By Perfecto T. Raymundo
MANILA, April 11 (PNA) — The Supreme Court (SC) en banc has affirmed the Commission on Election’s (Comelec) resolution directing Social Weather Stations (SWS), Pulse Asia and other similar survey firms to submit the names of all commissioners and payors, including their subscribers, of all pre-election surveys from Feb. 12 to April 23, 2013.
Voting unanimously, the SC justices upheld Comelec Resolution No. 9674 on April 7, 2015.
However, the SC enjoined Comelec from prosecuting petitioners for their supposed violation of the resolution after not submitting the names of all commissioners and payors, including subscribers of their surveys during the pre-election period of 2013 within three days from the receipt of the resolution.
In a petition filed on July 26, 2013, the petitioners alleged that the Comelec failed to furnish them with copies of the resolution and that they were not informed that a criminal case had been filed against them.
The petitioners also assailed the resolution for transgressing the Fair Elections Act in requiring the submission of information on subscribers and in making itself executory immediately after publication.
In the ruling written by Associate Justice Marvic M. V. F. Leonen, the SC sustained the validity of Comelec Resolution No. 9647.
The SC said that “the names of those who commission or pay for election surveys, including subscribers of survey firms must be disclosed pursuant to Section 5.2 (a) of the Fair Elections Act.”
The ruling noted that Section 5.2 “provide[s] regulations that facilitate transparency with respect to election surveys” and “enumerates the information that a person publishing an election survey must publish along with the survey itself,” including “the name of the person, candidate, party or organization who commissioned or paid for the survey.”
“The inclusion of election surveys in the list of items regulated by the Fair Elections Act is a recognition that election surveys are not a mere descriptive aggregation of data,” Leonen said.
He reiterated that “the inclusion of election surveys in a statute that regulates election propaganda and other means through which candidates may shape voter preferences is itself telling of the recognition that election surveys, too, may influence voter preferences.”
“Left unregulated,” he noted that “election surveys can undermine the purposes of ensuring ‘fair elections.’”
However, the SC noted that “there was no basis for considering petitioners to have committed an election offense” since Comelec failed to serve copies of the Resolution on petitioners, which prevented the three-day period for compliance to commence.
It noted that “In Comelec Resolution No. 9674’s own words, compliance was expected ‘within three (3) days from receipt of this Resolution…’ Not having been served with copies of the assailed Resolution itself, petitioners are right in construing the three-day period for compliance as not having begun to run.”
“It follows that no violation of the requirement “to submit withing three (3) days from receipt of this Resolution the names of all commissioners and payors of surveys published from February 12, 2013 to the date of the promulgation of this Resolution.” could have been committed,” the ruling said.
The SC also noted that the Comelec not only failed to provide petitioners with copies of the criminal complaint but also neither alleged nor proved to the Court that it has done so.
It further noted that “In so doing, Comelec violated petitioners’ right to due process.” (PNA)