IN an order dated February 13, 2018, the Presidential Electoral Tribunal explicitly declared, “considering that the revision process ìs about to commence, the tribunal directs both protestant and protestee to observe the sub judice rule.”
“Sub judice,” of course, literally translates to “under judicial consideration.” It is a rule that, in essence, restricts comments and disclosures pertaining to pending judicial proceedings, as a well settled limitation on the freedom of speech. It encompasses not only the participants in the pending case, including the members of the bar and bench, the litigants and witnesses, but also to the public in general—necessarily covering statements made by public officials.
The central idea behind the sub judice rule is the concept of prejudgment, so it doesn’t prohibit fair and accurate reporting of factual matters, including factual content of ongoing judicial proceedings, in the media. Things become problematic when those facts are used to promote a particular—inevitably partisan —conclusion. Statements like that could then be deemed in violation of this rule, and contemptuous of the tribunal, because they risk prejudging matters or issues and placing undue pressure on the tribunal to decide on the issues one way or the other.
Having said that, I understand why people choose to ignore the rule, and why some quarters would rather hear—or read about— battling soundbites. It’s certainly more exciting that way and, on a more practical note, probably provides a comforting buffer against an uncertain (or predictable, depending on how you look at things) outcome. I understand, sure, but I disagree. Despite the adrenalin rush of being in a wild-wild-west environment created by ignoring the sub judice rule, the fact remains that it ultimately does not advance the cause of determining the truth about the issues at hand. Quite the opposite.
In the meantime, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) will be conducting simulated voting—a mock election—in connection with the 2018 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections. The simulation will be held at the Rosauro Almario Elementary School, in Tondo, on April 21 from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.
To get as close as possible to actual election day conditions, 50 real voters actually assigned to Clustered Precincts 63 and 64, of Barangay 20, Tondo—a total of a hundred voters—will participate in the simulation; the voters will be appearing before Boards of Election Tellers that will also be composed of the individuals who will actually serve on those boards on May 14; and the ballots will be canvassed by same Barangay Boards of Canvassers that will be convened on election day.
The simulation is expected to surface any potential issues that may arise on Election Day, allowing them to be addressed well in advance. In particular, the Comelec is concerned that both voters and election workers might experience some confusion about manual election practices and procedures that some have not seen since 2013, and which others—particularly the first-time voters—might have never been exposed to at all.