the barrio secretary, who is not otherwise disqualified, may vote in the barrio elections. "The following are not qualified to vote: "(a) Any person who has been sentenced by final judgment to suffer one year or more of imprisonment, within two years after serving his sentence. "(b) Any person who has violated his allegiance to the Republic of the Philippines; and "(c) Insane or feeble-minded persons. "SEC. 17-F. Election Disputes.—All disputes as to procedure before and during the balloting shall be decided by the board of election tellers. "All disputes over barrio elections shall be brought before the city court of the City of Tacloban; and in the determination and decision thereof the court shall follow as closely as possible the procedure prescribed for inferior courts in the Rules of Court. The decisions of the city court shall be appealable pursuant to the Rules of Court to the Court of First Instance whose decisions shall be final on questions of fact. "SEC. 17-G. Rights of Succession.—When no special elections are held to fill a permanent vacancy in the office of barrio captain, arising from death, permanent incapacity, abandonment, or when there is failure to elect a qualified candidate, the councilman who obtained the largest number of votes in the barrio elections immediately preceding, shall assume the office of barrio captain; if, for some reason, the councilman who obtained the largest number of votes is incapacitated from assuming the office of barrio captain or refuses to assume such office, the councilman who obtained the next largest number of votes in the barrio elections immediately preceding, shall assume the office of the barrio captain, and so on until the permanent vacancy in the office of barrio captain is filled. "There is abandonment of office of barrio captain if the incumbent fails or refuses, without lawful cause, to enter upon the discharge of his duties within a period of six months from the time he ceases or neglects to perform his official duties. "Should the barrio captain elect die before assumption of office or fail to qualify for any reason, the councilman who obtained the largest number of votes in the barrio elections immediately preceding shall assume office until a barrio captain qualifies. In case of a tie between the councilman who obtained the largest number of votes in the barrio elections immediately preceding, the barrio council will decide on who shall succeed. In the event that no special election is held and for some reason the senior councilman elect is incapacitated from assuming the office of barrio captain, the rule of succession described in the first paragraph of this section shall be followed. "In the event that the barrio captain is temporarily in capacitated to perform the duties of his office on account of absence on leave, sickness or any other cause, the senior councilman shall perform the duties and exercise the powers of the barrio captain except, unless unanimously authorized by the barrio council, the power to appoint, suspend or dismiss employees. In the event that the senior council man is temporarily incapacitated to perform the duties or we barrio captain or refuses to assume such office, the councilman who obtained the next largest number of votes among the incumbent councilmen in the barrio election immediately preceding shall perform the duties and exercise the powers of the barrio captain except, unless unanimously authorized by the council, the power to appoint, suspend or dismiss employees. "SEC. 17-H. The Commission on Elections shall have in addition to the powers and functions conferred upon it by the Constitution, overall supervision over all elections of the members of the barrio council, with powers to promulgate necessary rules and regulations consistent with the provisions of this article."