EN BANC
G.R. No. 201809, October 11, 2016
H. SOHRIA PASAGI DIAMBRANG, Petitioner, v. COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS AND H. HAMIM SARIP PATAD, Respondent.
D E C I S I O N
CARPIO, ACTING C.J.:**
WHEREFORE, premises considered, the petition is hereby GRANTED. The proclamation of private respondent H. Sohria Diambrang is ANNULLED. A writ of Preliminary Mandatory Injunction is issued commanding the BBOC of Barangay Kaludan, Nunungan, Lanao del Norte to convene anew and to PROCLAIM petitioner H. Hamim Sarip Patad as the winning Punong Barangay thereat. The Law Department is directed to file the necessary charge against the members of the BBOC for arrogating unto themselves the power to disqualify a candidate.Diambrang filed a motion for reconsideration.
SO ORDERED.3chanroblesvirtuallawlibrary
WHEREFORE, premises considered, the Commission hereby RESOLVES to ANNUL the proclamation of H. Sohria P. Diambrang. In view of the permanent vacancy in the Office of the Punong Barangay, the proclaimed first ranked Barangay Kagawad of Barangay Kaludan, Nunungan, Lanao del Norte is hereby ORDERED to succeed as the new Punong Barangay pursuant to Section 44 of the Local Government Code.Hence, Diambrang’s recourse to this Court.
SO ORDERED.6chanroblesvirtuallawlibrary
Decisions of this Court holding that the second-placer cannot be proclaimed winner if the first-placer is disqualified or declared ineligible should be limited to situations where the certificate of candidacy of the first-placer was valid at the time of filing but subsequently had to be cancelled because of a violation of law that took effect, or a legal impediment that took effect, after the filing of the certificate of candidacy. If the certificate of candidacy is void ab initio, then legally the person who filed such void certificate of candidacy was never a candidate in the elections at any time. All votes for such non-candidate are stray votes and should not be counted. Thus, such non-candidate can never be a first-placer in the elections. If a certificate of candidacy void ab initio is cancelled on the day, or before the day, of the election, prevailing jurisprudence holds that all votes for that candidate are stray votes. If a certificate of candidacy void ab initio is cancelled one day or more after the elections, all votes for such candidate should also be stray votes because the certificate of candidacy is void from the very beginning. This is the more equitable and logical approach on the effect of the cancellation of a certificate of candidacy that is void ab initio. Otherwise, a certificate of candidacy void ab initio can operate to defeat one or more valid certificates of candidacy for the same position.14chanroblesvirtuallawlibraryIn Aratea v. Commission on Elections,15 we ruled that whether the certificate of candidacy is cancelled before or after the elections is immaterial because a cancellation on the ground that the candidate was ineligible or not qualified to run means he was never a candidate from the very beginning.
We have ruled in the recent cases of Aratea v. COMELEC and Jalosjos v. COMELEC that a void COC cannot produce any legal effect.Clearly, the prevailing ruling is that if the certificate of candidacy is void ab initio, the candidate is not considered a candidate from the very beginning even if his certificate of candidacy was cancelled after the elections.
Thus, the votes cast in favor of the ineligible candidate are not considered at all in determining the winner of an election.
Even when the votes for the ineligible candidate are disregarded, the will of the electorate is still respected, and even more so. The votes cast in favor of an ineligible candidate do not constitute the sole and total expression of the sovereign voice. The votes cast in favor of eligible and legitimate candidates form part of that voice and must also be respected.
As in any contest, elections are governed by rules that determine the qualifications and disqualifications of those who are allowed to participate as players. When there are participants who turn out to be ineligible, their victory is voided and the laurel is awarded to the next in rank who does not possess any of the disqualifications nor lacks any of the qualifications set in the rules to be eligible as candidates.
There is no need to apply the rule cited in Labo v. COMELEC that when the voters are well aware within the realm of notoriety of a candidate's disqualification and still cast their votes in favor said candidate, then the eligible candidate obtaining the next higher number of votes may be deemed elected. That rule is also a mere obiter that further complicated the rules affecting qualified candidates who placed second to ineligible ones.
The electorate's awareness of the candidate's disqualification is not a prerequisite for the disqualification to attach to the candidate. The very existence of a disqualifying circumstance makes the candidate ineligible. Knowledge by the electorate of a candidate's disqualification is not necessary before a qualified candidate who placed second to a disqualified one can be proclaimed as the winner. The second-placer in the vote count is actually the first-placer among the qualified candidates.
That the disqualified candidate has already been proclaimed and has assumed office is of no moment. The subsequent disqualification based on a substantive ground that existed prior to the filing of the certificate of candidacy voids not only the COC but also the proclamation.17chanroblesvirtuallawlibrary
Endnotes:
** Acting Chief Justice per Special Order No. 2386 dated 29 September 2016.
1 Under Rule 64 in relation to Rule 65 of the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure.
2Rollo, pp. 58-62. Penned by Presiding Commissioner Lucenito N. Tagle with Commissioners Elias R. Yusoph and Augusto C. Lagman, concurring.
3 Id. at 61.
4 Id. at 25A-31. Signed by Chairman Sixto Brillantes, Jr. and Commissioners Rene V. Sarmiento, Lucenito N. Tagle, Armando C. Velasco, Elias R. Yusoph, Christian Robert S. Lim and Augusto C. Lagman.
5 Section 44(b) of the Local Government Code reads:ChanRoblesVirtualawlibraryx x x x6Rollo, p. 30.
b) If a permanent vacancy occurs in the office of the punong barangay, the highest ranking sanggunian barangay member or, in case of his permanent inability, the second highest ranking sanggunian member, shall become the punong barangay.
7http://www.comelec.gov.ph/?r=Archives/RegularElections/2013BSKE/Results. Visited on 19 June 2015.
8 Through SC Assistant Chief Basilia T. Ringol.
9Rollo, pp. 170-171.
10 Id. at 177.
11 Id. at 191.
12 Id. at 193-194.
13 696 Phil. 601 (2012).
14 Id. at 633-634.
15 696 Phil. 700 (2012).
16 709 Phil. 408 (2013).
17 Id. at 447-448.