This case has been cited 1 times or more.
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2007-06-07 |
CARPIO, J. |
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| The listing of sections in Section 262 is introduced by the clause: "Violation of the provisions, or pertinent portions, of the following sections shall constitute election offenses: x x x." The phraseology of this introductory clause alerts us that Section 262 itself possibly limits its coverage to only pertinent portions of Section 74. That such a possibility exists must not be taken lightly for two reasons. First, were the phrase not necessary, the law's framers would have instead directly declared that violation of "the provisions" or "any provision" of the enumerated sections without any qualification would constitute an election offense. It is a settled principle in statutory construction that whenever possible, a legal provision, phrase, or word must not be so construed as to be meaningless and a useless surplusage in the sense of adding nothing to the law or having no effect on it.[5] Second, equally well-settled is the rule that a statute imposing criminal liability should be construed narrowly in its coverage such that only those offenses clearly included, beyond reasonable doubt, will be considered within the operation of the statute.[6] A return to Section 74 is thus imperative. | |||||