SANGGUNIAN NG MGA MAG-AARAL NG MGA

PAARALANG LOYOLA NG ATENEO DE MANILA

STUDENT JUDICIAL COURT

IN RE: PETITION TO AMEND
ELECTORAL CODE
Case No. 2016 c. ____
ATENEO COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS,
Petitioners
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PETITION
To the Honorable Magistrates of the Student Judicial Court, Petitioner ATENEO
COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS (hereinafter referred to as Ateneo COMELEC for brevity),
respectfully state that:
1. Ateneo COMELEC is the official electoral arm of the Sanggunian and is the sole and
official interpreter and executor of all the provisions in the Electoral Code;
2. The Electoral Code shall aid the Ateneo COMELEC in the administration and
facilitation of Sanggunian elections, plesbiscites, and referenda. It shall contain
operating procedures, sets of rules and regulations, and the corresponding sanctions for
all participants in all of the electoral processes.
3. Near the end of the second semester last school year, the Ateneo COMELEC conducted
a plebiscite for the approval of the constitution drafted by the ADMU Constitutional
Convention. The 2016 Plebiscite reached quota and has gathered a majority vote to
direct such approval. Thus, the constitution has been ratified and is now adopted as the
2016 Sanggunian Constitution.
4. The ratification of the 2016 Sanggunian Constitution entails that the Ateneo
COMELEC shall revise the Electoral Code for the latter document shall always be in
consonance with the pertinent provisions of the constitution that is in effect. Thus, the
Ateneo COMELEC is bound to include such changes in the Electoral Code which
includes but shall not be limited to the new structures and policies provided by the new
constitution. If such changes are not executed, the Electoral Code shall be void and
may hinder the Ateneo COMELEC from holding electoral processes.
5. The Ateneo Student Judicial Court, as the official judicial arm of the Sanggunian, has
the jurisdiction to approve and question the constitutionality and legality of the the
revisions passed by the Ateneo COMELEC with regards to the Electoral Code. Only
with the approval of the Magistrates of the SJC can the Electoral Code be considered
as passed.

WHEREFORE, it is respectfully prayed that this Court grants Ateneo COMELECs petition
to amend the electoral code to facilitate the Commissions alignment and adherence with the
Constitution, a mandate under Article XII, Section 3 of the 2016 Sanggunian Constitution.
The petitioner also pleads that this Court conduct an immediate and sensible deliberation
on the petition at hand for the decision on such petition shall greatly affect the Ateneo
COMELECs preparations for the upcoming Sanggunian Elections.
Wherefore, it is lastly prayed that this Court grant any other just relief it may deem fit given
the premises of this petition.
Ateneo De Manila University, 13 August 2016.

MA. PATRICE G. GABITO

Chief Commissioner
Ateneo Commission on Elections
patrice.gabito@obf.ateneo.edu