There is a dearth of books on public election laws and concepts based on the Philippine setting.
This can be attributed to the very nature of Philippine elections which are held once every three years generally and a few special elections, if warranted, which do not come in either often.
In spite of elections being a highly popular democratic exercise, there is an increasing interest and clamor for resource materials on the subject.
Thus Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Region VI Director Dennis Ausan saw the need to continuously fill this seeming gap by coming out with a book on election laws that can serve as a guidebook of sorts for election lawyers, law students and anyone interested in election laws.
His fourth book titled “Election Offenses – A Compendium” will soon hit the shelves of a private publishing company that specializes in the publication of law books.
“There really is a need for election laws aficionados to be fully-equipped in the subject of election laws since not only is there a gamut of laws pertaining to them but knowing how the different laws interplay is really interesting,” Director Ausan said.
He added: “My concept has always been to come out with a book codifying all pertinent laws and jurisprudence on a particular election topic. I have also placed some annotations for the reader to be more guided. In a way, the book hopefully becomes a one-stop source of election laws and concepts. Precious time is saved without compromising the quality of one’s comprehension of the subject.”
His three other books are A Compendium on Pre-proclamation Controversies (2007); A Compendium on Election Laws (2009); and, A Pocket Guide to Ballot Appreciation (2017).
Copies of his books are codified in the United States Library of Congress, the US’ de facto national library, and considered the world’s biggest library.
