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24 ENHANCING ELECTIONS AS INSTRUMENTS OF DEMOCRACY IN THE ASEAN REGION

power to which they belonged. The Secretary of the Interior was directly
responsible to the President and his tenure of office was dependent not

only on the pleasure of the President but also upon the President’s own
continuance in office. This set-up only induced increasing distrust in the
verdict at the polls.

Statutory Commission. The situation impelled the National
Assembly to propose the creation of a Commission on Elections

composed of a Chairman and two members to take over the election-
related functions of the Secretary of the Interior. By constitutional

amendment ratified by the Filipino people in a plebiscite held on June
17, 1940, all functions exercised by the Secretary of the Interior relative to
the conduct of elections were transferred to the Commission. However,

as the amendment could not be made effective in time for the 1940
elections, the National Assembly, through Commonwealth Act No. 607,

created a statutory Commission on Elections, giving thereto the same
powers, which the Commission would have under the Constitution.
The act became effective upon its approval on August 22, 1940.

The Commission immediately started operations on September 14, 1940,
and supervised the December 10, 1940 elections.

Constitutional Commission. The constitutional amendment

creating the Commission was approved on December 2, 1940. On
June 21, 1941, Commonwealth Act No. 657 was enacted to reorganize

the Commission as a constitutional body. The members of the Statutory
Commission continued as members of the new Constitutional
Commission. The subordinate personnel, records, documents, and property

together with its unexpected balance in the appropriation, were likewise
transferred to the newly-organized Commission.