FACTS:
The 1978 Election Code (Presidential Decree No. 1269) grants voters the option for straight party or block voting where the vote for a party, group or aggrupation would be counted as a vote for all its candidates.
ISSUE(S):
Whether or not block voting violates the equal protection clause of the Constitution.
HELD:
NO. The equal protection clause does not forbid all legal classifications. What it proscribes is a classification which is arbitrary and unreasonable. It is not violated by a reasonable classification based upon substantial distinctions, where the classification is germane to the purpose of the law and applies equally to all those belonging to the same class.
Instant petitions are DISMISSED.
