Guidelines for Understanding, Adjudicating, and Resolving Disputes in Elections Nevertheless, with COMELEC relying on the touted benefits of automated elections, insufficient preparation was made for a complaints adjudication system that would have provided adequate, transparent, credible, and timely remedies for those who questioned the results of the election. In the belief that the introduction of an automated election system would eliminate election cheating, the adoption of new rules of procedure on election contests suited to the newly introduced system was not prioritized. Thus, the amendments to the rules of procedures incorporating the requirements for an automated election system were released barely a month before the elections. There was, therefore, insufficient time to train adjudicators on handling and resolving election complaints under the new election procedure. However, as will be discussed later in this section, seminars for judges were conducted to at least familiarize them with the basic features of the automated election system. In order to sufficiently understand the preparation done in the Philippines to equip judges with the necessary competence to handle election complaint adjudication, it is essential to first appreciate the Philippine election environment. A. Elections in the Philippines Elective positions in the Philippines include: president; vice president; 24 senators (for the upper house of the bicameral legislature); one representative for each of the 222 legislative districts in the country; one party for the party-list system of representation in the Philippine Congress;16 provincial governor; vice governor; board members; city and municipal mayors; vice mayors and councilors; and Barangay (Village) chair and council members. With the exception of the village posts, all of these positions are elected at the same time in “synchronized elections.” Elections are held every three years, although the president, vice president and senators are elected for six-year terms. Twelve of the senators complete their six-year term every three years alternately with the other 12. Because of synchronized elections, up to 33 positions are up for election on a single ballot. Also known as the House of Representatives. 16 182