EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 57 - REORGANIZING THE COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS AND ENHANCING ITS INDEPENDENCE

WHEREAS, Article XII of the 1973 Constitution, providing for an independent Commission on Elections, among others, was adopted in the Provisional Constitution pursuant to Proclamation No. 3 dated March 25, 1986;  

WHEREAS, the Provisional Constitution provides that the President shall give priority to measures to achieve the mandate of the people to completely reorganize the government; 

WHEREAS, the independence of the Commission on Elections must also be enhanced to enable it to discharge effectively its powers and functions;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, CORAZON C. AQUINO, President of the Philippines, do hereby order:  

Section 1. There shall be a total reorganization of the Commission on Elections: Provided, That the reorganization be done within the framework of the Commission’s appropriations and in coordination with the Ministry of Budget and Management.

Sec. 2. Appropriations authorized for the Commission on Elections shall be automatically released. The quarterly release of funds by the Ministry of Budget and Management to the Commission shall be based on the latter’s operating budget.

Sec. 3. Funds needed to implement this Executive Order shall be drawn from salary lapses and savings of the Commission on Elections. Subsequent funding requirements shall be incorporated in the annual appropriations of the Commission.

Sec. 4. All laws, orders, issuances, rules and regulations or any part thereof inconsistent with this Executive Order are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

Sec. 5. This Executive Order shall take effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 6th day of November, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and eighty-six.