Next CSE-PPT: 14 March 2027 · Professional & Subprofessional
Civil Service Exam reviewer on elections in the Philippines: the right of suffrage, the COMELEC, the party-list system, campaign periods, overseas and absentee voting, automated elections and election offences.
Free and honest elections are central to the democratic and republican State declared in Article II of the Constitution. This set covers who may vote under Article V, the composition and powers of the COMELEC, the election schedule and campaign periods, the party-list system, overseas and local absentee voting, automated elections, accessible polling places, and election offences such as vote buying.
Civil servants have a special role in elections: they may vote but must not engage in partisan political activity, and many serve as election workers. The explanations point out these links to public service.
Correct answer: B. 18
Article V, Section 1 grants suffrage to citizens not otherwise disqualified by law who are at least eighteen years old, have resided in the Philippines for at least one year, and in the place where they will vote for at least six months before the election.
Read detailsCorrect answer: A. Six months
Article V requires residence in the Philippines for at least one year and in the place where one proposes to vote for at least six months immediately preceding the election.
Read detailsCorrect answer: B. Suffrage
The Constitution forbids literacy, property or other substantive requirements for voting, so that every qualified citizen can vote regardless of education or wealth.
Read detailsCorrect answer: B. Six
Article IX-C, Section 1 provides for a Chairman and six Commissioners, natural-born citizens at least 35 years old, appointed for seven-year terms without reappointment. A majority, including the Chairman, must be lawyers.
Read detailsCorrect answer: C. Second Monday of May
Under RA 7166, regular national and local elections are held on the second Monday of May. Presidential elections take place every six years, while senatorial and local elections take place every three years.
Read detailsCorrect answer: A. Thirty days after election day
Article IX-C, Section 9 provides that, unless otherwise fixed by the COMELEC in special cases, the election period starts ninety days before the day of election and ends thirty days after.
Read detailsCorrect answer: D. 90 days
The campaign period for national positions is ninety days before election day, while for members of the House and local officials it is forty-five days. Campaigning outside these periods is an election offence.
Read detailsCorrect answer: D. RA 7941 (1995)
RA 7941, the Party-List System Act of 1995, implemented Article VI, Section 5, which reserves twenty percent of House seats for party-list representatives. The law caps each party at three seats.
Read detailsCorrect answer: A. Batas Pambansa Blg. 881
Batas Pambansa Blg. 881 of 1985, the Omnibus Election Code, remains the basic election law. It defines election offences such as vote buying, coercion of voters and unlawful campaigning by public officials.
Read detailsCorrect answer: D. Vote buying, an election offence
Vote buying and vote selling are election offences under Section 261 of BP 881. Both the giver and the receiver can be held liable, and conviction can lead to imprisonment and disqualification from public office.
Read detailsCorrect answer: D. Overseas Voting Act
RA 9189 of 2003, the Overseas Absentee Voting Act, was amended by RA 10590, the Overseas Voting Act of 2013. It lets qualified Filipinos abroad vote for President, Vice-President, Senators and party-list representatives.
Read detailsCorrect answer: D. Fair Election Act
The Fair Election Act (RA 9006) allows political advertising within limits, gives candidates equal access to media, and regulates the size and placement of election propaganda.
Read detailsCorrect answer: A. Voter's Registration Act of 1996 (RA 8189)
RA 8189, the Voter's Registration Act of 1996, established a system of continuing registration and permanent lists of voters, managed by the COMELEC through its local election officers.
Read detailsCorrect answer: B. RA 9369 (2007)
RA 9369 of 2007 amended the earlier automated election law (RA 8436) and authorised the COMELEC to use automated election systems, first used nationwide in the 2010 elections.
Read detailsCorrect answer: A. Persons with disabilities and senior citizens
RA 10366 directs the COMELEC to set up accessible polling places, on the ground floor where possible, and to provide assistance to persons with disabilities and senior citizens so they can vote.
Read detailsCorrect answer: C. Violates the prohibition on electioneering and partisan political activity
Article IX-B, Section 2(4) prohibits civil servants from engaging, directly or indirectly, in any electioneering or partisan political campaign. They may vote and hold private opinions, but not campaign.
Read detailsCorrect answer: B. 30 days
Article IX-A, Section 7 provides that decisions of a Constitutional Commission may be brought to the Supreme Court on certiorari by the aggrieved party within thirty days from receipt of a copy.
Read detailsCorrect answer: B. Three
RA 7941 limits each party-list group to a maximum of three seats. The Supreme Court in BANAT v. COMELEC (2009) later clarified how the remaining party-list seats are allocated.
Read detailsCorrect answer: C. Commission on Elections
Article IX-C, Section 2 gives the COMELEC the power to enforce and administer all election laws, register parties, decide most election contests involving local officials, and deputise law enforcement agencies with the President's concurrence.
Read detailsCorrect answer: C. Local absentee voting
Local absentee voting, now governed by RA 10380 of 2013 for the media and by COMELEC rules for government personnel on election duty, lets those who must work on election day vote in advance for national positions.
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