PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORAL TRIBUNAL
P.E.T. Case No. 005, February 16, 2021
FERDINAND "BONGBONG" R. MARCOS, JR., Protestant, v. MARIA LEONOR "LENI DAANG MATUWID" G. ROBREDO, Protestee.
D E C I S I O N
LEONEN, J.:
"New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings." Lao Tzu "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8:32 "But part of surviving is being able to move on." Alexandra Braken. The Darkest Minds |
On July 12, 2016, this Tribunal issued a Precautionary Protection Order,6 directing the Commission on Elections to safeguard the integrity of all the ballot boxes, their contents, and other election paraphernalia in the 92,509 clustered precincts covered by the Protest.7A.
(First Cause of Action)
The proclamation of protestee Robredo as the duly elected [Vice President] is null and void because the [Certificates of Canvass (COCs)] generated by the [Consolidation and Canvass System (CCS)] are not authentic, and may not be used as basis to determine the number of votes that the candidates for Vice President received.
...B.
(Second Cause of Action)
Massive electoral fraud, anomalies, and irregularities, such as, but not limited to terrorism, violence, force, threats, ... intimidation, pre-shading of ballots, vote-buying, substitution of voters, flying voters, pre-loaded SD cards, misreading of ballots, unexplained, irregular and improper rejection of ballots containing votes for protestant Marcos, malfunctioning Vote Counting Machines (VCMs), and abnormally high unaccounted votes / undervotes for the position of [Vice President] compromised and corrupted the conduct of the elections and the election results for the position of [Vice President] in the protested precincts.5 (Citation omitted)
In the interim, protestant had filed another Motion for Technical Examination of the voters' signatures in Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, and Basilan. This is a separate pleading from his Protest that also prayed for a technical examination as part of his third cause of action.25First Cause of Action - Annulment of Proclamation
The proclamation of protestee Robredo as the duly elected Vice President is null and void because the [certificates of canvass] generated by the [consolidated canvassing system] are not authentic, and may not be used as basis to determine the number of votes that the candidates for VICE PRESIDENT received.Second Cause of Action - Revision and Recount
Revision and recount of the paper ballots and/or the ballot images as well as an examination, verification, and analysis of the voter's receipts, election returns, audit logs, transmission logs, the list of voters, particularly the [election day computerized voter's list], and [voters registration record], the books of voters and other pertinent election documents and/or paraphernalia used in the elections, as well as the automated election equipment and records such as the [vote counting machines], [consolidated canvassing system] units, SD cards (main and backup), and the other data storage devices containing electronic data and ballot images in ALL of the 36,465 protested clustered precincts pursuant to Rules 38 to 45 of the 2010 PET Rules; andThird Cause of Action - Annulment of Elections
Annulment of election results for the position of Vice President in the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur[,] and Basilan, on the ground of terrorism, intimidation[,] and harassment of voters as well as pre-shading of ballots in all of the 2,756 protested clustered precincts that functioned in the aforesaid areas24
Additionally, the revision of ballots from the pilot provinces went through the following process:cralawred
(a) To verify the physical count of the ballots; (b) To recount the votes of the parties; (c) To record the parties' objections and claims thereon; and (d) To accordingly mark such ballots which were objected to and claimed by the parties for purposes of identification during subsequent examination by the Tribunal and for reception of evidence, if any.39
[F]irst, prior to the actual recount of the votes of the parties, the [head revisors] were required to authenticate the ballots to ensure their genuineness, ensuring that the ballots contained all the security features of the official ballots and using ultraviolet lamps which could detect the hidden security marks; second, such [head revisors] segregated the ballots which were read by the [vote-counting machines] into four (4) categories: (1) Ballots for Protestant; (2) Ballots for Protestee; (3) Ballots for Other Candidates; and (4) Ballots with Stray Votes (ballots with no votes or those with more than one (1) vote for the Vice President position); third, the revisors for protestant and protestee registered their respective objections to the Ballots for Protestee and Ballots for Protestant, respectively; fourth, both Party Revisors registered their claims on the Ballots for Other Candidates and Ballots with Stray Votes; fifth, both Party Revisors registered their claims on ballots that were rejected by the [vote counting machines] and were not thus included in the ballot segregation, if any; and lastly, each [revision committee] recorded all relevant data, including the results of their revision, in a Revision Report signed by all three (3) members and to which the claims and objections of the Party Revisors were annexed for subsequent ruling by the Tribunal during the appreciation stage.40 (Emphasis in the original, citations omitted)The revision of ballots for the pilot provinces commenced on April 2, 2018, and ended on February 4, 2019.41]
Hence, in the segregation of ballots, the Tribunal held that its Head visors must be guided by the number of votes indicated in the Election turns. The Tribunal held that, in using the Election Returns and not merely adopting a specific shading threshold, the Tribunal's revision procedure will be more flexible and adaptive to calibrations of the voting or counting machines in the future. The Head Revisors were directed to use the Election Returns which normally would be inside the ballot boxes retrieved. However, in their absence, the Head Revisors were directed to use the certified true copies of Election Returns obtained from COMELEC. As to those ballots already previously revised, the procedure of verifying votes using the Election Returns was to be strictly enforced during the appreciation stage by the Tribunal.54Accordingly, this Tribunal amended Rule 6255 of the Revisor's Guide to refer the segregated ballots to the election returns generated by the vote counting machine and guidelines set by the Tribunal. It now reads:cralawred
RULE 62. Votes of the Parties. - The segregation and classification of ballots shall be done by referring to the Election Return (ER) generated by the machine used in the elections. The Head Revisor shall count the total number of ballots for the Protestant, Protestee, Other Candidates, and with Stray Votes and record said matter on the appropriate spaces of the Revision Report.The revision and recount proceedings in the 5,415 clustered precincts in the three pilot provinces led to the following results:57
In examining the shades or marks used to register the votes, the Head Revisor shall bear in mind that the will of the voters reflected as votes in the ballots shall, as much as possible, be given effect, setting aside any technicalities. Furthermore, the votes thereon are presumed to have been made by the voter and shall be considered as such National and Local Elections reasons exist that will justify their rejection. Any issue on the segregation and classification of ballots by the Head Revisor shall be resolved by the assigned Revision Supervisor, based on the guidelines set by the Tribunal. Any objection to the ruling of the Revision Supervisor shall not suspend the revision of a particular ballot box. The ballot in question may be claimed or objected to, as the case may be, by the revisor of the party concerned.56 (Emphasis supplied)
On January 14, 2019, this Tribunal began its appreciation of the revised ballots, primarily to ascertain and give effect to the voters' intent. It then verified the physical count of the revised ballots and ruled on the parties' respective claims and objections.58 The appreciation process was completed on August 14, 2019.59
[Protestee] [Protestant]Camarines Sur 657,991 40,794Iloilo 562,811 93,245Negros Oriental 255,576 66,456Total 1,476,378 200,495
Next, acting on the claims made by the parties, the following votes were added to the parties:61
[Protestee] [Protestant]Camarines Sur (358) (8)Iloilo (285) (34)Negros Oriental (205) (56)Total votes deducted (848) (98)
This Tribunal then used the Provincial Certificates of Canvass to ascertain the number of votes received by the parties from the pilot provinces' 5,418 clustered precincts. However, this Tribunal subtracted the votes from the three clustered precincts with unavailable paper ballots, thus coming up with total votes in 5,415 clustered precincts:62
[Protestee] [Protestant]Camarines Sur 12,004 734Iloilo 16,825 2,127Negros Oriental 5,819 1,254Total votes added 34,648 4,115
This Tribunal then deducted the parties' votes from the 5,415 clustered precincts from their total votes as proclaimed by the National Board of Canvassers (TOTAL A):63
[Protestee] [Protestant] Votes in the 5,418 clustered precincts of the three pilot provinces based on the Provincial [Certificates of Canvass]
1,493,517
202,136 Less: Votes in the three (3) clustered precincts with unavailable paper ballots and ballots images
(859)
(51) Total votes in the 5,415 clustered precincts 1,492,658 202,085
The revision and appreciation of ballots in the 5,415 clustered precincts of the pilot provinces generated the following results (TOTAL B):64
[Protestee] [Protestant] Total votes as proclaimed 14,418,817 14,155,344 Less: Total votes in the 5,415 pilot clustered precincts (1,492,658) (202,085) Total votes in the clustered precincts other than the 5,415 pilot precincts revised and appreciated (TOTAL A)
12,926,159
13,953,259
Finally, this Tribunal added TOTAL A and TOTAL B to get the total number of votes received by the parties after revision and appreciation of the 5,415 clustered precincts in the pilot provinces:65
[Protestee] [Protestant] Votes in the 5,415 pilot clustered precincts after revision 1,476,378 200,495 Less: Votes deducted from sustained objections (848) (98) Total Votes in the 5,415 pilot clustered precincts after revision after deducting sustained objections
1,475,530
200,397 Add: Votes added due to admitted claims (ballots with stray votes, ballots with over-votes, and [vote counting machine]-rejected ballots)
34,648
4,115 Total votes in the 5,415 pilot clustered precincts after revision and appreciation (TOTAL B)
1,510,178
204,512
Based on the final tally after revision and appreciation, this Tribunal found that protestee increased her lead over protestant from 263,473 votes to 278,566 votes.66
[Protestee] [Protestant] Total votes in the clustered precincts other than the 5,415 pilot clustered precincts
12,926,159
13,953,259 Add: Total votes in the 5,415 pilot clustered precincts after revision and appreciation 1,510,178 204,512 Total votes in all clustered precincts after revision and appreciation of the ballots from the pilot clustered precincts
14,436,337
14,157,771
In his Memorandum,69 protestant claims that the Preliminary Appreciation Committee erred several times during its revision and appreciation of ballots.
- Their comments on the report on the revision and appreciation of votes relating to the three pilot provinces, Camarines Sur, Iloilo, and Negros Oriental as it relates to the Second Cause of Action;
- Their position on the following issues related to the Third Cause of Action:
A) Whether or not the results in the revision and appreciation of votes with respect to the Protestant's second cause of action moots or renders unnecessary the consideration of the Protestant's Third Cause of Action;
B) Whether or not the Presidential Electoral Tribunal has the competence to resolve the Third Cause of Action;
C) Assuming that the Presidential Electoral Tribunal has the competence to resolve the Third Cause of Action which is not mooted by the results of Tribunal's findings with respect to the second cause of action:
1) What are the filing rules and requirements that a party must observe if he or she seeks the relief of annulment of elections before the Presidential Electoral Tribunal?
2) What is the threshold of evidence that is required to prove failure or annulment of elections?
3) Will evidence other than those listed by the parties during the preliminary conference be considered?
4) What percentage of votes/precincts needs to be proven as having been affected by the grounds for failure or annulment of elections?
5) Will the threshold apply per province or to all three (3) provinces? Can there be failure or annulment in some but not all three (3) provinces?
6) Should a similar pilot testing rule be equally applied in annulment of election cases?
D) Assuming that the Tribunal is convinced that there is basis to find for the Protestant in the Third Cause of Action:
1) Will this mean that the elections for all the elective positions in the ballot be nullified with all its attendant legal consequences?
2) Can our declaration as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal or the Supreme Court be a bar for any question relative to any present and future electoral protest involving the same area and for any position?
3) Will it be necessary to call for special elections for the position of Vice President? If so, who has the competence to call for such elections?
4) Will this mean "recovery" for the Protestant under Rule 65, which will, in turn, mean revision of all his contested precincts nationwide?
5) What will be the effect of our ruling on Protestant's Third Cause of Action on protestee's counter protest?68
IN VIEW OF THE FOREGOING, this Tribunal resolves to DENY protestant's Strong Manifestation with Extremely Urgent Omnibus Motion for the: I. Inhibition of Associate Justice Mario Victor F. Leonen; II. Re-raffle of this Election Protest; III. Resolution of all the Pending Incidents in the Above Entitled Case dated November 9, 2020.For this Tribunal's resolution are the following issues:
The Office of the Solicitor General's Omnibus Motion (Motion for Inhibition of Associate Justice Marvic M.V.F. Leonen and Reraffle) also dated November 9, 2020 is NOTED WITHOUT ACTION.
The protestee's Countermanifestation (to the Strong Manifestation with Extremely Urgent Omnibus Motion for the: I. Inhibition of Associate Justice Mario Victor F. Leonen; II. Re-raffle of this Election Protest; III. Resolution of all the Pending Incidents in the Above Entitled Case dated November 9, 2020) is NOTED.
Let a copy of this Resolution be served on the Office of the Solicitor General.
SO ORDERED.185 (Emphasis in the original)
(a) | Illegal composition or proceedings of the board of canvassers; |
(b) | The canvassed election returns are incomplete, contain material defects, appear to be tampered with or falsified, or contain discrepancies in the same returns or in the authentic copies thereof as mentioned in Section 233, 234, 235, and 236 of this Code; |
(c) | The election returns were prepared under duress, threats, coercion, or intimidation, or they are obviously manufactured or not authentic; and |
(d) | When substitute or fraudulent returns in controverted polling places were canvassed, the results of which materially affected the standing of the aggrieved candidate or candidates.190 |
A petition for a declaration of failure of election must specifically allege the essential grounds that would justify the exercise of this extraordinary remedy. Otherwise, the Comelec can dismiss outright the petition for lack of merit. No grave abuse of discretion can be attributed to the Comelec in such a case because the Comelec must exercise with utmost circumspection the power to declare a failure of election to prevent disenfranchising voters and frustrating the electorate's will.202 (Emphasis supplied)The same is true of pre-proclamation controversies. Any challenge that relates to election returns must likewise be anchored on specificity. For instance, in Macabago v. Commission on Elections:203
Pre-proclamation controversies are properly limited to challenges directed against the Board of Canvassers and proceedings before said Board relating to particular election returns to which private respondent should have made specific verbal objections subsequently reduced to writing[.]204 (Emphasis supplied)In Macabago, the need to aver a particular controversy at the first instance was emphasized. As pre-proclamation cases demand the petitioner to raise illegality immediately,205 there is a need for "specific verbal objections subsequently reduced to writing."206
RULE 17. Contents of the Protest or Petition. -Correlative provisions govern election contests under the jurisdiction of other tribunals.
(A) An election protest or petition for quo warranto shall commonly state the following facts:
(a) the position involved; (b) the date of proclamation; and (c) the number of votes credited to the parties per the proclamation.
(B) A quo warranto petition shall also state:
(a) the facts giving the petitioner standing to file the petition; (b) the legal requirements for the office and the disqualifications prescribed by law; (c) the protestee's ground for ineligibility or the specific acts of disloyalty to the Republic of the Philippines.
(C) An election protest shall also state:
(a) that the protestant was a candidate who had duly filed a certificate of candidacy and had been voted for the same office. (b) the total number of precincts of the region, province, or city concerned; (c) the protested precincts and votes of the parties to the protest in such precincts per the Statement of Votes By Precinct or, if the votes of the parties are not specified, an explanation why the votes are not specified; and (d) a detailed specification of the acts or omissions complained of showing the electoral frauds, anomalies, or irregularities in the protested precincts. (Emphasis supplied)
SECTION 10. Contests of the protest or petition. -
(a) | An election protest or petition for quo warranto shall commonly and specifically state the following facts: | |
(i) | the position involved; | |
(ii) | the date of proclamation; and | |
(iii) | the number of votes credited to the parties per the proclamation. | |
(b) | A quo warranto petition shall also state: | |
(i) | if the petitioner is not a candidate for the same municipal position, the facts giving the petitioner standing to file the petition; | |
(ii) | the qualifications for the municipal office and the disqualifications prescribed by law; | |
(iii) | the petitioner's cited ground for ineligibility or the specific acts of disloyalty to the Republic of the Philippines. | |
(c) | An election protest shall also state: | |
(i) | that the protestant was a candidate who had duly filed a certificate of candidacy and had been voted for the same office; | |
(ii) | the total number of precincts in the municipality; | |
(iii) | the protested precincts and votes of the parties are not specified, an explanation why the votes are not specified; and | |
(iv) | a detailed specification of the acts or omissions complained of showing the electoral frauds, anomalies or irregularities in the protested precincts.210 (Emphasis supplied) |
SECTION 7. Contests of the protest or petition. - An election protest or petition for quo warranto shall specifically state the following facts:Basic wisdom underlies the need for specific allegations before entertaining pleas to set aside election outcomes. "The power to annul an election should be exercised with the greatest care as it involves the free and fair expression of the popular will."212 A losing candidate cannot use an election protest as an expedient means to unseat the winner, when they are unsure of their factual bases.213 "It is only in extreme cases of fraud and under circumstances which demonstrate to the fullest degree a fundamental and wanton disregard of the law that elections are annulled, and then only when it becomes impossible to take any other step."214
a) The position involved b) That the protestant was a candidate who has duly filed a certificate of candidacy and has been voted for the same office. c) The date of proclamation; and d) The number of votes credited to the parties per proclamation
An election protest shall also state:
e) The total number of precincts of the region, province or city concerned; f) The protested precincts and votes of the parties in the protested precincts per the Statement of Votes By Precinct or, if the votes of the parties are not specified an explanation why the votes are not specified; g) A detailed specification of the acts or omissions complained of showing the electoral frauds, anomalies or irregularities in the protested precincts.211 (Emphasis supplied)
The [Regional Trial Court] extensively laid out the reasons and thoroughly explained to the satisfaction of the Court why it ruled to dismiss the election protest:cralawredThe Court stressed in Corvera that a protest lacking in detail as to the "acts or omissions complained of showing the electoral frauds, anomalies, or irregularities"229 should be struck down for being insufficient in form and substance. Bare claims of "glitches," strange voting patterns, and discrepancies in the audit, without more, were found to be hollow accusations by a losing candidate unable to come to terms with defeat.230 In so ruling, the Court affirmed the need for strict compliance with the specificity requirement.An intensive study and exhaustive analysis of the allegations of the Petition revealed that the insufficiency in substance arose from the failure of the protest to: (a) indicate the total number of precincts in the municipality of San Jose; (b) specifically state in detail the acts or omissions complained of showing the electoral frauds, anomalies or irregularities in the protested precincts and how the various irregularities and anomalies had affected the results of the elections; (c) identify the precincts where the PCOS machines malfunctioned or failed to accurately account for the votes in favor of protestant; (d) allege with particularity the number of precincts where the CF cards were found defective; and (e) explain with particularity the failure to transmit the results and in what precincts. The foregoing considered, juxtaposed with the pertinent provisions of A.M. No. 10-4-1-SC quoted hereunder, it succinctly appears that the instant election protest is destined for doomsday.228 (Citation omitted)
7. The elections in the precincts of the Second District of Palawan were tainted with massive fraud, widespread vote-buying, intimidation and terrorism and other serious irregularities committed before, during and after the voting, and during the counting of votes and the preparation of election returns and certificates of canvass which affected the results of the election. Among the fraudulent acts committed were the massive vote-buying and intimidation of voters, disenfranchisement of petitioner's known supporters through systematic deletion of names from the list of voters, allowing persons to vote in excess of the number of registered voters, misappreciation, misreading and non-reading of protestant's ballots and other irregularities.234 (Citation omitted)The Court ruled that it was proper to dismiss Peña's protest, noting that it failed to point to where and how the alleged violations occurred. It considered this omission fatal, as it went into the substance of the protest:cralawred
The prescription that the petition must be sufficient in form and substance means that the petition must be more than merely rhetorical. If the allegations contained therein are unsupported by even the faintest whisper of authority in fact and law, then there is no other course than to dismiss the petition, otherwise, the assumption of an elected official may, and will always be held up by petitions of this sort by a losing candidate.235 (Emphasis supplied)In Aguillo, petitioners Nila Aguillo and Benjamin Del Rosario assailed the results of local elections in 133 clustered precincts in Cabuyao, Laguna. They alleged "massive vote buying activities,"236 "repeated or double transmission of results[,]"237 and "several instances of glitches and technical and electronic problems attending the counting and canvassing of votes[.]"238
[W]hat protestants entertain are mere doubts, fears and apprehensions in the efficiency, accuracy and reliability of the automated elections, [fueling] their self-serving belief that they probably won.In Lloren, the losing candidate for vice mayor assailed the results of the 2010 elections, alleging "massive vote-buying, intimidation, defective PCOS machines in all the clustered precincts, election fraud, and other election-related manipulations[.]"244 He failed, however, to indicate the number of precincts in the municipality, leading the Court to affirm the Regional Trial Court's dismissal of the protest:cralawred
These doubts, fears[,] and expressions of probability are not actionable. They do not constitute a cause of action simply because they are not yet in the realm of a wrong which is the essence of a cause of action.243 (Citation omitted)
As the findings of the [Regional Trial Court] show, petitioner did not indicate the total number of precincts in the municipality in his election protest. The omission rendered the election protest insufficient in form and content, and warranted its summary dismissal, in accordance with Section 12, Rule 2 of the Rules in A.M. No. l0-4-l-SC[.]245Through Lloren, the Court hearkened to the imperative of making specific allegations of fraud, irregularities, or anomalies, the failure of which warrants a protest's dismissal.
The foregoing252 considered, juxtaposed with the pertinent provisions of A.M. No. 10-4-1-SC quoted hereunder, it succinctly appears that the instant election protest is destined for doomsday.253Meanwhile, as Aguillo underscored:cralawred
An election protest is allowed to ascertain, not suppress, the true will of the electorate. It is not meant to save face, to keep pride for the loser. This is exactly the reason why an election protest is required to state "a detailed specification of the acts or omissions complained of showing the electoral frauds, anomalies or irregularities in the protested precincts." An election protest which is not only divisive but also disruptive of the affairs of a political unit cannot and should never be allowed to proceed on mere belief and suspicion of a losing candidate.254Lloren's language also leaves no room for doubt. It characterized dismissal as "mandatory":cralawred
The omission255 rendered the election protest insufficient in form and content, and warranted its summary dismissal, in accordance with Section 12, Rule 2 of the Rules in A.M. No. 10-4-1-SC, ..
...
We note that the summary dismissal of the election protest upon any of the grounds mentioned in Section 12 is mandatory.256
Massive electoral fraud, anomalies, and irregularities, such as, but not limited to terrorism, violence, force, threats, force, intimidating, preshading of ballots, vote-buying, substitution of voters, flying voters, pre-loaded SD cards, misreading of ballots, unexplained, irregular and improper rejection of ballots containing votes for protestant Marcos, malfunctioning Vote Counting Machine, and abnormally high unaccounted votes / under votes for the position of Vice President compromised and corrupted the conduct of the elections and the election results for the position of the Vice-President in the protested precincts.257These irregularities allegedly occurred in 39,221 clustered precincts scattered in around 27 provinces and cities in the Philippines.258 Of these clustered precincts, he prayed for the annulment of elections in 2,756 clustered precincts, and the conduct of judicial revision of votes in the remaining 36,465 clustered precincts.259
Date and Place where examination was conducted:Footnote 77 of the Protest stated that affiant Imelda N. Dungog's (Dungog) Affidavit is attached as Annex QQ-4,273 while Amalia S. Mitra's (Mitra) is attached as Annex QQ-3.274 However, upon review of the records, Annex QQ-3 turned out to be Dungog's Affidavit,275 while Annex QQ-4276 was Mitra's Affidavit Apart from these lapses, Dungog stated that she went to her precinct at 6:05 p.m., way past the official voting hours as prescribed in the Commission on Elections Resolution No. 10088,277 from 6:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. only. It is not our business to speculate how Dungog cast her vote when it supposedly had been more than an hour since the polls closed.
June ______, 2016 at the Office of the Provincial Election Supervisor ay (sic) Provincial Capitol, Marawi City, Lanao del Sur[.]272 (Emphasis in the original)
2. On May ______, 2016 at around 9:30 AM in the morning/afternoon, I went to Precint (sic) in order to participate in the 2016 National and Local Elections;In any case, Annex WW-9 does not convince this Tribunal that the voters of Quezon were disenfranchised. Aguinaldo stated that protestant's supporters were not allowed to vote because their names "were not included in the Precinct Computerized [Voters] List[.]"286 He also stated that he knew these voters to be registered and with an active status in the Commission on Elections database.287 However, it was entirely possible that these voters were assigned in a different precinct. The Precinct Computerized Voters List is limited to the names of registered voters assigned to the particular precinct. It is immaterial for a supposed registered voter to attest to personally knowing that certain registered supporters were not in one list.
...
5. I am executing the affidavit in order to support the truth (sic) allegations that several irregularities were present during the recently concluded elections and that the voters/supporters of ___________________ were positively disenfranchised without any justification at all.285
BukidnonStrangely, the allegation under paragraph 7.132 pertained to the province of Leyte, under the sub-heading Bukidnon.291
...
7.132. Protestant Marcos strongly rejects and disputes the election results for the position of Vice-President as reflected above. This election protest assails and impugns the elections results for the position of Vice-President in each of the _____________ protested clustered precincts that functioned in the province of Leyte because the same do not reflect the true results of the elections thereat.
...
7.137. In view of the foregoing, protestant Marcos prays for the reopening of the protested ballot boxes and the manual recount, judicial revision, technical examination and forensic investigation of the paper ballots and/or the ballot images, voter's receipts, election returns, audit logs, transmission logs, the lists of voters, particularly the Election Day Computerized Voter's List (EDCVL), voters registration records (VRRs), the books of voters and other pertinent election documents and/or paraphernalia used in the elections, as well as the automated election equipment and records such as the VCM, SD cards (main and back up) and the other data storage devices containing electronic data and ballot images in each of the _____________ protested clustered precincts which functioned in Bukidnon during the last elections.290 (Emphasis in the original)
7.178. In view of the foregoing, protestant Marcos prays for the reopening of the protested ballot boxes and the manual recount, judicial revision, technical examination and forensic investigation of the paper ballots and/or the ballot images, voter's receipts, election returns, audit logs, transmission logs, the lists of voters, particularly the Election Day Computerized Voter's List (EDCVL), voters registration records (VRRs), the books of voters and other pertinent election documents and/or paraphernalia used in the elections, as well as the automated election equipment and records such as the VCM, SD cards (main and back up) and the other data storage devices containing electronic data and ballot images in each of the _____________ protested clustered precincts which functioned in Batangas province during the last elections.292 (Emphasis in the original)In addition, footnote 260 also left particular details blank. Protestant did not indicate which annex pertained to the Certified True Copy of the Certificate of Canvass of Zamboanga City:cralawred
...
7.302 In view of the foregoing, protestant Marcos prays for the reopening of the protested ballot boxes and the manual recount, judicial revision, technical examination and forensic investigation of the paper ballots and/or the ballot images, voter's receipts, election returns, audit logs, transmission logs, the lists of voters, particularly the Election Day Computerized Voters' List (EDCVL), voters registration records (VRRs), the books of voters and other pertinent election documents and/or paraphernalia used in the elections, as well as the automated election equipment and records such as the VCM, SD cards (main and back up) and the other data storage devices containing electronic data and ballot images in each of the _____________ protested clustered precincts which functions in Cebu City during the last elections.293 (Emphasis in the original)
It is not for this Tribunal to supply the missing details that protestant failed to indicate.
260 Certified true copy of the City/Municipality Certificate of Canvass of Zamboanga City is herein attached and made integral part of the protest as ANNEX ______.294 (Emphasis in the original)
... [m]assive electoral fraud, anomalies, and irregularities, such as, but not limited to terrorism, violence, force, threats, force, intimidation, preshading of ballots, vote-buying, substitution of voters, flying voters, preloaded [Secure Digital] cards, misreading of ballots, unexplained, irregular and improper rejection of ballots containing votes for protestant, malfunctioning [vote counting machines], and abnormally high unaccounted votes / under votes for the position of Vice President compromised and corrupted the conduct of the elections and the election results for the position of the Vice-President in the protested precincts.297are glaringly similar to the allegations of the protestants in Peña and Aguillo. The allegations in Peña were articulated as follows:cralawred
7. The elections in the precincts of the Second District of Palawan were tainted with massive fraud, widespread vote-buying, intimidation and terrorism and other serious irregularities committed before, during and after the voting, and during the counting of votes and the preparation of election returns and certificates of canvass which affected the results of the election. Among the fraudulent acts committed were the massive vote-buying and intimidation of voters, disenfranchisement of petitioner's known supporters through systematic deletion of names from the lists of voters, allowing persons to vote in excess of the number of registered voters, misappreciation, misreading and non-reading of protestant's ballots and other irregularities.Protestant's arguments in Aguillo were stated in this manner:cralawred
...
9. Had the massive fraud, widespread intimidation and terrorism and other serious irregularities not been committed, the result of the elections for Member of the House of Representatives would have been different and the protestant would have garnered the highest number of votes for the Office of Member of the House of Representatives in the Second District of Palawan, which was the true expression of the will of the voters of the Province of Palawan.298
a. Various fraud and irregularities were prevalent at the precinct level, to wit:The glaringly similar allegations in Peña and Aguillo failed to impress the Court. There is no reason to treat this Protest differently. In fact, with more reason should this Tribunal be strict, as it deals with the two highest positions of power in our Republic.
....a.3. Another form of irregularity was the massive vote buying activities, whether in the form of money or kind, perpetrated by Protestee's allies, which further makes it difficult to conclude that the May 10, 2010 elections were clean, credible, honest and democratic....
a.4. Voters who have yet to cast their votes were no longer allowed to vote at 7 o'clock in the evening of election day even if they were within the thirty (30) meter radius from the pooling place, only because they were known supporters of herein Protestant[.]299
RULE 65. Dismissal; when proper. - The Tribunal may require the protestant or counter-protestant to indicate, within a fixed period, the province or provinces numbering not more than three, best exemplifying the frauds or irregularities alleged in his petition; and the revision of ballots and reception of evidence will begin with such provinces. If upon examination of such ballots and proof, and after making reasonable allowances, the Tribunal is convinced that, taking all circumstances into account, the protestant or counter-protestant will most probably fail to make out his case, the protest may forthwith be dismissed, without further consideration of the other provinces mentioned in the protest.Rule 65 gives this Tribunal the discretion to direct the protestant or counter-protestant to designate the pilot provinces that would best exemplify the alleged frauds or irregularities. This is apparent in the use of the permissive word, may:cralawred
The preceding paragraph shall also apply when the election protest involves correction of manifest errors. (Emphasis supplied)
The word "may" in Rule 65 refers to the discretion of the Tribunal to dismiss or not the protest, and if the Tribunal does not dismiss the protest, to require the protestant to designate "not more than three" pilot provinces, a mandatory ceiling. The word "may" recognizes that the Tribunal may summarily dismiss the protest, in which event there will be no reason to require the designation of pilot provinces. But if the Tribunal does not dismiss the protest, there will be a need to designate "not more than three" pilot provinces. The word "may" has never been interpreted to pertain to the number of pilot provinces, which must be "not more than three," a language which is a clear mandatory command that the number of pilot provinces shall not exceed three.308 (Emphasis in the original)While this Tribunal may direct the protestant to designate pilot provinces, Rule 65 also provides a mandatory ceiling of "not more than three pilot provinces," limiting its designation to a maximum of three.
RULE 76. Pilot Precincts; Initial Determination. - The revision of the ballots or the correction of manifest errors and reception of evidence shall begin with pilot precincts. If after the appreciation of ballots or election documents and/or reception of evidence in the pilot precincts, the Tribunal determines that the officially proclaimed results of the contested election will not be affected, the Tribunal shall dismiss the protest, counter or cross protest without further proceedings.317Likewise, in the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal:cralawred
RULE 40. Post-Revision Determination of the Merit or Legitimacy of Protest Prior to Revision of Counter-Protest; Pilot Precincts; Initial Revision and/or Technical Examination. - ..For election protests involving elective regional, provincial, and city officials:cralawred
The revision of the ballots or the examination, verification or retabulation of election returns and the reception of evidence shall begin only with the designated pilot protested precincts.
The revision of ballots or the examination, verification or retabulation of election returns and the reception of evidence in the remaining seventy-five (75%) protested precincts and twenty-five percent (25%) counter-protested precincts shall not commence until the Tribunal shall have determined through appreciation of ballots or election documents and/or reception of evidence, within a period not exceeding ten (10) successive working days, the merit or legitimacy of the protest, relative to the designated pilot protested precincts.
Based on the results of such post-revision determination. the Tribunal may dismiss the protest without further proceedings, if and when no reasonable recovery was established from the pilot protested precincts, or may proceed with the revision of the ballots or the examination, verification or re-tabulation of election returns in the remaining contested precincts.
The foregoing shall likewise apply to the twenty-five percent (25%) of designated pilot counter-protested precincts.
However, if the proclamation margin is only one thousand (1,000) votes or less, the revision of ballots or the examination, verification or re tabulation of election returns and/or reception of evidence shall cover all the contested precincts.318 (Emphasis supplied)
Based on the above determination, the Division may dismiss the protest, without further proceedings, if no reasonable recovery could be established from the pilot protested precincts. Otherwise, the recount of the ballots in the remaining protested precincts shall proceed. The recount of the pilot counter-protested precincts if substantial recovery is likewise established by the counter protestant, shall then follow. For this purpose, there is substantial recovery when the protestant or counter protestant is able to recover at least 20% of the overall vote lead of the protestee or counter protestee.319 (Emphasis supplied)Rule 15
Recount of Ballots
SECTION 6. Conduct of the Recount. - ..
(b) The recount of the ballots in the remaining contested precincts shall not commence until the Division concerned shall have made a determination on the merit of the protest based on the results of the recount of the votes on the ballots from the pilot protested precincts and the review of other documentary exhibits which the protestant may submit. The documentary exhibits may be submitted by the protestant within a non-extendible period of ten (10) days from the completion of the recount of the pilot protested precincts.
Finally, as to elective barangay officials:cralawredRule 10
Revision of Ballots
...
SECTION 10. Post-revision determination of the merit of legitimacy of the protest prior to revision of the counter-protest. - .... Based on the results of this post-revision preliminary determination, the court may dismiss the protest without further proceedings if the validity of the grounds for the protest is not established by the evidence from the chosen twenty percent (20%) of the protested precincts; or proceed with revision or examination of the ballots, or the verification or re-tabulation of election returns in the counter-protested precincts. In the latter case, the protestee shall be required to pay the cash deposit within a non-extendible period of three (3) days from notice.320 (Emphasis supplied.)
The results upon examination of ballots in the pilot provinces determine whether this Tribunal should proceed with the retrieval and revision of the remaining ballots in the other precincts. Thus, in this case, if the results in the pilot provinces supported protestant's allegation of massive fraud and irregularities in protestee's favor, this Tribunal must proceed with the Protest. Otherwise, it must be dismissed.322Rule 10
Revision of Ballots
...
SECTION 9. Post-revision determination of the merit of legitimacy of the protest prior to revision of the counter-protest. - ..
Based on the results of such post-revision determination, the court may dismiss the protest without further proceedings, if and when no reasonable recovery was established from the twenty percent pinpointed precincts, or proceed with revision of the ballots or the examination, verification or re-tabulation of election returns in the counter-protested precincts.321 (Emphasis supplied)
The HRET highlighted that Daza presented testimonial and documentary evidence showing that: (1) prior to the May 13, 2013 elections, the National Democratic Front-Eastern Visayas (NDF-EV) had already shown its animosity and hostility towards him and his then incumbent governor son through the posting on the NDF-EV website and in conspicuous places statements declaring them as enemies of the people of Northern Samar; (2) comic magazines vilifying them were distributed; (3) "pulong-pulongs" were held in the concerned barangays where the NDF-EV exhorted the resident-attendees to vote against him and in favor of Abayon, threatening to comeback if the result were otherwise; (4) his supporters and/or fellow Liberal Party candidates were prohibited from campaigning for him, and also from mounting tarpaulins/posters and distributing sample ballots; (5) Abayon had meetings with NDF-EV officials, during which times, he gave them money and guns; and (6) NDFEV armed partisans were deployed around the school premises in the concerned precincts on election day.Sitting as a member of the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal, then Associate Justice Peralta dissented. He found no clear and convincing evidence to warrant the annulment of election results in the five clustered precincts. He opined that the testimonies failed to identify a single ballot that was affected by terrorism. He added that there was no evidence that the alleged acts of terrorism were of Abayon's doing.336
The HRET found that Daza had adduced convincing evidence to establish that fear was instilled in the minds of hundreds of resident-voters in the protested clustered precincts from the time they had attended the "pulong-pulongs" up until the election day itself when armed partisans were deployed to the schools to ensure that the voters would not vote for him but for Abayon.335
Both Abayon and Daza do not contest the exclusive jurisdiction of the HRET to decide election protests filed against members of the House of Representatives. They, however, diverge as to the extent of its jurisdiction.The Court continued that a resort to annulment of elections is warranted only in exceptional circumstances:cralawred
An Election Protest proposes to oust the winning candidate from office. It is strictly a contest between the defeated and the winning candidates, based on the grounds of electoral frauds or irregularities. It aims to determine who between them has actually obtained the majority of the legal votes cast and, therefore, entitled to hold the office.
The Court agrees that the power of the HRET to annul elections differ from the power granted to the COMELEC to declare failure of elections. The Constitution no less, grants the HRET with exclusive jurisdiction to decide all election contests involving the members of the House of Representatives, which necessarily includes those which raise the issue of fraud, terrorism or other irregularities committed before, during or after the elections. To deprive the HRET the prerogative to annul elections would undermine its constitutional fiat to decide election contests. The phrase "election, returns and qualifications" should be interpreted in its totality as referring to all matters affecting the validity of the contestee's title. Consequently, the annulment of election results is but a power concomitant to the HRET's constitutional mandate to determine the validity of the contestee's title.
The power granted to the HRET by the Constitution is intended to be as complete and unimpaired as if it had remained originally in the legislature. Thus, the HRET, as the sole judge of all contests relating to the election, returns and qualifications of members of the House of Representatives, may annul election results if in its determination, fraud, terrorism or other electoral irregularities existed to warrant the annulment. Because in doing so, it is merely exercising its constitutional duty to ascertain who among the candidates received the majority of the valid votes cast.
To the Court's mind, the HRET had jurisdiction to determine whether there was terrorism in the contested precincts. In the event that the HRET would conclude that terrorism indeed existed in the said precincts, then it could annul the election results in the said precincts to the extent of deducting the votes received by Daza and Abayon in order to remain faithful to its constitutional mandate to determine who among the candidates received the majority of the valid votes cast.339
It must be remembered that "[t]he power to declare a failure of elections should be exercised with utmost care and only under circumstances which demonstrate beyond doubt that the disregard of the law had been so fundamental or so persistent and continuous that it is impossible to distinguish what votes are lawful and what are unlawful, or to arrive at any certain result whatsoever, or that the great body of the voters have been prevented by violence, intimidation and threats from exercising their franchise." Consequently, a protestant alleging terrorism in an election protest must establish by clear and convincing evidence that the will of the majority has been muted by violence, intimidation or threats.The Court adopted Chief Justice Peralta's dissent, extensively quoting portions of it, and ruled that Daza failed to present clear and compelling evidence to annul the election results. The Court held that the evidence presented was "utterly weak, unclear and unconvincing."340 It also adopted Chief Justice Peralta's opinion which underscored the need to prove that the protestee was responsible for the alleged terrorism and violence:cralawred
It is worthy to note that no evidence was presented which will directly point to protestee as the one responsible for the incidents which allegedly happened before and during the elections. Absent anything that would concretely and directly establish protestee as the one who had induced or actually perpetrated the commission of terroristic acts and demonstrate that those incidents were part of a scheme to frustrate the free expression of the will of the electorate, the alluded handing of material considerations, including guns, to the NDF-EV officials, and the garnering of votes higher than those of the protestant in the protested clustered precincts, do not per se make him responsible for the charges of terrorism.341Abayon was reinstated as the duly elected representative of the First Legislative District of Northern Samar.342
... no longer present any testimonial evidence to prove the material allegations in so far as the thirty-six thousand four hundred sixty-five (36,465) protested clustered precincts which functioned in the following protested areas of Cebu Province, Leyte, Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, Masbate, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte, Bukidnon, Iloilo Province, Bohol, Quezon Province, Batangas, Western Samar, Misamis Oriental, Camarines Sur, 2nd District of Northern Samar, Palawan, Albay, Zamboanga Sibugay, Misamis Occidental, Pangasinan, Isabela, Iloilo City, Bacolod City, Cebu City, Lapu-Lapu City, and Zamboanga City are concerned.344This was reiterated in the October 15, 2019 Resolution:cralawred
As regards the Second Cause of Action, protestant maintained that he would no longer present any testimonial evidence to prove the material allegations insofar as the 36,465 protested clustered precincts were concerned and would rely only on the results of the revision of ballots.345The second cause of action concerns whether protestant was able to determine if there was reasonable recovery of votes based on the results of the revision and appreciation of the protested ballots in protestant's chosen pilot provinces. Since this Tribunal's Rules provided no numerical equivalent to determine if protestant successfully made out his case, protestant must convincingly show that it is possible for him to overcome the protestee's lead. Only then will this Tribunal be compelled to proceed with the revision and appreciation of the other contested areas.
The total number of ballots for revision, 2,638,928, was divided into protestant's (202,085) and protestee's (1,492,658) shares of votes based on the Provincial Certificates of Canvass. The revision process left protestant with 200,495 votes, while protestee was left with 1,476,378 votes. Each party then raised claims and objections on these votes.
Number of Ballots Revised Pilot Provinces Number of Actual Voters Number of Ballots deducted prior to Revision due to LACK OF DECRYPTED BALLOT IMAGE346 Total number of Ballots Revised347 Protestant Protestee TotalCamarines Sur 841,496348 39 676 715 840,781Iloilo Province 1,139,418349 12 183 195 1,139,223Negros Oriental 658,924350 0 0 0 658,924TOTAL 2,639,838 51 859 910 2,638,928
After revision and appreciation, protestant's total number of votes only increased by 204,512, while protestee's total number of votes increased by 1,510,178. By this alone, protestant failed to show reasonable recovery of votes in his designated pilot provinces which supposedly best exemplified his allegations of fraud and irregularities. It fails to convince this Tribunal that protestant can overcome protestee's lead.
Number of Votes for Protestant after Revision and Appreciation Pilot Provinces Number of Votes Received by Protestant based on Provincial Certificate of Canvass351 Number of Ballots deducted prior to Revision due to LACK OF DECRYPTED BALLOT IMAGE352 Number of Ballots to be Revised for Protestant353 Number of Votes after Revision354 Sustained Objections355 Number of Votes After Deducting Sustained Objections356 Number of Votes added to Protestant after Appreciation357 Total Number of Votes for Protestant after Revision and Appreciation358 Camarines Sur 41,219359 39 41,180 40,794 8 40,786 734 41,520 Iloilo Province 94,411 12 94,399 93,245 34 93,211 2,127 95,338 Negros Oriental 66,506 0 66,506 66,456 56 66,400 1,254 67,654 TOTAL 202,136 51 202,085 200,495 98 200,397 4,115 204,512
Number of Votes for Protestee after Revision and Appreciation Pilot Province Number of Votes Received by Protestee based on Provincial Certificate of Canvass360 Number of Ballots deducted prior to Revision due to LACK OF DECRYPTED BALLOT IMAGE361 Number of Ballots Revised for Protestee362 Number of Votes after Revision363 Sustained Objections364 Number of Votes After Deducting Sustained Objections365 Number of Votes added to Protestee after Appreciation366 Total Number of Votes for Protestee after Revision and Appreciation367 Camarines Sur 664,190 676 663,514 657,991 358 657,633 12,004 669,637 Iloilo Province 573,729 183 573,546 562,811 285 562,526 16,825 579,351 Negros Oriental 255,598 0 255,598 255,576 205 255,371 5,819 261,190 TOTAL 1,493,517 859 1,492,658 1,476,378 848 1,475,530 34,648 1,510,178
Consequently, the difference between the annulment of elections by electoral tribunals and the declaration of failure of elections by the COMELEC cannot be gainsaid. First, the former is an incident of the judicial function of electoral tribunals while the latter is in the exercise of the COMELEC's administrative function. Second, electoral tribunals only annul the election results connected with the election contest before it whereas the declaration of failure of elections by the COMELEC relates to the entire election in the concerned precinct or political unit. As such, in annulling elections, the HRET does so only to determine who among the candidates garnered a majority of the legal votes cast. The COMELEC, on the other hand, declares a failure of elections with the objective of holding or continuing the elections, which were not held or were suspended, or if there was one, resulted in a failure to elect. When COMELEC declares a failure of elections, special elections will have to be conducted.377Thus, the power to annul election results rests within the electoral tribunals. This power is "an incident of the judicial function of electoral tribunals,"378 and an indispensable consequence of the constitutional mandate379 of electoral tribunals to decide all election contests within their jurisdiction Abayon continued that two indispensable requisites must concur to annul an election:cralawred
Abayon also extensively discussed how "no evidence was presented which will directly point to protestee as the one responsible for the incidents which allegedly happened before and during the elections."381
(1) The illegality of the ballots must affect more than fifty percent (50%) of the votes cast on the specific precinct or precincts sought to be annulled, or in case of the entire municipality, more than fifty percent (50%) of its total precincts and the votes cast therein; and (2) It is impossible to distinguish with reasonable certainty between the lawful and unlawful ballots.380
SECTION 11. Failure of Election. - If, on account of force majeure, violence, terrorism, or fraud, the election in any precinct or precincts has not been held on the date herein fixed or has been suspended before the hour fixed by law for the closing of the voting and such failure or suspension of election in any precinct or precincts would alter the result of the election for any office to be voted in said election, the Commission may, on the basis of a verified petition and after due notice and hearing, call for the holding or continuation of the election on a date reasonably close to the date of the election not held or suspended: Provided, however, That the holding or continuation of the election on the date fixed by the Commission shall not be effective unless confirmed by the Supreme Court. For this purpose the Commission shall immediately certify to the Supreme Court its resolution for review, transmitting with it the pertinent records of the proceedings.When the 1978 Election Code382 was decreed into law, it expanded the grounds to proclaim the postponement of elections, including "loss or destruction of election paraphernalia or records, ... and other analogous cause of such a nature that the holding of a free, orderly and honest election should become impossible":cralawred
SECTION 6. Postponement of election. - When for any serious cause such as violence, terrorism, loss or destruction of election paraphernalia or records, force majeure, and other analogous cause of such a nature that the holding of a free, orderly and honest election should become impossible in any voting center or political subdivision, the Commission on Elections, which hereinafter shall be referred to as the Commission, upon a verified petition and after due notice and hearing, shall postpone the election therein for such time as it may deem necessary.The 1978 Election Code also differentiated a failure of election from the mere postponement of election. It then provided more comprehensive guidelines on the Commission on Elections' exercise of the duty to call for a special election. It stated:cralawred
SECTION 7. Failure of election. - If, on account of force majeure, violence, terrorism, or fraud the election in any voting center has not been held on the date fixed or has been suspended before the hour fixed by law for the closing of the voting and such failure or suspension of election in any voting center would affect the result of the election, the Commission may, on the basis of a verified petition and after due notice and hearing, call for the holding or continuation of the election on a date reasonably close to the date of the election not held or suspended.The law then expanded and clarified the powers of the Commission on Elections by instituting it as the "sole judge of all pre-proclamation controversies and any of its decisions, orders or rulings shall be final and executory."383
SECTION 8. Call of special election. - Special election shall be called by the Commission by proclamation on a date to be fixed by it, which shall specify the offices to be voted for, that it is for the purpose of filling a vacancy or a newly created elective position, as the case may be. The Commission shall send copies of the proclamation, in numbers sufficient for due distribution and publication, to the provincial election supervisor or city election registrar concerned, who in turn shall publish it in their respective localities, by posting copies thereof in at least three conspicuous places in the city or in each municipality in the building, the public market, and his office, and one copy each in every voting center in the city or province.
Pending an election to fill a vacancy arising from any cause in the interim Batasang Pambansa, the vacancy shall be filled by majority vote of the Members of the interim Batasang Pambansa on nomination of the President.
SECTION 5. Failure of Election. - Whenever for any serious cause such as violence, terrorism, loss or destruction of election paraphernalia or records, force majeure and other analogous causes of such a nature that the holding of a free, orderly and honest election should become impossible, the election for a local office fails to take place on the date fixed by law, or is suspended, or such election results in a failure to elect, the Commission on Elections shall, on the basis of a verified petition and after due notice and hearing, call for the holding or continuation of the election as soon as practicable.Thereafter, the rules were also applied to the election of barangay officials in the Barangay Election Act of 1982:385
SECTION 16. Postponement or Failure of Election. - When for any serious cause such as violence, terrorism, loss or destruction of election paraphernalia or records, force majeure, and other analogous causes of such nature that the holding of a free, orderly and honest election should become impossible in any barangay, the Commission on Elections, upon a verified petition, and after due notice and hearing, shall postpone the election therein for such time as it may deem necessary.Upon the enactment of the Omnibus Election Code,386 the Commission on Elections can now motu proprio387 proclaim a failure of election. The Code also provided for special elections regarding vacancy in the Batasang Pambansa388 and at the barangay level.389
If, on account of force majeure, violence, terrorism, or other analogous causes or fraud, the election in any barangay has not been held on the date herein fixed or has been suspended before the hour fixed by law for the closing of the voting therein and such failure or suspension of election would affect the result of the election, the Commission on Elections, on the basis of a verified petition and after due notice and hearing, shall call for the holding or continuation of the election on a date reasonably close to the date of the election not held or suspended.
In such case, the Minister of Local Government shall designate the persons who shall temporarily act as Punong Barangay (Barangay Captain) and Members of the Sangguniang Barangay (Barangay Council).
When the conditions in these areas warrant, upon verification by the Commission on Elections, or upon petition of at least thirty per centum of the registered voters in the barangay concerned, it shall order the holding of the barangay election. (Emphasis supplied)
Moreover, Republic Act No. 7056390 and Republic Act No. 7166391 both provided that "[t]he postponement, declaration of failure of election, and the calling of special elections as provided in Sections 5, 6 and 7 of the Omnibus Election Code (Batas Pambansa Blg. 881) shall be decided only by the Commission on Elections sitting en banc by a majority vote of its members."392RULE26
Postponement or Suspension of Elections
...
SECTION 3. Motu Proprio Postponement. - When the Commission acts motu proprio, notices of hearing must be sent to all interested parties by the fastest means available.
SECTION 4. When Based Upon a Verified Petition. - Unless a shorter period is deemed necessary by circumstances, within twenty-four (24) hours from the filing of the petition, the Clerk of Court concerned shall forthwith serve notices to all interested parties, indicating therein the date of hearing, through the fastest means available.
SECTION 5. Time to File Opposition. - Unless a shorter period is deemed necessary by the circumstances, within two (2) days from receipt of the notice of hearing, any interested party may file an opposition with the Law Department of the Commission.
SECTION 6. Summary Proceeding. - The hearing of the case shall be summary in nature.
SECTION 7. Delegation of Reception of Evidence. - The Commission may designate any of its officials who are members of the Philippine Bar to hear the case and to receive evidence.
SECTION 8. Determination of Cessation of Cause. - The determination of the cessation of the cause of the postponement or suspension of election or failure of election falls within the exclusive prerogative of the Commission.
All the cases in the Commission on Elections' report, except for one, were dismissed on the merits. The Commission on Elections made findings of fact which led it to conclude that there was no failure of elections or any ground to annul the election results. This Tribunal respects the Commission on Elections' rulings, which have attained finality.
Province Case No. Case Title Nature of the Case Resolution LANAO DEL SUR Marawi City, Lanao del Sur SPA 16-111 (FE) In the matter of the Petition to Declare Failure of Elections in Marawi City Petition to Declare Failure of Elections DISMISSED on the merits. Marantao, Lanao del Sur SPA 16-130 (FE) In the matter of Declaring Failure of Elections in Barangays Bacong, Daana Ingud, Matampay, Poona Marantao, Kialdan, Lubo 1 and 2, Lumbac Kialdan, Mantapoli, Pantiamas, Tuca Kialdan and Punud Proper of the Municipality of Marantao, Lanao del Sur and to hold Special Elections or to Annul/Exclude Election Returns therein Samson U. Adiong Declaration of Failure of Elections, hold Special Elections, or to Annul/Exclude Election Returns DISSMISSED on the merits. Marantao, Lanao del Sur SPA 16-131 (FE) Alimoden Guro Cornell v. The Members of the BEI of Clustered Precinct Nos. of Brgys. Mantapoli, Pantaimas, Lubo, Kialdan, Tuka Kialdan, Lumbac Kialdan; The MBOC of the Municipality of Marantao, Province of Lanao del Sur, Alahoding Maruhom, as the Vice Mayor, Proclaimed in the recently concluded May 09, 2016 National, Local and ARMM Elections In the matter of the Petition to Declare a Failure of Election in Clustered Precinct No. 0043A, 0044A, 0045A, 0045B, 0045C of Brgy. Lubo, 0047A, 0047B, 0048A, 0048B of Brgy. Lumbac Kialdan, 0049A, 0050A, 0051A, 0052A, Brgy. Mantapoli, 0079A, 0080A, 0081A, 0082A, 0083A of Brgy. Tuca Kialdan; 0069A, 0070A, 0071A, 0071B of Brgy. Pantaimas; 0040A, 0041A, 0042A, 0042B of Brgy. Kialdan in the Municipality of Marantao, Province of Lanao del Sur. DISMISSED on the merits. MAGUINDANAO Northern Kabuntulan, Maguindanao SPA 16-114 (FE) Magdon U. Dingalen v. Mohidin S. Laubanand the MBOC, Northern Kabuntalan, Maguindanao For Annulment of Elections and/or Declaration of Failure of Elections and Annulment of Proclamation DISMISSED on the merits. Pagalungan, Maguindanao SPA 16-122 (FE) Guimid P. Matalam and Arkan M. Matalam v. Salik Mamasabulod, Abdillah Mamasabulod and Municipal Board of Canvassers (MBOC) of Pagalungan, Maguindanao For Annulment of Elections and/or Declaration of Failure of Elections and Annulment of Proclamation DISMISSED on the merits. Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao SPA 16-125 (FE) Ibrahim K. Ibrahim v. Shameem B. Mastura Petition for Annulment of Election Results and/or Declaration of Failure of Elections DISMISSED on the merits. Datu Unsay, Maguindanao SPA 16-132 (FE) Formerly SPC 16-016 Monawara Ampatuan,Kamarudin Ibrahim, Abdul Hamid Lumena, Tato G. Abdulradzak, Macmod Ebrahim, Norodin Datuali, Mulba Ampakay, Zacaria Saway, Mohammad Unggala and Rocky Nacio, in their capacities as local candidates for the May 9, 2016 elections in Datu Unsay, Maguindanao v. Reshal Ampatuan, Janine Mamalapat, Salahudin Tagadaya, Zuhari Guiapal, Wanay Dukay, Tho Pasawilan, Adbulrahim Abdullah, Ging Amman, Mohammad Shamron Sapalon, and Dor Engkel, in their capacities as proclaimed winning local candidates for the May 9, 2016 elections, and the MBOC, all for the Municipality of Datu Unsay, Maguindanao Petition for Annulment of Proclamation and/or Declaration of Failure of Elections DISMISSED on the merits. Sultan sa Barongis, Maguindanao SPA 16-135 (FE) Formerly SPC 16-017 Abubakar Katambak and Sukamo Badal v. The MBOC of Sultan sa Barongis, Maguindanao, Ramdatu Angas, and Al Fizzar Allandatu Angas Petition for Declaration of Nullity and/or Annulment of Proclamation and/or Declaration of Failure of Elections DISMISSED due to non-appearance of both parties400
In view of protestant's clear and unequivocal declaration that he will no longer present any testimonial evidence on his Second Cause of Action, the Tribunal reiterates its directive to protestant to submit a new list of witnesses for the Third Cause of Action by limiting that number of witnesses to three (3) per clustered precinct, and already identifying the concerned clustered precinct, within a non-extendible period of five (5) days from receipt hereof. Protestant's failure to do so will be deemed a waiver of his right to name and identify his witnesses, and to present them during the reception of evidence.405 (Emphasis in the original, citation omitted)Protestant submitted a Manifestation and Compliance (Re: List of Witnesses for the Third Cause of Action) dated September 8, 2017.406 This was another accommodation, considering that this Tribunal had previously dismissed protests on insufficient allegations alone. As earlier discussed, Corvera,407Aguillo,408Lloren,409 and Peña410 declared that general allegations of irregularities, insufficient averments, and failure to specify precincts warrant the dismissal of election protests. However, despite being directed to state the specific clustered precinct per witness, which other petitioners had not been accorded in the past, protestant still did not comply.
The testimonies of a minute portion of the registered voters in the said precincts should not be used as a tool to silence the voice of the majority expressed through their votes during elections. To do so would disenfranchise the will of the majority and reward a candidate not chosen by the people to be their representative. With such dire consequences, it is but expected that annulment of elections be judiciously exercised with utmost caution and resorted only in exceptional circumstances.417 (Emphasis supplied)Annulling the votes for vice president in the 2016 elections casts serious doubts on the victory of other nationally elected officials like the president, senators, and party-list representatives. This is why "the power to annul an election should be exercised with the greatest care as it involves the free and fair expression of the popular will. It is only in extreme cases of fraud and under circumstances which demonstrate to the fullest degree a fundamental and wanton disregard of the law that elections are annulled, and then only when it becomes impossible to take any other step."418
Utto went on to narrate that after receiving Taha's report, he proceeded to Datu Pendililang Piang Elementary School where he also saw the incumbent mayor's armed men, whom the military and police also present in the area seemed to have tolerated.443
2. On 9 May 2016, Election Day, around 9 a.m. at Barangay Kabinge, while I was doing my rounds to observe the conduct of elections, I was alarmed by the presence of armed men within fifty (50) meters from the voting center. I noticed that it was the group of MILF 118 Base Command Wahid Tundok with Nashro Dimaukom and Patrick Dimaukom ("Tundok group"), brother and nephew of incumbent Mayor Dimaukom. The Tundok group numbered a hundred men and I immediately noticed that about six (6) of them were brandishing their pistols in full view of the Armed Forces of the Philippines ("AFP") soldiers and the public.442
SECTION 192. Persons allowed in and around the polling place. - During the voting, no person shall be allowed inside the polling place, except the members of the board of election inspectors, the watchers, the representatives of the Commission, the voters casting their votes, the voters waiting for their turn to get inside the booths whose number shall not exceed twice the number of booths and the voters waiting for their turn to cast their votes whose number shall not exceed twenty at any one time. The watchers shall stay only in the space reserved for them, it being illegal for them to enter places reserved for the voters or for the board of election inspectors or to mingle and talk with the voters within the polling place.Utto appears to have committed an election offense, having went to two different polling places to observe the elections despite being a candidate and not an authorized poll watcher. It could be that he just cast his vote in one of the polling places he visited, but no such statement was made in his Affidavit. Just the same, any registered voter has a stake in the outcome of the elections, but the manner by which we ensure the clean, orderly, and honest elections should be within the bounds of law.
It shall be unlawful for any officer or member of the Armed Forces of the Philippines including the Philippine Constabulary or the Integrated National Police or peace officer or any armed person belonging to any extra-legal police agency, special forces, reaction forces, strike forces, home defense units, barangay tanod, or other similar forces or paramilitary forces, including special forces, security guards, special policemen, and all other kinds of armed or unarmed extra-legal police officers, to enter any polling place, unless it is his polling place where he will vote but in such case he should immediately leave the polling place, and within a radius of fifty meters from such polling place, no policeman or peace officer shall be allowed to enter or stay inside the polling place except when there is an actual disturbance of the peace and order therein. However, the board of election inspectors upon majority vote, if it deems necessary, may make a call in writing, duly entered in the minutes, for the detail of a policeman or any peace officer for their protection or for the protection of the election documents and paraphernalia, in which case, the said policeman or peace officer shall stay outside the polling place within a radius of thirty meters near enough to be easily called by the board of election inspectors at any time, but never at the door, and in no case shall the said policeman or peace officer hold any conversation with any voter or disturb or prevent or in any manner obstruct the free access of the voters to the polling place. It shall likewise be unlawful for any barangay official to enter and stay inside any polling place except to vote or except when serving as a watcher or member of the board of election inspectors, in which case, he shall leave the polling place immediately after voting.
4. That, it was not until about 10:00 o'clock in the morning, when a military vehicle arrived and talked to the Barangay Captain that all voters, without distinction, were already allowed entry to the polling place and allowed to cast votes[.]467Notably, Akilin himself admitted that the issue of selecting voters who could cast their votes was resolved that same morning. As for the pre shaded ballots, there was likewise no statement that these ballots were fed into the vote-counting machines.
Ballot Snatching and FeedingIn sum, the affidavits lacked specificity and any iota of proof of fraud or irregularity that would entail annulment of elections, falling short of the threshold in Abayon.
5. Contrary to the directive of the COMELEC Central Office, the ballots for the clustered precincts in the Municipalities of Akbar, Tuburan, Al Barkah, Sumisip, Tabu-an Lasa, and in some barangays of the Municipalities of Muhammad Ajul and Lantawan, all in the Province of Basilan, were not delivered to such clustered precincts but were instead placed in the respective Municipal Halls. As a result, local candidates belonging to the Liberal Party, together with their armed men, took around 90% of these ballots from their respective Treasurers of said municipalities and brought said ballots to the households of their supporters and/or relatives to be filled-up.
6. On the next day, 9 May 2016, these already filled-up ballots were then fed into the VCMs. As a result of these activities, 90% of the voters in these Municipalities were disenfranchised.468
96. As to whether the threshold will apply per province to all three (3) provinces, it can be inferred from the ruling in the case of Abayon v. HRET and Daza that if the annulment of the election results involves an entire province, the threshold in case of annulment of the election results covering an entire municipality should apply, i.e., the illegality of the ballots must affect more than fifty percent (50%) of the total precincts of the municipality or province concerned.The Commission on Elections likewise recommended that per Abayon, the threshold of evidence to prove annulment of elections consists of a showing that:cralawred
97. As to whether there can be failure or annulment in some but not all three (3) provinces, the answer will depend on whether there is compliance with the threshold of evidence that is required to prove failure or annulment of elections and the percentage of votes/precincts that needs to be proven as having been affected by the grounds for failure or annulment of elections. If there is compliance for ALL the three (3) provinces then the elections results for the position of Vice-President in these 3 provinces shall be annulled.469 (Emphasis in the original)
This Tribunal applies the requisites in Abayon. Both parties have repeatedly invoked it, and the Commission on Elections itself has insisted on its applicability. We take this opportunity to scrutinize this case through the lens of Abayon.
(1) The illegality of the ballots must affect more than fifty percent (50%) of the votes cast on the specific precinct or precincts sought to be annulled, or in case of the entire municipality, more than fifty percent (50%) of its total precincts and the votes cast therein; (2) It is impossible to distinguish with reasonable certainty between the lawful and unlawful ballots; and (3) There must be clear, convincing and strong evidence showing that the protestee is the one responsible for the unlawful acts complained of.470
Before the COMELEC can declare a failure of election two conditions must concur, namely (1) no voting took place in the precinct or precincts on the date fixed by law, or even if there was voting, the election resulted in a failure to elect; and (2) the votes not cast would have affected the resulted of the election[s]. The cause of such failure of election could only be any of the following: force majeure, violence, terrorism, fraud or other analogous causes. The phrase "resulted in failure to elect," in turn, must be understood in its literal sense, which is "nobody was elected."The August 16, 2016 Resolution turned final on February 15, 2017.478 The Commission on Elections' ruling that there was no failure of elections in Marawi City is thus binding on this Protest, based on res judicata by conclusiveness of judgment. The rule is codified in Rule 39, Sec. 47(c) of the Rules of Civil Procedure, which states:cralawred
A careful review of the circumstances surrounding the subject elections in Marawi City would disprove any claim of failure of elections therein.
The mere fact that the winning candidates in Marawi City have been proclaimed belies the argument that no voting took place in the precincts on the date fixed by law, or that the election resulted in the failure to elect. In fact, PES Dela Peña failed to appear during the scheduled hearing to present evidence that there was indeed failure of election in Marawi City. There is nothing in the records that will show that (a) elections were not conducted in the designated polling places; (b) elections were suspended in the said city or barangays; and (c) after the voting and during the transmission of the election returns or in the custody or canvass thereof, such results in failure to elect on account of force majeure, violence, terrorism, fraud and other analogous causes.477 (Emphasis in the original, citations omitted)
This rule was explained in Webb v. Gatdula:479Rule 39
Execution, Satisfaction and Effect of Judgments
SECTION 47. Effect of judgments or final orders. - The effect of a judgment or final order rendered by a court of the Philippines, having jurisdiction to pronounce the judgment or final order, may be as follows:
...
(c) In any other litigation between the same parties or their successors in interest, that only is deemed to have been adjudged in a former judgment or final order which appears upon its face to have been so adjudged, or which was actually and necessarily included therein or necessary thereto.
There is conclusiveness of judgment when "there is identity of parties in the first and second cases, but no identity of causes of action[.]" Moreover, "the first judgment is conclusive only as to those matters actually and directly controverted and determined and not as to matters merely involved therein." Thus, when a court of competent jurisdiction judicially tried and settled a right or fact, or an opportunity for a trial has been given, the court's judgment should be conclusive upon the parties. In Nabus v. Court of Appeals:cralawredWhile SPA No. 16-111 (FE) does not name any petitioner, the resolved matter is the same as that raised by protestant here. The grounds for annulment of election results are similar to the grounds for declaration of failure of elections. The Commission on Elections found no failure of elections in Marawi City because the elections were held, a majority of the voters cast their votes, and winning candidates were proclaimed. Thus, there is no need to re-litigate the same matter.The doctrine [of conclusiveness of judgment] states that a fact or question which was in issue in a former suit, and was there judicially passed on and determined by a court of competent jurisdiction, is conclusively settled by the judgment therein, as far as concerns the parties to that action and persons in privity with them, and cannot be again litigated in any future action between such parties or their privies, in the same court or any other court of concurrent jurisdiction on either the same or a different cause of action, while the judgment remains unreversed or unvacated by proper authority. The only identities thus required for the operation of the judgment as an estoppel, in contrast to the judgment as a bar, are identity of parties and identity of issues.In essence, res judicata by bar by prior judgment prohibits the filing of a second case when it has the same parties, subject, and cause of action, or when the litigant prays for the same relief as in the first case. Meanwhile, res judicata by conclusiveness of judgment precludes the relitigation of a fact or issue that has already been judicially settled in the first case between the same parties. If, between the first and second case, the causes of action are different and only the parties and issues are the same, res judicata is still present by conclusiveness of judgment.480 (Citations omitted)
It has been held that in order that a judgment in one action can be conclusive as to a particular matter in another action between the same parties or their privies, it is essential that the issues be identical. If a particular point or question is in issue in the second action, and the judgment will depend on the determination of that particular point or question, a former judgment between the same parties will be final and conclusive in the second if that same point or question was in issue and adjudicated in the first suit; but the adjudication of an issue in the first case is not conclusive of an entirely different and distinct issue arising in the second. In order that this rule may be applied, it must clearly and positively appear, either from the record itself or by the aid of competent extrinsic evidence that the precise point or question in issue in the second suit was involved and decided in the first. And in determining whether a given question was an issue in the prior action, it is proper to look behind the judgment to ascertain whether the evidence necessary to sustain a judgment in the second action would have authorized a judgment for the same party in the first action....
Elections did take place in the assailed clustered precincts as the evidence on record establishes. There is no evidence on record that elections were suspended before the hour fixed by law for the closing of the voting because of the alleged terrorism and anomalies claimed in the petitions. Moreover, the alleged terrorism and anomalies did not result in failure to elect.The ruling that there was no failure of elections in the municipality of Marantao is also res judicata by conclusiveness of judgment.
...
While there is evidence on record showing that there was a shooting incident at the Municipal Gym of Marantao, which resulted in the deaths of two of Petitioner Adiong's watchers, the same cannot be considered as sufficient basis to declare failure of elections because evidence shows that the violent encounter did not fully disrupt or adversely affect the voting in the questioned polling centers.482
102. Following the requirements laid down in Abayon, protestant Marcos must be able to show that at least Five Hundred Fifty Four Thousand Forty Two (554,042) votes were affected by the alleged electoral [frauds], anomalies and irregularities in the Provinces of Basilan, Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao:The Commission on Elections' finding that there was no failure of elections in several cities and municipalities in these provinces serves as res judicata by conclusiveness of judgment. Necessarily, we must subtract the number of votes in those areas from the total number of protested votes. After subtracting the number of votes, we can preliminarily determine whether the remaining votes will reach the threshold in Abayon.
Total Number of Voters Who Actually Voted Number of Votes That Must Have Been AffectedBasilan 190,704 95,353Lanao del Sur 421,057 210,529Maguindanao 496,319 248,160TOTAL 1,108,080 554,042498
Meanwhile, data for Maguindanao is presented in the table below:cralawred
LANAO DEL SUR Marawi City Total Number of Registered Voters Actual Voter Turnout based on Statement of Votes by City/Municipality Votes to be Deducted from total number of protested ballotsProtestant 49,114 44,780 5,050Protestee 21,782Total 26,832 Municipality of MarantaoProtestant 20,793 19,446 2,307Protestee 7,405Total 9,712 TOTAL number of votes to be deducted from protested ballots in the Province of Lanao del Sur
36,544
Per the Commission on Elections, no petition to declare failure of elections and/or annulment of election results was filed for Basilan.
MAGUINDANAO Municipality of Pagalungan Total Number of Registered Voters Actual Voter Turnout based on Statement of Votes by City/Municipality Votes to be Deducted from total number of protested ballotsProtestant 17,031 13,039 495Protestee 7,030Total 7,525 Municipality of Sultan KudaratProtestant 44,719 41,320 13,494Protestee 14,490Total 27,984 Municipality of Sultan sa BarongisProtestant 10,267 6,783 653Protestee 2,985Total 3,638 Municipality of Datu UnsayProtestant 5,827 4,287 56Protestee 444Total 500 Municipality of Northern KabuntalanProtestant 10,538 6,694 1,524Protestee 2,791Total 4,315 TOTAL number of votes to be deducted from protested ballots in the Province of Maguindanao
43,962
From this table, it is clear that the remaining contested ballots for Lanao del Sur will not meet the required threshold under the first requisite.
Determination of whether Abayon's Threshold will be met if Third Cause of Action is given due course Province Total Number of Actual Voters 50+1 Threshold Votes Subject of Annulment Votes Deducted due to COMELEC'S prior finding TOTAL ballots that remain subject to annulment 50+1 Threshold Met?Basilan 190,704 95,353 Protestant 32,326 None 32,326 Protestee 77,321 None 77,321 109,647 YesLanao del Sur 421,057 210,529 Protestant 56,243 7,357 48,886 Protestee 180,539 41,228 139,311 188,197 NoMaguindanao 496,319 248,160 Protestant 80,591 16,222 64,369 Protestee 220,125 27,740 192,385 256,754 Yes
There is prima facie showing that protestee would still maintain her lead even if we proceed with the third cause of action.
Combined total for all provinces Protestant's remaining votes subject of annulment Protestee's remaining votes subject of annulment RESULTBasilan 32,326 77,321Lanao Del Sur 48,886 139,311Maguindanao 64,369 192,385TOTAL 145,581 409,017Total Votes after revision and appreciation
14,157,771
14,436,337LESS (total of three provinces) 145,581 409,017TOTAL 14,012,190 14,027,320 Protestee maintains her leadDIFFERENCE 15,130
The Commission on Elections denied the Petition, reasoning that:cralawred
a) [Mastura]'s personnel shaded in advance the official ballots; b) [Mastura]'s personnel threated to kill the legitimate voters who were supporting [Ibrahim]; c) Barangay officials were tolerating elements engaged in the advance shading of ballots; d) Letting [Mastura]'s personnel man the polling places or precincts; e) Excluding [Ibrahim]'s poll watchers from their assigned precincts; f) Closing the precincts without just cause; g) Allowing [Mastura]'s voters to vote repetitively; h) Not inking voters; i) Allowing persons not on COMELEC's master list of voters to vote; and j) Feeding the ballots and the pre-shaded ballots to the VCM (PCOS) Machines.510
Section 6 of the Omnibus Election Code lays down the conditions for Failure of Election to prosper, thus:cralawredSince there was no ruling on the merits in Tan, the pilot precincts there were included in the computation of remaining votes to be annulled, as shown in the previous table. To reiterate, the votes that were removed from the computation of votes to be annulled are those where the Commission on Elections had ruled that there was no failure of elections. Thus, if we consider the alleged failure of elections in the pilot precincts in Tan, it would not change any of the computation in the table above, as these precincts already form part of it.Sec. 6. Failure of election. - If, on account of force majeure, violence, terrorism, fraud, or other analogous causes the election in any polling place has not been held on the date fixed, or had been suspended before the hour fixed by law for the closing of the voting, or after the voting and during the preparation and the transmission of the election returns or in the custody or canvass thereof, such election results in a failure to elect, and in any of such cases the failure or suspension of election would affect the result of the election, the Commission shall, on the basis of a verified petition by any interested party and after due notice and hearing, call for the holding or continuation of the election not held, suspended or which resulted in a failure to elect on a date reasonably close to the date of the election not held, suspended or which resulted in a failure to elect but not later than thirty days after the cessation of the cause of such postponement or suspension of the election or failure to elect.Based on the foregoing provision, three instances justify a declaration of failure of election. These are:
a) the election in any polling place has not been held on the date fixed on account of force majeure, violence, terrorism, fraud or other analogous causes; b) the election in any polling place has been suspended before the hour fixed by law for the closing of the voting on account of force majeure, violence, terrorism, fraud or other analogous causes; or c) after the voting and during the preparation and transmission of the election returns or in the custody or canvass thereof, such election results in a failure to elect on account of force majeure, violence, terrorism, fraud or
The Supreme Court elucidates that what is common in these three instances is the resulting failure to elect. In the first instance, no elections is held while in the second, the election is suspended. In the third instance, circumstances attending the preparation, transmission, custody or canvas (sic) of the election returns cause a failure to elect. The term failure to elect means nobody emerged as a winner. Absent any showing that these conditions were not met, the Commission can deny the Petition.
A close perusal of the allegations in the Petition shows that [Ibrahim] does not contend that elections were not held or suspended. Neither does he allege that although there was voting, nobody was elected. [Ibrahim] simply posits that there was failure of elections on account of violence, intimidation and fraud committed by [Mastura]. These allegations do not fall under any of the conditions that would justify the declaration of failure of election.
...
[Ibrahim] averred that there was failure of election for the reason that no actual election was held since no actual voting was done by the real and legitimate voters of Sultan Kudarat on account of violence, intimidation, and fraud of [Mastura] and his personnel.
We are not persuaded.
...
As earlier discussed, the conditions set forth by law were not met in the instant case to declare failure of elections. Elections were held followed by the declaration of the winning candidate. Considering that there is no concurrence of the conditions seeking to declare failure of election, there is no longer need to receive evidence on alleged election irregularities.
Moreover, the nullification of elections or declaration of failure of elections is an extraordinary remedy. The party who seeks the nullification of an election has the burden of proving entitlement to this remedy. It is not enough that a verified petition is filed. The allegations in the petition must make out a prima facie case for the declaration of failure of election, and convincing evidence must substantiate the allegations.511 (Citations omitted)
A plain reading of Article VII, Section 4, paragraph 7, readily reveals a grant of authority to the Supreme Court sitting en banc. In the same vein, although the method by which the Supreme Court exercises this authority is not specified in the provision, the grant of power does not contain any limitation on the Supreme Court's exercise thereof. The Supreme Court's method of deciding presidential and vice-presidential election contests, through the PET, is actually a derivative of the exercise of the prerogative conferred by the aforequoted constitutional provision. Thus, the subsequent directive in the provision for the Supreme Court to "promulgate its rules for the purpose."520 (Emphasis supplied)This Tribunal has promulgated its 2010 Rules which governs its proceedings. Under Rule 67, this Tribunal "shall follow the procedure prescribed for the Supreme Court in Sections 13 and 14, Article VIII of the Constitution." These constitutional provisions, in turn, state:cralawred
Thus, there is no rule requiring an election protest to be decided within a particular timeframe, whether 20 months521 or 12 months522 after its filing.ARTICLE VIII
Judicial Department
...
SECTION 13. The conclusions of the Supreme Court in any case submitted to it for decision en banc or in division shall be reached in consultation before the case is assigned to a Member for the writing of the opinion of the Court. A certification to this effect signed by the Chief Justice shall be issued and a copy thereof attached to the record of the case and served upon the parties. Any Member who took no part, or dissented, or abstained from a decision or resolution must state the reason therefor. The same requirements shall be observed by all lower collegiate courts.
SECTION 14. No decision shall be rendered by any court without expressing therein clearly and distinctly the facts and the law on which it is based.
No petition for review or motion for reconsideration of a decision of the court shall be refused due course or denied without stating the legal basis therefor.
Endnotes:
1Rollo, Vols. I and II, pp. 1-1047.
2 Resolution of Both Houses No. 1, Resolution of both houses approving the report of the joint committee, declaring the results of the National Elections held on May 9, 2016, for the offices of President and Vice President, and proclaiming the duly elected President and Vice President of the Republic of the Philippines, May 30, 2016, http://www.senate.gov.ph/16th_congress/resolutions/joint%20public%20session%20res%20both%20houses%20no.1.pdf (last accessed on January 31, 2021).
3 Id.
4Rollo, Vol. XLIX, pp. 39525.
5Rollo, Vol. II, pp. 927-929.
6Rollo, Vol. XX, pp. 16012-16013.
7 Id.
8 Id. at 16010-16013.
9Rollo, Vols. XXI-XXVII, pp. 16155-21525.
10Rollo, Vol. XXI, pp. 16177-16186.
11 Id. at 16167-16177.
12Rollo, Vol. XLIX, pp. 39529-39530. The provinces included in the Counter-Protest were Apayao, Mountain Province, Abra, Kalinga, Bataan, Capiz, Aklan, Antique, Sarangani, Sulu, Sultan Kudarat, South Cotabato, and North Cotabato.
13Rollo, Vol. XXI, pp. 16406-16689.
14 Id. at 16690.
15Rollo, Vol. XXIX, pp. 22459-A-22459-H.
16 CONST., art. VII, sec. 4 states:
Section 4. The President and the Vice-President shall be elected by direct vote of the people for a term of six years which shall begin at noon on the thirtieth day of June next following the day of the election and shall end at noon of the same date, six years thereafter. The President shall not be eligible for any re-election. No person who has succeeded as President and has served as such for more than four years shall be qualified for election to the same office at any time.
No Vice-President shall serve for more than two successive terms. Voluntary renunciation of the office for any length of time shall not be considered as an interruption in the continuity of the service for the full term for which he was elected.
Unless otherwise provided by law, the regular election for President and Vice-President shall be held on the second Monday of May.
The returns of every election for President and Vice-President, duly certified by the board of canvassers of each province or city, shall be transmitted to the Congress, directed to the President of the Senate. Upon receipt of the certificates of canvass, the President of the Senate shall, not later than thirty days after the day of the election, open all the certificates in the presence of the Senate and the House of Representatives in joint public session, and the Congress, upon determination of the authenticity and due execution thereof in the manner provided by law, canvass the votes.
The person having the highest number of votes shall be proclaimed elected, but in case two or more shall have an equal and highest number of votes, one of them shall forthwith be chosen by the vote of a majority of all the Members of both Houses of the Congress, voting separately.
The Congress shall promulgate its rules for the canvassing of the certificates.
The Supreme Court, sitting en banc, shall be the sole judge of all contests relating to the election, returns, and qualifications of the President or Vice-President, and may promulgate its rules for the purpose.
17Rollo, Vol. XXIX, pp. 22459-A-22459-H.
18 Id. at 22674-22698.
19Rollo, Vol. XXX, pp. 23285-23290.
20 Id. at 22900-22924.
21 Id. at 22990-23006.
22Rollo, Vol. XXXI, pp. 23087-23091.
23 Id. at 23978-A-23798-E.
24Rollo, Vol. XLIX, p. 39540.
25Rollo, Vol. XXXI, pp. 23966-23972.
26Rollo, Vol. XXXII, pp. 24482-24515.
27 Id. at 24483-24484.
28 Id.
29Rollo, Vol. XXIX, pp. 22674-22698.
30Rollo, Vol. XXXII, pp. 24485-24514. The PCO is included in the August 29, 2017 Resolution.
31 Id.
32Rollo, Vol. XXXII, p. 24501.
33 Id. at 24502.
34Rollo, Vol. XLIX, p. 39545.
35Rollo, Vol. XXXII, pp. 24510-24511.
36Rollo, Vol. XLIX, p. 39548.
37 Id. at 39550.
38 Id. at 39551.
39 Presidential Electoral Tribunal's Revisor's Guide for the Revision of Ballots under the Automated Election System (2018), Rule 4.
40Rollo, Vol. XLIX, pp. 39553.
41 Id.
42 Id.
43 Id. at 39555-39556.
44Rollo, Vol. XXXIV, pp. 26366-26370.
45 PET RULES (2010), Rule 43(1) states:
RULE 43. Conduct of the Revision. - The revision of votes shall be done through the use of appropriate [precinct count optical scan] machines or manually and visually, as the Tribunal may determine, and according to the following procedures:
...
(1) In looking at the shades or marks used to register votes, the [revision committees] shall bear in mind that the will of the voters reflected as votes in the ballots shall as much as possible be given effect, setting aside any technicalities. Furthermore, the votes thereon are presumed to have been made by the voter and shall be considered as such unless reasons exist that will justify their rejection. However, marks or shades which are less than 50% of the oval shall not be considered as valid votes. Any issue as to whether a certain mark or shade is within the threshold shall be determined by feeding the ballot on the [precinct count optical scan] machine, and not by human determination.
46 Presidential Electoral Tribunal's Revisor's Guide for the Revision of Ballots under the Automated Election System (2018), Rule 62 states:
RULE 62. Votes of the Parties. - After the segregation and classification of ballots, the Head Revisor shall count the total number of ballots for the Protestant, Protestee, Other Candidates, and with Stray Votes and record said matter on the appropriate spaces of the Revision Report.
In examining the shades or marks used to register the votes, the Head Revisor shall bear in mind that the will of the voters reflected as votes in the ballots shall, as much as possible, be given effect, setting aside any technicalities. Furthermore, the votes thereon are presumed to have been made by the voter and shall be considered as such National and Local Elections reasons exist that will justify their rejection. Any issue as to whether a certain mark or shade is within the threshold shall be resolved by the assigned Revision Supervisor. Any objection to the ruling of the Revision Supervisor shall not suspend the revision of a particular ballot box. The ballot in question may be claimed or objected to, as the case may be, by the revisor of the party concerned.
47Rollo, Vol. XXXIV, pp. 26366-26370.
48 Id. at 26483-26496.
49Rollo, Vol. XXXVII, pp. 28970-28983.
50 Id. at 28971.
51 Id. at 28972.
52Rollo, Vol. XLI, pp. 32728-32748.
53Rollo, Vol. XLIX, p. 39558.
54 Id. at 9559.
55 Rule 6 of the Revisor's Guide originally read:
RULE 62. Votes of the Parties. - After the segregation and classification of ballots, the Head Revisor shall count the total number of ballots for the Protestant, Protestee, Other Candidates, and with Stray Votes and record said matter on the appropriate spaces of the Revision Report.
In examining the shades of marks used to register the votes, the Head Revisor shall bear in mind that the will of the voters reflected as votes in the ballots shall, as much as possible, be given effect, setting aside any technicalities. Furthermore, the votes thereon are presumed to have been made by the voter and shall be considered as such unless reasons exist that will justify their rejection. Any issue as to whether a certain mark or shade is within the threshold shall be resolved by the assigned Revision Supervisor. Any objection to the ruling of the Revision Supervisor shall not suspend the revision of a particular ballot box. The ballot in question may be claimed or objected to, as the case may be, by the revisor of the party concerned.
56Rollo, Vol. XLIX, pp. 39557-39558.
57 Id. at 39565.
58 Id. at 39561.
59 Id.
60 Id. at 39569.
61 Id. at 39572.
62 Id. at 39573.
63 Id. at 39574.
64 Id.
65 Id. at 39574-39575.
66 Id. at 39575.
67 Id.
68 Id. at 39576-39577.
69Rollo, Vol. L, pp. 40341-40935.
70 Id.
71 Id. at 40649.
72 Id.
73 Id.
74 Id. at 40650.
75 Id. at 40651-40793.
76 Id. at 40794-40878.
77 Id. at 40879-40889.
78 Id. at 40889-40892.
79 Id. at 40892.
80 Id. at 40896.
81 Id. at 40903.
82 Id. at 40904.
83 Id.
84 Docketed as EPC No. 2016-37.
85Rollo, Vol. L, p. 40905.
86 Id.
87 Id.
88 Id. at 40907-40908.
89 Id.
90 785 Phil. 683 (2016) [Per J. Mendoza, Special En Banc].
91Rollo, Vol. L, pp. 40908-40910.
92 Id. at 40920-40921.
93 Id.
94 Id. at 40921.
95 Id. at 40931-40932.
96Rollo, Vol. XLIX, pp. 39655-40098.
97 Id. at 39661.
98 Id. at 39666 and 39681.
99 Id. at 39667-39681.
100 Id. at 39666.
101 Id. at 39681.
102 Id. at 39682-39690.
103 Id. at 39690.
104 Id. at 39690-39703.
105 Id. at 39703.
106 Id.
107 Id. at 39703-39776.
108 Id. at 39776.
109 Id. at 39779.
110 Id. at 39782.
111 Id. at 39782-39783.
112 Id.
113 Id. at 39795.
114 548 Phil. 699 (2007) [Per J. Carpio, En Banc].
115Rollo, Vol. XLIX, p. 39797.
116 785 Phil. 683 (2016) [Per J. Mendoza, Special En Banc].
117Rollo, Vol. XLIX, p. 39800.
118 Id. at 39806.
119 Id. at 39804-39807.
120 Id. at 39811.
121 Id. at 39808.
122 Id. at 39811-39853.
123 Id. at 39854.
124 Id.
125Rollo, Vol. XLIX, p. 39855.
126 Id. at 40337-40340. Protest Annex A.
127 Id. at 39856-39857.
128 Id.
129 Id. at 39864.
130Rollo, Vol. L, pp. 41266-41270.
131 Id.
132 Id.
133 Id. at 41331-41360.
134 Id. at 41334-41338.
135 Id. at 41338.
136 Id.
137 Id. at 41342.
138 Id. at 41343.
139 Id.
140 HRET Case No. 12-023 (EP), February 3, 2016, https://hret.gov.ph/file-manager/2013-2016_023_decision-com.pdf [Per R. Enverga, HRET].
141 J. Peralta, Dissenting Opinion in Daza v. Abayon, HRET Case No. 12-023 (EP), February 3, 2016, https://hret.gov.ph/file-manager/2013-2016_023_dissenting-com.pdf [Per R. Enverga, HRET].
142Rollo, Vol. L, pp. 41343-41344.
143 Id. at 41344.
144 Id. at 41346-41347.
145 Id. at 41348-41349.
146 Id. at 41355-41356.
147 Id. at 41345-41346.
148 Id. at 41291-41330.
149 Id. at 41312-41314.
150 Id. at 41317.
151Rollo, Vol. LI, pp. 41937-41971.
152 Id. at 41941.
153 Id. at 41943-41944.
154 Id. at 41946-41947.
155 Id. at 41947-41948.
156 Id. at 41949-41950.
157 Id. at 41950.
158 Id.
159 Id. at 41951.
160 Id. at 41955.
161 Id. at 41956-41957.
162 Id. at 41960.
163 Id. at 41964.
164 Id. at 41965.
165 Id. at 41852-41895.
166 Id. at 41868-41871.
167 Id. at 41870. PET RULES (2010), Rule 65 states:
RULE 65. Dismissal; when proper. - The Tribunal may require the protestant or counter-protestant to indicate, within a fixed period, the province or provinces numbering not more than three, best exemplifying the frauds or irregularities alleged in his petition; and the revision of ballots and reception of evidence will begin with such provinces. If upon examination of such ballots and proof, and after making reasonable allowances, the Tribunal is convinced that, taking all circumstances into account, the protestant or counter-protestant will most probably fail to make out his case, the protest may forthwith be dismissed, without further consideration of the other provinces mentioned in the protest.
The preceding paragraph shall also apply when the election protest involves correction of manifest errors.
168Rollo, Vol. LI, p. 41888.
169 Id. at 41872-41874.
170 Id.
171 Id. at 41876-41877.
172 Id. at 41878-41888.
173 Id. at 41889.
174Rollo, Vol. L, pp. 41462-41482, Strong Manifestation with Extremely Urgent Omnibus Motion for the Inhibition of Associate Justice Mario Victor F. Leonen (Justice Leonen); II. Re-raffle of this Election Protest; III. Resolution of all the Pending Incidents in the Above Entitled Case.
175 Id. at 41466.
176 Id. at 41491.
177 Id. at 41492.
178 Id.
179 Id. at 41467-41469.
180 Id. at 41492 and 41499-41502.
181 Id. at 41472-41473 and 41501-41502.
182 Id. at 41602-41632.
183 Id. at 41630.
184 Id.
185 Id. at 41631.
186 ELECTION CODE, sec. 6.
187Carlos v. Angeles, 400 Phil. 405 (2000) [Per J. Mendoza, En Banc].
188 ELECTION CODE, sec. 241.
189Suhuri v. COMELEC, 617 Phil. 852 (2009) [Per J. Bersamin, En Banc] citing Matalam v. COMELEC, 338 Phil. 447 (1997) [Per J. Panganiban, En Banc]; and Sanchez v. COMELEC, 237 Phil. 69 (1987) [Per Curiam, En Banc].
190 ELECTION CODE, sec. 243.
191 COMELEC Resolution No. 8804 (2010).
192 COMELEC Resolution No. 8804 (2010), Rule 3. sec. 1.
193Tecson v. COMELEC, 468 Phil. 421 (2004) [Per J. Vitug, En Banc].
194 A.M. No. 10-4-1-SC, Rule 1, sec. 3(t), 2010 Rules of Procedure in Election Contests before the Courts Involving Elective Municipal Officials.
195Tecson v. COMELEC, 468 Phil. 421 (2004) [Per J. Vitug, En Banc].
196Samad v. COMELEC, 296 Phil. 509, 521 (1993) [Per J. Cruz, En Banc].
197 Id.
198Tecson v. COMELEC, 468 Phil. 421, 462 (2004) [Per J. Vitug, En Banc].
199Samad v. COMELEC, 296 Phil. 509, 521 (1993) [Per J. Cruz, En Banc].
200 CONST., art. VI, sec. 17 provides:
SECTION 17. The Senate and the House of Representatives shall each have an Electoral Tribunal which shall be the sole judge of all contests relating to the election, returns, and qualifications of their respective Members. Each Electoral Tribunal shall be composed of nine Members, three of whom shall be Justices of the Supreme Court to be designated by the Chief Justice, and the remaining six shall be Members of the Senate or the House of Representatives, as the case may be, who shall be chosen on the basis of proportional representation from the political parties and the parties or organizations registered under the party-list system represented therein. The senior Justice in the Electoral Tribunal shall be its Chairman.
CONST., art. VII, sec. 4(7) provides:
The Supreme Court, sitting en banc, shall be the sole judge of all contests relating to the election, returns, and qualifications of the President or Vice-President, and may promulgate its rules for the purpose.
201 434 Phil. 161 (2002) [Per J. Carpio, En Banc].
202 Id. at 167.
203 440 Phil. 683 (2002) [Per J. Callejo, Sr., En Banc].
204 Id. at 692.
205Laodenio v. COMELEC, 342 Phil. 676 (1997) [Per J. Bellosillo, En Banc].
206Macabago v. COMELEC, 440 Phil. 683, 692 (2002) [Per J. Callejo, Sr., En Banc].
207Corvera v. Savillo, G.R. No. 208610 (Notice), November 11, 2014; Aguillo v. COMELEC, G.R. No. 197975-76 (Notice), March 19, 2013; Lloren v. COMELEC, 695 Phil. 288 (2012) [Per J. Bersamin, En Banc]; and Peña v. HRET, 337 Phil. 70 (1997) [Per J. Torres, Sr., En Banc].
208 CONST., art. VII, sec. 4.
209 SET RULES (2013), Rule 22.
HRET RULES (20 15), Rule 17 similarly states:
...
An election protest shall state:
...
(4) The specific acts or omissions complained of constituting the electoral frauds, anomalies or irregularities in the contested precincts[.]
210 A.M. No. 10-4-1-SC (2012), sec. 10.
211 COMELEC Resolution No. 8804 (2010). Rule 6, sec. 7.
212Peña v. HRET, 337 Phil. 70, 78 (1997) [Per J. Torres. Sr., En Banc].
213 Id.
214 Id. at 78-79.
215 Id. at 77.
216Aguillo v. COMELEC, G.R. No. 197975-76 (Notice), March 19, 2013.
217Peña v. HRET, 337 Phil. 70, 78 (1997) [Per J. Torres, Sr., En Banc].
218Abaya v. Concepcion, G.R. No. L-56361, January 30, 1981 [Per J. Abad Santos, En Banc].
219 PET RULES (2010), Rules 22-29.
220 PET RULES (2010), Rule 24 and Rule 29(b).
221 PET RULES (2010), Rule 29.
222 PET RULES (2010), Rule 37(a).
223 PET RULES (2010), Rule 38.
224 PET RULES (2010), Rule 17.
225 PET RULES (2010), Rule 21(a).
226 G.R. No. 208610 (Notice), November 11, 2014.
227 Id.
228Corvera v. Savillo, G.R. No. 208610 (Notice), November 11, 2014.
229 A.M. No. 10-4-1-SC (2010), Rule 2, sec. 10, Rules of Procedure in Election Contests Before the Courts Involving Elective Municipal Officials.
230Corvera v. Savillo, G.R. No. 208610 (Notice), November 11, 2014.
231 337 Phil. 70 (1997) [Per J. Torres, Sr., En Banc].
232 G.R. No. 197975-76 (Notice), March 19, 2013.
233 695 Phil. 288 (2012) [Per J. Bersamin, En Banc].
234Peña v. HRET, 337 Phil. 70, 72 (1997) [Per J. Torres, Sr., En Banc].
235 Id. at 77.
236Aguillo v. COMELEC, G.R. No. 197975-76 (Notice), March 19, 2013.
237 Id.
238 Id.
239 A.M. No. 10-4-1-SC (2010), Rule 2, sec. 10, Rules of Procedure in Election Contests Before the Courts Involving Municipal Officials. It requires "a detailed specification of the acts or omissions complained of showing the electoral frauds, anomalies or irregularities the protested precincts."
240Aguillo v. COMELEC, G.R. No. 197975-76 (Notice), March 19, 2013.
241 Id.
242 Id.
243 Id.
244Lloren v. COMELEC, 695 Phil. 288, 292 (2012) [Per J. Bersamin, En Banc].
245 Id. at 300.
246 679 Phil. 640 (2012) [Per J. Bersamin, En Banc].
247 610 Phil. 551 (2009) [Per J. Leonardo-de Castro, En Banc].
248Cagas v. Commission on Elections, 679 Phil. 640 (2012) [Per J. Bersamin, En Banc].
249 Id. at 654.
250 610 Phil. 551 (2009) [Per J. Leonardo-de Castro, En Banc].
251 Id. at 560. The Court ruled that under Rule 2, Section 5(c) of the 1993 Commission on Elections Rules of Procedure, "any motion to reconsider a decision, resolution, order or ruling of a Division shall be resolved by the Commission en banc except motions on interlocutory orders of the Division, which shall be resolved by the Division which issued the order."
252 This refers to the protestant's failure to specifically state the following in the protest: total number of precincts; detailed acts or omissions complained of showing fraud and irregularities; and specific precincts where the PCOS machines malfunctioned.
253Corvera v. Savillo, G.R. No. 208610 (Notice), November 11, 2014.
254Aguillo v. COMELEC, G.R. No. 197975-76 (Notice), March 19, 2013.
255 This refers to the total number of precincts in the municipality.
256Lloren v. COMELEC, 695 Phil. 288, 300-301 (2012) [Per J. Bersamin, En Banc].
257Rollo, Vol. II, pp. 928-929.
258 Id. at 1042.
259 Id. at 1039.
260 Id. at 965-968.
261 Id. at 968-970.
262 Id. at 970-974.
263 Id.
264 Id.
265 Id.
266 Id. at 928-929.
267 Id.
268 Id. at 1019.
269 In the Judicial Affidavit, his name is spelled as "Gonaranao P. Corontos".
270Rollo, VoL II, p. 966.
271Rollo, VoL XIX, p. 15342, Protest Annex GG-7.
272 Id. at 15343.
273Rollo, VoL II, p. 987.
274 Id.
275Rollo, Vol. XIX, p. 15784. Protest Annex QQ-3.
276 Id. at 15787. Protest Annex QQ-4.
277 COMELEC Resolution No. 10088 (2016), sec. 1 amending sec. 11. Amending Certain Provisions of Resolution No. 10057 dated February 11, 2016 or Otherwise Known as the General Instructions for the Boards of Elections Inspectors (BEI) on the Testing and Sealing of Vote Counting Machines (VCMs), and Voting, Counting and Transmission of Election Results in Connection with the 09 May 2016 National and Local Elections.
278Rollo, Vol. II, p. 993.
279 Id.
280 Id.
281Rollo, Vol. XIX, pp. 15866-15870, Protest Annex UU-2, Affidavit of Berdan Nalve; Annex UU-3, Affidavit of Henry Nuñez; Annex UU-4, Affidavit of Richard S. Terre; Annex UU-5, Affidavit of Marifel Soriano; and Annex UU-6, Affidavit of Jodael Kayle Contreras, all from the Province of Iloilo.
282 Id. at 15727, Protest Annex III-3, Affidavit of Lorenzo Sagucio, Jr. of Iloilo City.
283 Id. at 15728, Protest Annex III-4, Aftidavit of Jerson Jaranilla of Iloilo City.
284 Id. at 15729, Protest Annex III-5, Affidavit of Imelda Malte of Iloilo City.
285 Id. at 15915, Annex WW-9, Affidavit of Cesar Reyes Aguinaldo, Jr., Quezon Province.
286 Id.
287 Id.
288 Id. at 15602, Protest Annex DDD-2, Affidavit of Cannon Dyan, Manila.
289 Id.
290Rollo, Vol. II, pp. 993-995.
291 Id. at 994.
292 Id. at 1004.
293 Id. at 1032.
294 Id. at 1034.
295Aguillo v. COMELEC, G.R. Nos. 197975-76, (Notice) March 19, 2013.
296 Id.
297Rollo, Vol. II, pp. 928-929.
298Peña v. HRET, 337 Phil. 70, 72-73 (1997) [Per J. Torres, Sr., En Banc].
299Aguillo v. COMELEC, G.R. No. 197975-76 (Notice), March 19, 2013.
300 Protestant preliminarily delineated his causes of action into two. After asking clarificatory questions during the preliminary conference on July 11,2017, this Tribunal categorized them into three causes of action instead, and dismissed his first cause of action for being "meaningless and pointless[.]" (See rollo, Vol. XLIX, pp. 39523-39579. Marcos, Jr. v. Robredo, P.E.T. Case No. 005 (Resolution), October 15, 2019 [Per Curiam]). This Tribunal gave the parties a preliminary conference guide prior to its conduct where it summarized their respective admissions, proposed stipulations, issues, and witnesses. As the parties requested, this Tribunal also gave them the time to comment on it, and these were adopted accordingly. Moreover, when this Tribunal released the results of the revision and appreciation of ballots in the October 15, 2019 Resolution, it resolved to hear the parties again.
301 When protestant failed to specify his witnesses' corresponding clustered precincts after having been directed to substantiate his allegations, this Tribunal required him to submit anew a list of his witnesses and their corresponding clustered precincts, giving him a fresh period of time to do so. (Marcos, Jr. v. Robredo, P.E.T. Case No. 005, October 15, 2019 [Per Curiam, En Banc]).
302Rollo, Vol. XLIX, pp. 39523-39579, Marcos, Jr. v. Robredo, P.E.T. Case No. 005, October 15, 2019 [Per Curiam, En Banc].
303 Id. at 54.
304Rollo, Vol. XLIX, pp. 39652-39653.
305 Id. at 39655-40098. Protestee's Memorandum; rollo, Vol. L, pp. 40341-40935, Protestant's Memorandum.
306Rollo, Vol. L, pp. 41169-41172.
307 PET RULES (2010), Rule 65.
308Rollo, Vol. XLIX, pp. 39580-39589. J. Carpio, Dissenting Opinion in Marcos, Jr. v. Robredo, P.E.T. Case No. 005, October 15, 2019 [Per Curiam, En Banc].
309 SET RULES (2013), Rules 39 and 42 states:
RULE 39. Preliminary Conference; Purpose - After the filing of the last responsive pleading and the issues have been joined, the Tribunal shall call the parties to preliminary conference to consider:
...
In an election protest, the following shall also be considered:
e. The list of pilot precincts consisting of not more than twenty-five percent (25%) of the total number of contested precincts, which the party deems as best exemplifying or demonstrating the electoral fraud or anomaly pleaded[.] (Emphasis supplied)
See also:
RULE 42. Preliminary Conference Brief. - Not later than five (5) working days before the preliminary conference, the parties shall file with the Tribunal in fifteen (15) legible copies and serve on the adverse party or parties, both through personal service, a preliminary conference brief, which shall contain:
...
In an election protest, the preliminary conference brief shall also contain the following:
f. The list of pilot precincts consisting of not more than twenty-five percent (25%) of the total number of contested precincts, which the party deems as best exemplifying or demonstrating the electoral fraud or anomaly pleaded[.]
310 HRET RULES (2015), Rule 40 provides:
RULE 40. Post-Revision Determination of the Merit or Legitimacy of Protest Prior to Revision of Counter-Protest; Pilot Precincts; Initial Revision and/or Technical Examination. - Any provision of these Rules to the contrary notwithstanding, as soon as the issues in any contest before the Tribunal have been joined, the protestant and the protestee shall be required to state and designate in the preliminary conference brief at most twenty-five (25%) percent of the total number of precincts involved in the protest or counter-protest, as the case may be, which said parties deem as best exemplifying or demonstrating the electoral irregularities or fraud pleaded by them.
The revision of the ballots or the examination, verification or re-tabulation of election returns and the reception of evidence shall begin only with the designated pilot protested precincts.
The revision of ballots or the examination, verification or retabulation of election returns and the reception of evidence in the remaining seventy-five (75%) protested precincts and twenty-five percent (25%) counter-protested precincts shall not commence until the Tribunal shall have determined through appreciation of ballots or election documents and/or reception of evidence, within a period not exceeding ten (10) successive working days, the merit or legitimacy of the protest, relative to the designated pilot protested precincts.
Based on the results of such post-revision determination, the Tribunal may dismiss the protest without further proceedings, if and when no reasonable recovery was established from the pilot protested precincts, or may proceed with the revision of the ballots or the examination, verification or retabulation of election returns in the remaining contested precincts.
The foregoing shall likewise apply to the twenty-five percent (25%) of designated pilot counterprotested precincts.
However, if the proclamation margin is only one thousand (1,000) votes or less, the revision of ballots or the examination, verification or re-tabulation of election returns and/or reception of evidence shall cover all the contested precincts. (Emphasis supplied)
311 COMELEC Resolution No. 9164 (2011).
312 COMELEC Resolution No. 9164 (2011), sec. 1.
313 Rules of Procedure in Election Contests Before the Courts involving Elective Municipal Officials (2010), Rule 10, sec. 10.
314 Rules of Procedure in Election Contests before the Courts Involving Elective Municipal and Barangay Officials (2007). The title of the rules does not appear to have been amended, but election protests involving elective municipal officials are now covered by SC Administrative Matter No. 10-4-1-SC.
315See A.M. No. 10-4-1-SC (2010), Rule 10, sec. 10 and A.M. No. 07-4-15-SC (2007), Rule 10, sec. 9.
316Rollo, Vol. XXXII, p. 24591.
317 SET RULES (2013), Rule 76.
318 HRET RULES (2015), Rule 40.
319 COMELEC Resolution No. 8804 (201), as amended by Resolution No. 9720, Rule 15, sec. 6(b).
320 A.M. No. 10-4-1-SC (2010), Rule 10, sec. 10.
321 A.M. No. 07-4-15-SC (2007), Rule 10, sec. 9.
322Rollo, Vol. XLIX, pp. 39523-39579, Marcos, Jr. v. Robredo, P.E.T. Case No. 005, October 15, 2019 [Per Curiam, En Banc].
323Rollo, Vol. XXXII, p. 24591.
324 Id.
325 PET RULES (2010), Rule 65.
326 PET RULES (2010), Rule 65.
327Rollo, Vol. XLIX, p. 39542, October 15, 2019 Resolution.
328 Id. at 39565.
329 Id. at 39574.
330 785 Phil. 683 (2016) [Per J. Mendoza, Special En Banc].
331 Id. at 690-691.
332 Id. at 691.
333 Id. at 692.
334 Id. at 694.
335 Id. at 693.
336 Id. at 705-707.
337 J. Peralta, Dissenting Opinion in Daza v. Abayon, HRET Case No. 13-023(EP), February 3, 2016, https://hret.gov.ph/file-manager/2013-2016_023_dissenting-com.pdf 19-21 [Per R. Enverga, HRET].
338Abayon v. Daza, 785 Phil. 683, 690 (2016) [Per J. Mendoza, Special En Banc].
339 Id. at 700-701.
340 Id. at 705.
341 Id. at 706.
342 Id. at 711.
343 PET RULES (2010), Rule 65.
344Rollo, Vol. XXXII, p. 24502, August 29, 2017 Resolution.
345Rollo, Vol. XLIX, p. 39541, October 15, 2019 Resolution.
346 Id. at 39565.
347 Id. at 39564, October 15, 2019 Resolution. Total Number of Ballots Revised = [Number of Actual Voters] - [Number of Ballots deducted prior to Revision due to LACK OF DECRYPTED BALLOT IMAGE]
348Rollo, Vol. XX, p. 15521, Protest Annex AAA (Provincial Certificate of Canvas).
349 Id. at 15856, Protest Annex UU (Provincial Certificate of Canvas).
350Rollo, Vol. XIX, p. 15477, Protest Annex PP (Provincial Certificate of Canvas).
351Rollo, Vol. XXXII, p. 24491, August 29, 2017 Resolution.
352Rollo, Vol. XLIX, p. 39565, October 15, 2019 Resolution.
353 Number of Ballots Revised for Protestant = [Number of Votes Received by Protestant based on Provincial Certificate of Canvass] - [Number of Ballots deducted prior to Revision due to LACK OF DECRYPTED BALLOT IMAGE]
354Rollo, Vol. XLIX, p. 39565, October 15, 2019 Resolution.
355 Id. at 39569.
356 Id. at 39574.
357 Id. at 39572.
358 Id. at 39574.
Total Number of Votes for Protestant after Revision and Appreciation = [Number of Votes After Deducting Sustained Objections] + [Number of Votes added to Protestant after Revision and Appreciation].
359Rollo, Vol. XXXII, p. 24491, August 29, 2017 Resolution. See footnote 34 of the Resolution stating that the figure should 41,219, per Protestant's Comment of the Preliminary Conference Guides.
360 Id.
361Rollo, Vol. XLIX, p. 39565, October 15, 2019 Resoiution.
362 Number of Ballots Revised for Protestee = [Number of Votes Received by Protestee based on Provincial Certificate of Canvass] - [Total Number of Ballots deducted from Protestant prior to Revision due to LACK OF DECRYPTED BALLOT IMAGE]
363Rollo, Vol. XLIX, p. 39565, October 15, 2019 Resolution.
364 Id. at 39569.
365 Id. at 39574.
366 Id. at 39572.
367Rollo, Vol. XLIX, p. 39574, October 15, 2019 Resolution.
Total Number of Votes for Protestant after Revision and Appreciation = [Number of Votes After Deducting Sustained Objections] + [Number of Votes added to Protestant after Revision and Appreciation].
368 PET RULES (2010), Rule 65.
369 J. Lopez, Reflections, pp. 1-11.
370 Id. at 1.
371 Id.
372 Id. at 8.
373 Id.
374 Id.
375 785 Phil. 683 (2016) [Per J. Mendoza, Special En Banc].
376 Id. at 696.
377 Id. at 703-704.
378Abayon v. HRET, 785 Phil. 683, 703 (2016) [Per J. Mendoza, Special En Banc].
379 PET RULES (2010), Rule 7 provides:
RULE 7. Express and implied powers - The Tribunal shall exercise all powers expressly vested in it by the Constitution or by law, and such other powers as may be inherent necessary or incidental thereto for the accomplishment of its purposes and functions.
380 Id. at 705 citing J. Peralta, Dissenting Opinion in Daza v. Abayon, HRET Case No. 13-023(EP), February 3, 2016, [Per R. Enverga, HRET].
381 Id.
382 Presidential Decree No. 1296 (1978).
383 Presidential Decree No. 1296 (1978), sec. 175 provides:
SECTION 175. Suspension and annulment of proclamation. - The Commission shall be the sole judge of all pre-proclamation controversies and any of its decisions, orders or rulings shall be final and executory. It may, motu proprio or upon written petition, and after due notice and hearing order suspension of the proclamation of a candidate-elect or annul any proclamation, if one has been made, on any of the grounds mentioned in Sections 172, 173 and 174 hereof.
384 Batas Pambansa Blg. 52 (1979).
385 Batas Pambansa Blg. 222 (1982).
386 ELECTION CODE, or Batas Pambansa Blg. 881 (1985).
387 ELECTION CODE, sec. 6 states:
SECTION 6. Failure of election. - If, on account of force majeure, violence, terrorism, fraud, or other analogous causes the election in any polling place has not been held on the date fixed, or had been suspended before the hour fixed by law for the closing of the voting, or after the voting and during the preparation and the transmission of the election returns or in the custody or canvass thereof, such election results in a failure to elect, and in any of such cases the failure or suspension of election would affect the result of the election, the Commission shall, on the basis of a verified petition by any interested party and after due notice and hearing, call for the holding or continuation of the election not held, suspended or which resulted in a failure to elect on a date reasonably close to the date of the election not held, suspended or which resulted in a failure to elect but not later than thirty days after the cessation of the cause of such postponement or suspension of the election or failure to elect.
388 ELECTION CODE, sec. 7.
389 ELECTION CODE, sec. 45.
390 An Act Providing for the National and Local Elections in 1992, Pave the Way for Synchronized and Simultaneous Elections Beginning 1995, and Authorizing Appropriations Therefor (1991).
391 An Act Providing for Synchronized National and Local Elections for the Electoral Reforms, Authorizing Appropriations Therefor, and for Other Purposes (1991).
392 See Republic Act No. 7056 (1991), sec. 7 and Republic Act No. 7166 (1991), sec. 4.
393 Republic Act No. 7056 (1991), sec. 7.
394 Republic Act No. 7166 (1991), sec. 4.
395Abayon v. HRET, 785 Phil. 683, 703 (2016) [Per J. Mendoza, Special En Banc].
396 ELECTION CODE, sec. 6 provides:
Section 6. Failure of election. - If, on account of force majeure, violence, terrorism, fraud, or other analogous causes the election in any polling place has not been held on the date fixed, or had been suspended before the hour fixed by law for the closing of the voting, or after the voting and during the preparation and the transmission of the election returns or in the custody or canvass thereof, such election resuits in a failure to elect, and in any of such cases the failure or suspension of election would affect the result of the election, the Commission shall, on the basis of a verified petition by any interested party and after due notice and hearing, call for the holding or continuation of the election not held, suspended or which resulted in a failure to elect on a date reasonably close to the date of the election not held, suspended or which resulted in a failure to elect but not later than thirty days after the cessation of the cause of such postponement or suspension of the election or failure to elect.
397Abayon v. HRET, 785 Phil. 683, 701 (2016) [Per J. Mendoza, Special En Banc].
398 Id. at 709.
399Rollo, Vol. L, p. 41266-41286, September 29, 2020 Resolution.
400Rollo, Vol. L, p. 41335-41433, COMELEC Compliance with September 29, 2020 Resolution.
401 PET RULES (2010), Rule 17 (C)(d).
402Rollo, Vol. L, p. 40904, Protestant's Memorandum.
403Rollo, Vol. XXXII, pp. 24482-24641.
404 Id. at 24501.
405 Id. at 24502.
406 Id. at 24795-24819.
407 G.R. No. 208610 (Notice), November 11, 2014.
408 G.R. No. 197975-76 (Notice), March 19, 2013.
409 695 Phil. 288 (2012) [Per J. Bersamin, En Banc].
410 337 Phil. 70 (1997) [Per J. Torres, Sr., En Banc].
411Rollo, Vol. XXXII, pp. 24905-24907.
412Rollo, Vol. XXXIII, pp. 25059-25245.
413 For example, in Lanao del Sur, there was no clustered precinct number for Brgys. Cadingilan Occidental, Bairan. Bayang Proper, Sandab Madaya, and Lalaaupung Upper, municipality of Bayang; Brgy. Pantaon-A, Municipality of Ganassi; Brgys. Bolao, Cambong, and Sabala Dilausan, municipality of Maguing; and Brgy. Pialot, municipality of Malabang; Raya Madaya and Tarnpilong in Marawi City; and Brgy. Notong, municipality of Pualas. In Maguindanao, there was no clustered precinct number for Brgy. Poblacion 7, Cotabato City. In Basilan, there was no clustered precinct number for Brgy. Lower Bato-Bato, municipality of Akbar.
414 For all three pilot provinces, protestant used the precinct number and not the clustered precinct numbers in the list of witnesses. The August 29, 2017 Resolution required the use of clustered precinct numbers. A clustered precinct is composed of several established precincts. As an example, the Commission on Elections' Project of Precincts for the 2016 National and Local Elections shows that Established Precinct Nos. 0001A, 0002A, 0003A, and 0004A form Clustered Precinct 1 in Barangay Maganda, Lamitan City, Basilan. See https://comelec.gov.ph/?r=2016NLE/ProjectofPrecincts/POP (last accessed on February 5, 2021).
415 In Basilan, Brgy. Basak in Lamitan City has no Precinct No. 0042A. Similarly, Brgy. Baimbing of Lamitan City has no Precinct Nos. 00678, 0067C, and 0067P1.
416 In Lanao del Sur, there were no witnesses for Brgys. Condaraan, Cairan, Cadayona, and Rantian, municipality of Bayang; Brgy. Pangadapun, Municipality of Ganassi; Brgy. Lilod Borocot, municipality of Maguing. In Maguindanao, there were no witnesses for Brgys. Calaan, Cabayuan, and Karim, municipality of Buldon. In Basilan, there were no witnesses for Brgy. Baguindan, municipality of Tipo-Tipo; Brgy. Sta. Clara, Lamitan City; Brgy. Upper Port Holland, municipality of Maluso, Brgy. Basak, municipality of Sumisip; and Brgy. Tong-Umus, municipality of Tabuan-Lasa.
417Abayon v. HRET, 785 Phil. 683,709 (2016) [Per J. Mendoza, Special En Banc].
418Peña v. HRET, 337 Phil. 70, 78-79 (1997) [Per J. Torres, Sr., En Banc].
419 J. Gaerlan, Reflections, p. 1.
420 Id. at 4.
421Rollo, Vol. XXXII, p. 24511.
422Abayon v. HRET, 785 Phil. 683, 709 (2016) [Per J. Mendoza, Special En Banc].
423Antonio v. Reyes, 519 Phil. 337, 340 (2006) [Per J. Tinga, Third Division].
424Rollo, Vol. XIX, pp. 15330-15331. Protest Annex GG-2.
425 Id. at 15332-15334, Protest Annex GG-3.
426 Id. at 15335-15336, Protest Annex GG-4.
427 Id. at 15337-15338, Protest Annex GG-5.
428 Id. at 15339-15340, Protest Annex GG-6.
429 Id. at 15341-15350, Protest Annexes GG-7 and GG-8.
430 Id. at 15343-15344.
431 Id. at 15351-15356, Protest Annex GG-9.
432 Id. at 15357-15363, Protest Annex GG-10.
433Rollo, Vol. L, p. 41335. The Commission on Elections' Compliance (To the Resolution dated 29 September 2020). SPA 16-111 (FE), "In the matter of the Petition to Declare Failure of Elections in Marawi City," was dismissed on the merits on August 16, 2016. A Certificate of Finality was issued by COMELEC on February 15, 2017.
434Rollo, Vol. XIX, pp. 15364-15371, Protest Annex GG-11.
435 Id. at 15383-15385, Protest Annex HH-2.
436 Id. at 15383.
437 Id.
438 Id.
439 The Affidavit at times spelled as Utto as Uto.
440Rollo, Vol. XIX, pp. 15386-15390, Protest Annex HH-3.
441 Id.
442 Id. at 15386.
443 Id. at 15387.
444 Id. at 15386-15387.
445 Id. at 15405-15406, Protest Annex II-8.
446 Id. at 15407, Protest Annex II-9.
447 Id. at 15408, Protest Annex II-10.
448 Id. at 15409, Protest Annex II-11.
449 Id. at 15410, Protest Annex II-12.
450 Id. at 15411, Protest Annex II-13.
451 Id. at 15412, Protest Annex II-14.
452 Id. at 15413, Protest Annex II-15.
453 Id. at 15414, Protest Annex II-16.
454 Id. at 15415-15416, Protest Annex II-17.
455 Id. at 15417 15418, Protest Annex II-18.
456 Id. at 15419-15420, Protest Annex II-19.
457 The procedure for deactivation of voters for the 2016 elections can be found in COMELEC Resolution No. 9863 (2014).
458Rollo, Vol. XIX, p. 15407.
459 2016 National and Local Elections Project of Precincts, available at https://comelec.gov.ph/?r=2016NLE/ProjectofPrecincts/POP (last accessed on December 10, 2020).
460Rollo, Vol. XIX, p. 15421, Protest Annex II-20.
461 Id.
462 Id. at 15422, Protest Annex II-21.
463 Id.
464 Id.
465 Id. at 15423, Protest Annex II-22.
466 Id.
467 Id.
468 Id. at 15398, Annex II-2, Affidavit of Gerry A. Salapuddin.
469Rollo, Vol. L, p. 40931, Protestant's Memorandum.
470 Id. at 41349.
471Rollo, Vol. XIX, pp. 15330-15340, Protest: Annex GG-2, Affidavit of Amerah Maranda; Annex GG-3, Affidavit of Aliah L. Abdulkarim; Annex GG-4, Affidavit of Nabilab Sowaib; Annex GG-5, Affidavit of Rohanie Amanoddin; Annex GG-6, Affidavit of Nouman Abdullah.
472 Id. at 15364-15371, Prorest Annex GG-11, Affidavit of Abdulnader M. Balt.
473 Id. at 15341-15363, Protest Annexes GG-7 and GG-8, Affidavit of Gonaranao P. Corontoz; Annex GG-9, Affidavit of Amer D. Abdullah; Annex GG-10, Affidavit of Sanapia D. Benito.
474 Id. at 41370-41374.
475 As reported by acting Provincial Election Supervisor of Lanao del Sur, Atty. Roberto dela Peña.
476Rollo, Vol. L, p. 41371.
477 Id. at 41373.
478 Id. at 41335.
479 G.R. No. 194469, September 18, 2019, https://elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocs/1/65754 [Per J. Leonen, Third Division].
480 Id.
481Rollo, Vol. L, p.41398, May 26, 2017 in SPA No. 16-130 (FE) and SPA No. 16-131 (FE).
482 Id. at 41410 and 41413.
483 Id. at 41382-41387, October 30, 2017 in SPA Case No. 16-122 (FE).
484 Id. at 41388-41395, November 17, 2016 Resolution in SPA No. 16-125 (FE).
485 Id. at 41338, November 8, 2016 and May 17, 2017 Resolutions in SPA No. 16-135 (FE).
486 Id. at 41417-41431, February 1, 2018 Resolution in SPA No. 16-132 (FE).
487 Id. at 41375-41381, January 15, 2018 Resolution in SPA No. 16-114 (FE).
488 Cotabato City is treated as a special province per the Commission on Elections' Project of Precincts for the 2016 elections, but is deemed included in Maguindanao for the third cause of action.
489Rollo, Vol. XIX, pp. 15383-15390, Protest Annex HH-2, Affidavit of Normina L. Taha; and Annex HH-3, Affidavit of Bassir D. Utto.
490 Isabela City is treated as a special province as per COMELEC's Project of Precincts for the 2016 national and local elections, but is included in Basilan for the third oause of action.
491Rollo, Vol. XIX, pp. 15399-15401, Protest Annex II-3, Affidavit of Nurudin A. Dawalin; Annex II-4, Affidavit of Redzmar M. Hasim; and Annex II-5, Affidavit of Basir A. Saala.
492 Id. at 15405-15420, Protest Annex II-8, Affidavit of Nasir A. Tawani; Annex II-9, Abdulla I. Anja1a; Annex II-10, Affidavit of Amat A. Sararna; Annex II-11, Affidavit of Mariabella E. Macay; Annex II-12, Affidavit of Alamin O. Ibama; Annex II-13, Affidavit of Sitti S. Bohong; Annex II-14, Affidavit of Abdulbasir D. Tawani; Annex II-15, Affidavit of Massir S. Tawani; Annex II-16, Affidavit of Kais T. Itih; Annex II-17, Affidavit of Muallam A. Gadjalul; Annex II-18, Affidavit of Hussin Adjain; and Annex II-19, Affidavit of Salaain A. Muhtarin.
493 Id. at 15402-15404, Protest Annex II-6, Affidavit of Rahman S. Kapeng; and Annex II-7, Affidavit of Gani A. Alap.
494 Id. at 15421-15423, Protest Annex II-20, Affidavit of Said M. Uliling; Annex II-21, Affidavit of Mady A. Anjalang; and Annex II-22, Affidavit of Boy Sanson Akilin.
495Rollo, Vol. XIX, pp. 15320-15321, Annex GG.
496 Id. at 15373, Protest Annex HH.
497 Id. at 15392, Protest Annex II.
498Rollo, Vol. XLIX, p. 39857, Protestee's Memorandum.
499Rollo, Vol. L, p. 41335, Docketed as SPA No. 16-111 (FE).
500 Id. at 41336, Docketed as SPA No. 16-130 (FE).
501 Id. at 41335-41336.
502Rollo, Vol. XIX, pp. 15322-15329, Protest Annex GG-1.
503 Id. at 15375-15381, Protest Annex HH-1.
504 Id. at 15394--15397, Protest Annex II-1.
505Rollo, Vol. L, p. 41345.
506 Penned by Presiding Commissioner Luie Tito F. Guia, available at https://www.bongbongmarcos.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/BBM-Notice-with-Order-dtd-04.26.18_EPC-No.-2016-37.pdf (last accessed on January 18, 2021).
507 An established precinct is different from a clustered precinct. An established precinct is the basic component of a clustered precinct. Several established precincts compose a clustered precinct.
508Rollo, Vol. L, pp. 41388-41395.
509 Id. at 41389.
510 Id. at 41389-41390.
511 Id. at 41391-41394.
512Abayon v. HRET, 785 Phil. 683, 705 (2016) [Per J. Mendoza, Special En Banc].
513Rollo, Vol. L, p. 41349. Commission on Elections' Comment citing Abayon v. HRET, 785 Phil. 683 (2016) [Per J. Mendoza, Special En Banc].
514 SECTION 3. The Presidential Electoral Tribunal shall decide the contest within twenty months after it is filed, and within said period shall declare who among the parties has been elected, or, in the proper case, that none has been elected, and in case of a tie between the candidates for president or for vice president involved in the contest, one of them shall be chosen President or Vice-President, as the case may be, by a majority vote of the members of the Congress in joint session assembled.
The party who, in the judgment, has been declared elected, shall have the right to assume the office as soon as the judgment becomes final which shall be ten days after promulgation. The promulgation shall be made on a date previously fixed, of which notice shall be served in advance upon the parties or their attorneys, personally or by registered mail or by telegraph. No motion shall be entertained for the reopening of a case but only for the reconsideration of a decision under the evidence already of record, No party may file more than one motion for reconsideration, copy of which shall be served upon the adverse party who shall answer it within five days after the receipt thereof. Any petition for reconsideration shall be resolved within ten days after it is submitted for resolution. As soon as a decision becomes final, a copy thereof shall be furnished both houses of the Congress. (Emphasis supplied).
515Rollo, Vol. L, p. 41462-41490, Strong Manifestation with Extremely Urgent Omnibus Motion.
516Atty. Macalintal v. PET, 650 Phil. 326, 347 (2010) [Per J. Nachura, En Banc].
517 Id. at 348.
518 An Act Constituting an Independent Presidential Electoral Tribunal to Try, Hear, and Decide Election Contests in the office of the President and Vice-President of the Philippines, Appropriating Funds Therefor and For Other Purposes.
519 650 Phil. 326 (2010) [Per J. Nachura, En Banc].
520 Id. at 353.
521 Republic Act No. 1793 (1957).
522 Batas Pambansa Blg. 884 (1985) partly states:
SECTION 4. The Tribunal must decide the contest within twelve months after it is filed. In case of a tie between the candidates for President and/or for Vice-President involved in the contest, the Tribunal shall notify the Batasang Pambansa of such fact, in which case the President or Vice-President, as the case may be, shall be chosen by a vote of a majority of all the Members of the Batasang Pambansa in session assembled.
The promulgation of the judgment shall be made on a date previously fixed, notice of which shall be served in advance upon the parties or their attorneys, personally or by special registered mail or by telegram. No motion shall be entertained for the opening of a case but only for the reconsideration of a decision based on the evidence already of record. No party may file more than one motion for reconsideration, copy of which shall be served upon the adverse party who shall answer it within five days after the receipt thereof Any petition for reconsideration must be resolved within ten days after it is submitted for resolution. As soon as a decision becomes final, a copy thereof shall be furnished the Batasang Pambansa through the Speaker, and the Commission on Elections through its Chairman, in addition to the copies for the contestants or their attorneys.
523 Protestant preliminarily anchored his causes of action into two. After asking clarificatory questions during the preliminary conference on July 11, 2017, this Tribunal categorized them into three causes of action instead, and dismissed his first cause of action for being "meaningless and pointless[.]" (See rollo, Vol. XLIX, p. 39541, October 15, 2019 Resolution). This Tribunal gave the parties a preliminary conference guide prior to its conduct where it summarized their respective admissions, proposed stipulations, issues, and witnesses. As the parties requested, this Tribunal also gave them the time to comment on it, and these were adopted accordingly. Moreover, when this. Tribunal released the results of the revision and appreciation of ballots in the October 15, 2019 Resolution, it resolved to hear the parties again. (Marcos v. Robredo, P.E.T. Case No. 005, October 15, 2019, p. 18 [Per Curiam, En Banc]).
524 When protestant failed to specify his witnesses' corresponding clustered precincts after having been directed to substantiate his allegations, this Tribunal required the protestant to submit anew a list of his witnesses and their corresponding clustered precinct. He was given fresh period of time to comply with this Tribunal's order. (See rollo, Vol. XLIX, pp. 39523-39578, October 15, 2019 Resolution).
525Rollo, Vol. XLIX, pp. 39523-39578, Marcos v. Robredo, P.E.T. Case No. 005, October 15, 2019 [Per Curiam, En Banc].
526Defensor-Santiago v. Ramos, P.E.T. Case No. 001,323 Phil. 665 (1996) [Per Curiam, En Banc], Poe v. Macapagal Arroyo, P.E.T. Case No. 002, 494 Phil. 137 (2005) [Per J. Quisumbing, En Banc], Legarda v. De Castro, P.E.T. Case No. 003, 566 Phil. 123 (2008) [Per J. Quisumbing, En Banc], and Roxas v. Binay, P.E.T. Case No. 004, 793 Phil. 9 (2016) [Per J. Bersamin, En Banc].
527Defensor-Santiago v. Ramos, P.E.T. Case No. 001, 323 Phil. 665 (1996) [Per Curiam, En Banc] and Legarda v. De Castro, P.E.T. Case No. 003, 566 Phil. 123 (2008) [Per J. Quisumbing, En Banc].
528Poe v. Macapagal-Arroyo, P.E.T. Case No. 002 (Resolution), 494 Phil. 137 (2005) [Per J. Quisumbing, En Banc].
529Roxas v. Binay, P.E.T. No. 004, 793 Phil. 9 (2016) [Per J. Bersamin, En Banc].
530 P.E.T. Case No. 001, 323 Phil. 665 (1996) [Per Curiam, En Banc].
531 Id. at 693.
532 Id. at 705.
533 P.E.T. Case No. 003, 566 Phil. 123, 126 and 137-138 (2008) [Per J. Quisumbing, En Banc].
534 P.E.T. Case No. 002, 494 Phil. 137 (2005) [Per J. Quisumbing, En Banc].
535 Id. at 142.
536 P.E.T. Case No. 004, 793 Phil. 9 (2016) [Per J. Bersamin, En Banc].
537 Id. at 14.
538 Id. at 15
539 Id. at 16.
540Cagang v. Sandiganbayan, Fifth Division, G.R. Nos. 206438, 206458, and 210141-42, July 31, 2018, https://elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocs/1/64581 [Per J. Leonen, En Banc].
541In re: Geronimo v. Ramos, 221 Phil. 130 (1985) [Per J. Gutierrez, Jr., En Banc].
542Peña v. HRET, 337 Phil. 70. 78 (1997) [Per J. Torres, Sr., En Banc].
PERALTA, C.J.:
I concur in the result. Similar to the observation of Associate Justice Samuel H. Gaerlan, I believe that Rule 65 of A.M. No. 10-4-29-SC, or the 2010 Rules of the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET Rules), should not apply to the dismissal of election contests based on annulment of election results.
An Election Protest proposes to oust the winning candidate from office. It is strictly a contest between the defeated and the winning candidates, based on the grounds of electoral frauds or irregularities. It aims to determine who between them has actually obtained the majority of the legal votes cast and, therefore, entitled to hold the office.The Court also held that the jurisdiction of the HRET to annul election results is different and distinguishable from the COMELEC's power to declare failure of elections.8 Hence:cralawred
x x x The Constitution no less, grants the HRET with exclusive jurisdiction to decide all election contests involving the members of the House of Representatives, which necessarily includes those which raise the issue of fraud, terrorism or other irregularities committed before, during or after the elections. To deprive the HRET the prerogative to annul elections would undermine its constitutional fiat to decide election contests. The phrase "election, returns and qualifications" should be interpreted in its totality as referring to all matters affecting the validity of the contestee's title.
Consequently, the annulment of election results is but a power concomitant to the HRET' s constitutional mandate to determine the validity of the contestee's title.
The power granted to the HRET by the Constitution is intended to be as complete and unimpaired as if it had remained originally in the legislature. Thus, the HRET, as the sole judge of all contests relating to the election, returns and qualifications of members of the House of Representatives, may annul election results if in its determination, fraud, terrorism or other electoral irregularities existed to warrant the annulment. Because in doing so, it is merely exercising its constitutional duty to ascertain who among the candidates received the majority of the valid votes cast.7
Consequently, the difference between the annulment of elections by electoral tribunals and the declaration of failure of elections by the COMELEC cannot be gainsaid. First, the former is an incident of the judicial function of electoral tribunals while the latter is in the exercise of the COMELEC's administrative function. Second, electoral tribunals only annul the election results connected with the election contest before it whereas the declaration of failure of elections by the COMELEC relates to the entire election in the concerned precinct or political unit. As such, in annulling elections, the HRET does so only to determine who among the candidates garnered a majority of the legal votes cast. The COMELEC, on the other hand, declares a failure of elections with the objective of holding or continuing the elections, which were not held or were suspended, or if there was one, resulted in a failure to elect. When COMELEC declares a failure of elections, special elections will have to be conducted.9Be that as it may, the Supreme Court ultimately set aside the decision of the HRET. The Court found that the evidence presented by the protestant were actually insufficient to satisfy an annulment of the election results in the five (5) clustered precincts in Northern Samar. In this regard, the Court laid down the Abayon standard-two (2) indispensable requisites that must be proven to justify the annulment of election results. These requisites are: "(1) that the illegality of the ballots must affect more than 50% of the votes cast on the specific precinct or precincts to be annulled, or in case of the entire municipality, more than 50 % of its total precincts and the votes cast therein, and (2) that it is impossible to distinguish with reasonable certainty between the lawful and unlawful ballots."10
It is on record that [protestant] presented several residents of the concerned precincts to illustrate how NDF-EV members terrorized the residents of the said precincts before and during the elections to ensure [protestant's] defeat to [protestee]. The Court, nevertheless, observes that only three (3) witnesses testified that they voted for [protestee] out of fear from the NDF-EV. The other witnesses merely described the alleged violence committed by the NFD-EV but did not expound whether the same had ultimately made other voters vote for [protestee].
Neither did the testimonies of P/SSupt. Tonog and Col. Capulong corroborate the fact that the alleged terrorism by the NDF-EV caused voters to vote for [protestee]. These testimonies do not prove that voters in the concerned precincts indeed voted for [protestee] out of fear of the NDF-EV. For one, Col. Capulong simply stated that the NDF-EV would want to see that politicians and candidates whom they call "enemies of the people" be defeated in the elections. Further, as noted by Justice Peralta, P/SSupt. Tonog's Post-Election Memorandum did not state that NDF-EV armed partisans were present in the course of the elections.
[Protestant] presented three (3) voters as witnesses to establish that they were coerced by NDF-EV armed partisan to vote for [protestee] during the 2013 Elections. Their collective testimonies, however, fail to impress. First, their testimonies made no reference to [protestee's] alleged participation in the purported terroristic acts committed by the NDF-EV. Second, [Protestant's] witnesses alone are insufficient to prove that indeed terrorism occurred in the contested precincts and the same affected at least 50% of the votes cast therein. The testimonies of three (3) voters can hardly represent the majority that indeed their right to vote was stifled by violence. With the allegation of widespread terrorism, it would have been more prudent for [protestant] to present more voters who were coerced to vote for [protestee] as a result of the NDFEV's purported violence and intimidation.
Indubitably, the numbers mattered considering that both the COMELEC and the PNP issued certifications stating that no failure of elections occurred in Northern Samar and that the elections was generally peaceful and orderly. The unsubstantiated testimonies of [Protestant's] witnesses falter when faced with official pronouncements of government agencies, which are presumed to be issued in the regular performance of their duties.11
"x x x annulment of elections is a distinct electoral remedy that merits differentiated treatment from electoral protests and quo warranto petitions. x x x an election protest entails the revision, re-tabulation and appreciation of the ballots; on the contrary, annulment of election entails a detailed investigation into the existence of the alleged fraud, terrorism, violence or other analogous causes which prevented the expression of the will of the electorate; or an expert technical examination of the electoral system."12A look at the current PET Rules, however, would clearly reveal that it is not equipped to address the extraordinary demands of election contests seeking the annulment of election results. Hence, I find that Rule 65 of the said Rules cannot be used to justify the dismissal of protestant's plea for the annulment of election results in Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao and Basilan.
Endnotes:
1 785 Phil. 683 (2016).
2Id. at 690.
3Id. at 691.
4Id.
5Id. at 693.
6Id.
7Id. at 700. (Emphasis supplied, citations omitted)
8Id.
9Id. at 703-704.
10Id. at 705. The Abayon standard, as well as the ruling of the Court as to the sufficiency of the protestant's evidence, were directly lifted from the dissenting opinion of the undersigned in HRET Case No. 13-023.
11Id. at 707-708.
12 Separate Opinion of Justice Gaerlan, page 7. (Emphasis supplied)
13Id. at 6-7.
14Violago, Sr. v. Commission on Elections, et al., 674 Phil. 305, 314 (2011).
CAGUIOA, J.:
The Protest lives or dies by the results of the determination under Rule 65 of the [Presidential Electoral Tribunal] Rules. Protestant is bound by his choice of pilot provinces. The Tribunal cannot accommodate protestant at the expense of violating its own rules. Protestant therefore has only himself to blame as the results of the revision and appreciation of millions of ballots in his three (3) pilot provinces only lead to one conclusion: the dismissal of his Protest.1
These were the concluding words in my Dissenting Opinion to the Tribunal's Resolution dated October 15, 2019. In the instant Decision, I maintain the same position. Accordingly, I fully concur with the ponencia in dismissing the entire Protest.
I write this Separate Concurring Opinion to stress that: 1) following Rule 65 of the 2010 Rules of the Presidential Electoral Tribunal2 (PET Rules), the Protest should be dismissed for protestant Ferdinand "Bongbong" R. Marcos, Jr.'s (protestant) failure to make out a case using his pilot provinces; 2) a dismissal under Rule 65 applies to the whole Protest, including protestant's third cause of action; 3) the PET Rules, specifically Rule 65, still apply in cases of annulment of elections contemplated in Abayon v. House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET);3 and 4) Abayon's strict requirements, as applied to protestant's allegations, show that his third cause of action cannot be considered an annulment of elections but is essentially a petition for declaration of a failure of elections.
The Protest should be dismissed for protestant's failure to make out a case using his pilot provinces. |
RULE 65. Dismissal; when proper. - The Tribunal may require the protestant or counter-protestant to indicate, within a fixed period, the province or provinces numbering not more than three, best exemplifying the frauds or irregularities alleged in his petition; and the revision of ballots and reception of evidence will begin with such provinces. If upon examination of such ballots and proof, and after making reasonable allowances, the Tribunal is convinced that, taking all circumstances into account, the protestant or counter-protestant will most probably fail to make out his case, the protest may forthwith be dismissed, without further consideration of the other provinces mentioned in the protest.As early as the Preliminary Conference Order, the Tribunal already explained the nature of the proceedings under Rule 65 of the PET Rules, as follows:cralawred
The preceding paragraph shall also apply when the election protest involves correction of manifest errors. (R63) (Underscoring supplied)
Rule 65 provides the Tribunal with a litmus test for protestant's grounds as raised in his Protest. Thus, protestant is given the opportunity to designate three provinces which best exemplify the frauds or irregularities raised in his Protest. These provinces constitute the "test cases" by which the Tribunal will make a determination as to whether it would proceed with the Protest - that is, retrieve and revise the ballots for all the remaining protested clustered precincts - or simply dismiss the Protest for failure of the protestant to make out his case.4 (Emphasis and underscoring supplied)It was with this clear and unambiguous purpose that the Tribunal cumbersomely retrieved thousands of ballot boxes from the three pilot provinces chosen by protestant, meticulously re-counted millions of ballots, and painstakingly ruled on each and every objection and claim of the parties on these ballots.5 Based on the final tally after revision and appreciation of the votes in the pilot provinces, protestee Maria Leonor "Leni Daang Matuwid" G. Robredo (protestee) not only maintained, but even widened her lead with 14,436,337 votes over protestant Marcos who obtained 14,157,771 votes. Stated differently, instead of narrowing the margin of votes between protestant and protestee, the revision and appreciation of the votes in the pilot provinces even led to the widening of the margin of votes from 263,473 to 278,566 in favor of protestee.
Following Rule 65, the dismissal involves the whole protest, including protestant's third cause of action. |
The dismissal of the protest for protestant's failure to make out a case under Rule 65 is not because of convenience. Indeed, given the divisiveness of elections, the purpose of an initial determination is to weed out protests that have no basis, most especially for a protest involving a national position. Given the massive logistical and administrative concerns, as well as the significant government resources and costs involved in an election protest for the national positions of President and Vice President, the Tribunal is only to proceed with the entire protested precincts and/or provinces if protestant is able to show to the Tribunal the need to look into the other provinces. On the other hand, if protestant fails to make out a case, the Tribunal must dismiss the Protest.To recall, the Tribunal, with the conformity of protestant, categorized his two remaining causes of action after the dismissal of the first one as follows:cralawred
This is necessitated also by the fact that the choice of the pilot provinces was protestant's sole unfettered choice. He could have chosen any three provinces in any of his causes of action. In fact, his choice was not limited to three provinces for a particular cause of action. He could have chosen one province for his second cause of action and two provinces for his third cause of action, or vice versa. He could have, in fact, opted to limit the three provinces to his third cause of action. The permutations are numerous and the decision as to which permutation would best exemplify his cause rested solely on protestant. The only limitation was the number of pilot provinces - not more than three. That protestant, the astute politician that he is, and represented by a well-recognized election lawyer, chose three provinces for his second cause of action which were all known bailiwicks of protestee, was his own legal gamble.
This Protest is a thorny and divisive issue that is of paramount importance to the nation, not just to the parties. And this is where the numbers are decisive. Numbers do not hold any feelings or political leanings. Numbers do not lie. They state things simply as they are. And when the numbers reveal a definite conclusion, the Tribunal would do a disservice to the public and to the nation not to heed the conclusion they provide. The majority cannot turn a blind eye to the numbers, when the figures here confirm that protestee indeed won by the slimmest of margins. The numbers also show that even with the provinces that protestant himself chose to be the ones that would best exemplify his Protest, the margin widened.7
When protestant chose his pilot provinces, he had complete autonomy to select any province and he could have identified which cause of action to use on any such province. Now that he failed to achieve his desired result, he cannot now escape the dismissal of his entire Protest which was the direct result of his own legal tactic.Second Cause of Action - Revision and Recount
Revision and recount of the paper ballots and/or the ballot images as well as an examination, verification, and analysis of the voter's receipts, election returns, audit logs, transmission logs, the lists of voters, particularly the EDCVL, and VRRs, the books of voters and other pertinent election documents and/or paraphernalia used in the elections, as well as the automated election equipment and records such as the VCMs, CCS units, SD cards (main and backup), and the other data storage devices containing electronic data and ballot images in ALL of the 36,465 protested clustered precincts pursuant to Rules 38 to 45 of the 2010 PET Rules; andThird Cause of Action - Annulment of Elections
Annulment of election results for the position of Vice President in the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur and Basilan, on the ground of terrorism; intimidation and harassment of voters as well as pre-shading of ballots in all of the 2,756 protested clustered precincts that functioned in the aforesaid areas.8
Both Abayon and Daza do not contest the exclusive jurisdiction of the HRET to decide election protests filed against members of the House of Representatives. They, however, diverge as to the extent of its jurisdiction.From the foregoing, what Abayon held was that the HRET had jurisdiction to rule on the annulment of elections as part of the election protest of Daza. Thus, following Abayon, electoral tribunals - including the PET - has jurisdiction to rule on the existence of terrorism in order to determine who between protestant and protestee obtained majority of the legal votes cast, and therefore entitled to hold office. Abayon did not, however, create a third type of electoral contest separate from an election protest and quo warranto. In fact, in Abayon, the HRET used its 2011 Rules, which, like the PET Rules, speaks of election contests as an election protest or quo warranto petition.
An Election Protest proposes to oust the winning candidate from office. It is strictly a contest between the defeated and the winning candidates, based on the grounds of electoral frauds or irregularities. It aims to determine who between them has actually obtained the majority of the legal votes cast and, therefore, entitled to hold the office.
The Court agrees that the power of the HRET to annul elections differ from the power granted to the COMELEC to declare failure of elections. The Constitution no less, grants the HRET with exclusive jurisdiction to decide all election contests involving the members of the House of Representatives, which necessarily includes those which raise the issue of fraud, terrorism or other irregularities committed before, during or after the elections. To deprive the HRET the prerogative to annul elections would undermine its constitutional fiat to decide election contests. The phrase "election, returns and qualifications" should be interpreted in its totality as referring to all matters affecting the validity of the contestee's title. Consequently, the annulment of election results is but a power concomitant to the HRET's constitutional mandate to determine the validity of the contestee's title.
The power granted to the HRET by the Constitution is intended to be as complete and unimpaired as if it had remained originally in the legislature. Thus, the HRET, as the sole judge of all contests relating to the election, returns and qualifications of members of the House of Representatives, may annul election results if in its determination, fraud, terrorism or other electoral irregularities existed to warrant the annulment. Because in doing so, it is merely exercising its constitutional duty to ascertain who among the candidates received the majority of the valid votes cast.
To the Court's mind, the HRET had jurisdiction to determine whether there was terrorism in the contested precincts. In the event that the HRET would conclude that terrorism indeed existed in the said precincts, then it could annul the election results in the said precincts to the extent of deducting the votes received by Daza and Abayon in order to remain faithful to its constitutional mandate to determine who among the candidates received the majority of the valid votes cast.13 (Emphasis and underscoring supplied.)
Abayon's strict requirements as applied to protestant's allegations show that his cause of action cannot be considered an annulment of elections. It essentially seeks a declaration of a failure of elections. |
It must be remembered that "[t]he power to declare a failure of elections should be exercised with utmost care and only under circumstances which demonstrate beyond doubt that the disregard of the law had been so fundamental or so persistent and continuous that it is impossible to distinguish what votes are lawful and what are unlawful, or to arrive at any certain result whatsoever, or that the great body of the voters have been prevented by violence, intimidation and threats from exercising their franchise." Consequently, a protestant alleging terrorism in an election protest must establish by clear and convincing evidence that the will of the majority has been muted by violence, intimidation or threats.17 (Emphasis supplied)Adopting Chief Justice Peralta's dissent in the HRET Decision, the Court in Abayon provided for two indispensable requisites that must concur in order to justify the drastic action of nullifying elections:cralawred
Finally, and still echoing Chief Justice Peralta's dissent, the Court held that nullifying elections is warranted only when there is proof that protestee was responsible for the fraud and terroristic acts perpetrated to frustrate the free will of the electorate:cralawred
1) The illegality of the ballots must affect more than fifty percent (50%) of the votes cast on the specific precinct or precincts sought to be annulled, or in case of the entire municipality, more than fifty percent (50%) of its total precincts and the votes cast therein; and (2) It is impossible to distinguish with reasonable certainty between the lawful and unlawful ballots.18
It is worthy to note that no evidence was presented which will directly point to the protestee as the one responsible for the incidents which allegedly happened before and during the elections. Absent anything that would concretely and directly establish protestee as the one who had induced or actually perpetrated the commission of terroristic acts and demonstrate that those incidents were part of a scheme to frustrate the free expression of the will of the electorate, the alluded handing of material considerations, including guns, to the NDF-EV officials, and the garnering of votes higher than those of the protestant in the protested clustered precincts, do not per se make him responsible for the charges of terrorism.19Here, applying the foregoing principles from Abayon, protestant utterly failed to even allege, much less submit proof, that the circumstances of the case warrant the drastic relief of nullifying the election results in Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, and Basilan. This conclusion is anchored on three points:
SECTION 6. Failure of election. - If, on account of force majeure, violence, terrorism, fraud, or other analogous causes the election in any polling place has not been held on the date fixed, or had been suspended before the hour fixed by law for the closing of the voting, or after the voting and during the preparation and the transmission of the election returns or in the custody or canvass thereof, such election results in a failure to elect, and in any of such cases the failure or suspension of election would affect the result of the election, the Commission shall, on the basis of a verified petition by any interested party and after due notice and hearing, call for the holding or continuation of the election not held, suspended or which resulted in a failure to elect on a date reasonably close to the date of the election not held, suspended or which resulted in a failure to elect but not later than thirty days after the cessation of the cause of such postponement or suspension of the election or failure to elect. x x xJurisdiction to declare a failure of elections is with the COMELEC En Banc, following Section 4 of Republic Act No. 7166.24
Consequently, the difference between the annulment of elections by electoral tribunals and the declaration of failure of elections by the COMELEC cannot be gainsaid. First, the former is an incident of the judicial function of electoral tribunals while the latter is in the exercise of the COMELEC's administrative function. Second, electoral tribunals only annul the election results connected with the election contest before it whereas the declaration of failure of elections by the COMELEC relates to the entire election in the concerned precinct or political unit. As such, in annulling elections, the HRET does so only to determine who among the candidates garnered a majority of the legal votes cast. The COMELEC, on the other hand, declares a failure of elections with the objective of holding or continuing the elections, which were not held or were suspended, or if there was one, resulted in a failure to elect. When COMELEC declares a failure of elections, special elections will have to be conducted.25 (Emphasis supplied.)The allegations of protestant as well as the tenor of his Motion for Technical Examination lend support to the conclusion that the actual relief sought by him is to annul the entire election in Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, and Basilan.
Endnotes:
1 J. Caguioa, Dissenting Opinion in P.E.T. Case No. 005, Marcos, Jr. v. Robredo, October 15, 2019, p. 7.
2 A.M. No. 10-4-29-SC, May 4, 2010.
3 G.R. No. 222236 & 223032, May 3, 2016, 791 SCRA 242.
4Rollo, Vol. XXXII, p. 24591.
5 P.E.T. Case No. 005 is the first and only election protest before the Tribunal in which the recount, revision and appreciation process of the pilot provinces were successfully concluded.
6 J. Caguioa, Dissenting Opinion in Marcos, Jr. v. Robredo, supra note 1, at 2.
7 Id. at 6.
8 P.E.T. Case No. 005, Marcos, Jr. v. Robredo, October 15, 2019, p. 18.
9Ponencia, p. 14.
10RULE 37. Post-Revision Determination of the Merit or Legitimacy of Protest Prior to Revision of Counter-Protest; Pilot Precincts; Initial Revision. - Any provision of these Rules to the contrary notwithstanding, as soon as the issues in any contest before the Tribunal have been joined, the protestant, in case the protest involves more than 50% of the total number of precincts in the district, shall be required to state and designate in writing within a fixed period at most, twenty-five (25%) percent of the total number of precincts involved in the protest which said party deems as best exemplifying or demonstrating the electoral irregularities or fraud pleaded by him; and the revision of ballots or the examination, verification or re-tabulation of election returns and/or reception of evidence shall begin with such pilot precincts designated. Otherwise, the revision of ballots or the examination, verification or re-tabulation of election returns and/or reception of evidence shall begin with all the protested precincts. The revision of ballots or the examination, verification or retabulation of election returns in the counter-protested precincts shall not be commenced until the Tribunal shall have determined through appreciation of ballots or election documents and/or reception of evidence, which reception shall not exceed ten (10) days, the merit or legitimacy of the protest, relative to the pilot protested precincts. Based on the results of such post-revision determination, the Tribunal may dismiss the protest without further proceedings, if and when no reasonable recovery was established from the pilot protested precincts, or proceed with the revision of the ballots or the examination, verification or re-tabulation of election returns in the remaining contested precincts. (Approved on February 10, 2011).
11Ponencia, 14.
12 Id.
13Abayon v. House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET), supra note 3, at 258-259.
14Marcos, Jr. v. Robredo, supra note 8, at 23.
15 Id. at 41.
16 Id. at 39-41.
17Abayon v. House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET), supra note 3, at 263.
18 C.J. Peralta, Dissenting Opinion on HRET Case No. 13-023(EP), Daza v. Abayon, p. 17.
19 Id. at 18.
20Ponencia, p. 76.
21 Id. at 76 and 79.
22 Id. at 58.
23 Batas Pambansa Blg. 881, December 3, 1985.
24 SEC. 4. Postponement, Failure of Election and Special Elections. - The postponement, declaration of failure of election and the calling of special elections as provided in Sections 5, 6 and 7 of the Omnibus Election Code shall be decided by the Commission sitting en banc by a majority vote of its members. The causes for the declaration of a failure of election may occur before or after the casting of votes or on the day of the election. (Approved on November 26, 1991).
25Abayon v. House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET), supra note 3, at 262.
26 Id. at 258.
27 Id.
M. LOPEZ, J.:
I commend Justice Marvic M.V.F Leonen for his exhaustive discussions on every point raised in the election protest. Indeed, the protestant failed to show that he will probably overcome the overall lead of the protestee in his second cause of action. Following Rule 65 of the 2010 Rules of the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (2010 PET Rules),1 further consideration of the remaining protested provinces or clustered precincts may no longer be necessary. The protestant chose his pilot provinces to demonstrate his allegations of electoral fraud and irregularities, which are supposedly sufficient to affect the election results' outcome. Although the Tribunal found some irregularities, as shown by the increase in the votes of both the protestant and the protestee, the protestant failed to show that these irregularities are sufficient to overcome the overall lead of the protestee. On the contrary, the protestee's overall lead after revision increased. If the pilot provinces represent the worst of the irregularities attendant to the 2016 vice-presidential race as protestant wants this Tribunal to believe, then the results in the remaining protested precincts will probably be insufficient to alter the protestee's win.
Nonetheless, I humbly submit this opinion to give context to my vote and humbly differ on some points discussed in the well-written ponencia. The Tribunal's pronouncements, in this case, will influence how other tribunals and bodies resolve the election protests filed before them. In particular, I submit a different approach on the specificity of allegations in the election protest and propose a formula to determine reasonable recovery.
Foremost, I agree with Justice Leonen that an election protest must contain specific allegations of frauds and anomalies in the protested precincts. Otherwise, the protest must be summarily dismissed. Rule 17 of the 2010 PET Rules is evident on the required allegations before a protest is considered sufficient in form and substance.
RULE 17. Contents of the protest or petition. (A) An election protest or petition for quo warranto shall commonly state the following facts:Rule 17 (d) requires a detailed specification of the electoral frauds, anomalies, or irregularities in the protested precincts. I submit that this requirement must be read in conjunction with Section 255 of the Omnibus Election Code (OEC).2
(a) the position involved; (b) the date of proclamation; and (c) the number of votes credited to the parties per the proclamation.x x x x (C) An election protest shall also state: (a) that the protestant was a candidate who had duly filed a certificate of candidacy and had been voted for the same office. (b) the total number of precincts of the region, province, or city concerned; (c) the protested precincts and votes of the parties to the protest in such precincts per the Statement of Votes By Precinct or, if the votes are not specified, an explanation why the votes are not specified; and (d) a detailed specification of the acts or omissions complained of showing the electoral frauds, anomalies, or irregularities in the protested precincts. (Emphasis supplied.)
SEC. 255. Judicial counting of votes in election contest. - Judicial counting of votes in election contest. - Where allegations in a protest or counter-protest so warrant, or whenever in the opinion of the court the interests of justice so require, it shall immediately order the book of voters, ballot boxes and their keys, ballots and other documents used in the election be brought before it and that the ballots be examined and the votes be recounted. (Emphasis supplied.)As worded, the law merely requires sufficient allegations in the election protest to authorize the ballot boxes' opening and examination of the ballots. It does not even require a prima facie showing of fraud and irregularities to authorize the counting. In Dayo v. COMELEC,3 the Court had the opportunity to emphasize the application of Section 255 of the OEC:cralawred
When fraud and irregularities are alleged in the protest and the court believes the interest of justice so requires, it should order that the ballots be examined and the votes counted (Section 255 Omnibus Election Code). If the court is not satisfied that the allegations of the protest are sufficient, it should give the protestant an opportunity to prove his allegations, instead of dismissing the protest on the basis of interrogatories taken in another case involving other parties. Allegations of fraud and irregularities are sufficient grounds for opening the ballot boxes and examining the questioned ballots (Moguis Jr. vs. CA & Bisnar, G.R. No. 66547, May 7, 1985). Evidence or irregularities is not necessary to justify the revision of ballots (Jaguros vs. Villamor, 134 SCRA 553). To require parole and other evidence on the alleged irregularities before opening the ballot box, would only give the protestee time and opportunity to delay the settlement of the controversy through lengthy presentation of testimonial evidence and cross-examination (Astorga vs. Fernandez, 19 SCRA 331). The trial court committed grave abuse of discretion when it declared, based only on the interrogatories in the companion case (Protest Case No. 06-88) that there is no evidence of fraud or irregularities committed. As wryly observed by the Solicitor General in his comments on the petition: "there was precisely no evidence of fraud and irregularities on record because the trial court did not give private respondent (the protestant) a chance to substantiate his allegations."4 (Emphasis supplied.)The allegation of fraud and irregularity should, however, relate to the need to examine ballots. In Miguel v. COMELEC,5 the Court held that "when there is an allegation in an election protest that would require the perusal, examination or counting of ballots as evidence, it is the ministerial duty of the trial court to order the opening of the ballot boxes and the examination and counting of ballots deposited therein."6 Notably, the ballots serve as the best evidence of how the voters voted.7
The facts of the present petition are similar to those in Miguel rather than to those in Peña. In Miguel, there was a controversy between two candidates for municipal mayor, while Peña dealt with candidates for a congressional district office. Also, one reason that led to the dismissal of the election protest in Peña was the protestant's failure to specify the 700 out of the 743 precincts where the alleged anomalies occurred. In both Miguel and the present petition, the protestants questioned all the precincts in their respective municipalities.In this context, I humbly differ from the ponente's pronouncement that the protestant's election protest should have been considered insufficient in form and substance and summarily dismissed. Here, the protestant alleged the following fraud and irregularities in his protest:cralawred
Furthermore, the Miguel case, being the more recent decision, should prevail in case of a conflict, under the well-established doctrine that a later judgment supersedes a prior one in case of an inconsistency.15 (Underscoring in the original.)31Id.
[M]assive electoral fraud, anomalies, and irregularities, such as, but not limited to terrorism, violence, force, threats, force, intimidating, pre-shading of ballots, vote-buying, substitution of voters, flying voters, pre-loaded SD cards, misreading of ballots, unexplained, irregular and improper rejection of ballots containing votes for protestant Marcos, malfunctioning Vote Counting Machine, and abnormally high unaccounted votes/ under votes for the position of Vice President compromised and corrupted the conduct of the elections and the election results for the position of the Vice-President in the protested precincts.16 (Emphasis supplied.)The allegation of ballots' misreading and improper rejection deserve the ballots' scrutiny. The misreading of ballots is a serious allegation that can affect the elections' outcome if proven right. Further, the margin of vote between protestant and protestee is relatively low, with a mere 1.83% of the protestee's votes.17 The relatively small lead margin emphasizes the need to open the ballot boxes and provide the protestant an opportunity to substantiate his allegations of fraud, irregularities, and anomalies.
The rule is broad enough to leave the Tribunal with discretion on whether the protest should be dismissed depending on what will transpire during the initial determination of the protest's merit. However, the rule is silent on what circumstances are considered convincing enough to merit the remaining protested provinces' consideration. The circumstances should refer to the existence of fraud or irregularities and a sufficient decrease in the protestee's overall lead. Under the rules governing election protests of other elective positions, the protestant must show a "reasonable recovery" to overcome the protestee's overall lead. For instance, the Senate Electoral Tribunal also requires an initial determination of the protest's merit. The determination takes into account whether the officially proclaimed results will be affected.INITIAL DETERMINATION OF THE GROUNDS FOR PROTEST
RULE 65. Dismissal; when proper. - The Tribunal may require the protestant or counter-protestant to indicate, within a fixed period, the province or provinces numbering not more than three, best exemplifYing the frauds or irregularities alleged in his petition; and the revision of ballots and reception of evidence will begin with such provinces. If upon examination of such ballots and proof, and after making reasonable allowances, the Tribunal is convinced that, taking all circumstances into account, the protestant or counter-protestant will most probably fail to make out his case, the protest may forthwith be dismissed, without further consideration of the other provinces mentioned in the protest. x x x (Emphasis supplied.)
RULE 76. Pilot Precincts; Initial Determination. - The revision of the ballots or the correction of manifest errors and reception of evidence shall begin with pilot precincts. If after the appreciation of ballots or election documents and/or reception of evidence in the pilot precincts, the Tribunal determines that the officially proclaimed results of the contested election will not be affected, the Tribunal shall dismiss the protest, counter or cross protest without further proceedings.18 (Emphasis supplied.)In the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal, the initial determination of the protest's merit is anchored on the protestant's "reasonable recovery," as shown in the pilot precincts.
RULE 40. Post-Revision Determination of the Merit or Legitimacy of Protest Prior to Revision of Counter-Protest; Pilot Precincts; Initial Revision and/or Technical Examination. - x x x The revision of ballots or the examination, verification or retabulation of election returns and the reception of evidence in the remaining seventy-five (75%) protested precincts and twenty-five percent (25%) counter-protested precincts shall not commence until the Tribunal shall have determined through appreciation of ballots or election documents and/or reception of evidence, x x x, the merit or legitimacy of the protest, relative to the designated pilot protested precincts.As aptly observed by the ponente, election protests involving elective regional, provincial, city, municipal, and barangay officials likewise found that reasonable recovery must be obtained in the initial determination of the protest's merit. However, the above-quoted rules are silent on how reasonable recovery is determined.
Based on the results of such post-revision determination, the Tribunal may dismiss the protest without further proceedings, if and when no reasonable recovery was established from the pilot protested precincts, or may proceed with the revision of the ballot or the examination, verification or re-tabulation of election returns in the remaining contested precincts.x x x x
However, if the proclamation margin is only one thousand (1,000) votes or less, the revision of ballots or the examination, verification or retabulation of election returns and/or reception of evidence shall cover all the contested precincts.19 (Emphases supplied.)
Second, identify the number of clustered precincts in the pilot provinces that underwent revision and appreciation (revised clustered precincts). Then, compute the proportion of the revised clustered precincts with all protested clustered precincts. Considering that the revised precincts constitute only a portion of all the protested clustered precincts, the protestant is expected to show a proportional "recovery" from the protestee's overall lead per proclamation. I propose using the clustered precincts instead of the provinces because the protestant may decide to protest only some clustered precincts within the province. Besides, Rule 17 (d) refers to the "protested precincts."
Candidates Votes per proclamation20 Maria Leonor Robredo 14,418,817Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. 14,155,344 Overall lead 263,473
Third, determine the reasonable recovery by multiplying the percentage in step 2 and the overall lead per proclamation. The resulting numerical value shall be considered reasonable recovery, which the protestee must satisfy for the protest to prosper. "Recovery" is the result after revision and appreciation, which may increase the protestant's votes, decrease the protestee's votes, or a combination of both scenarios. In any of these instances, the protestee's overall lead per proclamation will be affected.
Total number of protested clustered precincts [A] 39,92121Number of revised clustered precincts in the pilot provinces [B] 5,41522Proportion of A & B 13.56%
Fourth, determine the protestant's votes and the protestee's votes after revision and appreciation in the pilot provinces. After that, add the respective revision and appreciation results to the total votes in the clustered precincts other than the revised and appreciated clustered precincts.
REASONABLE RECOVERY Proportion of revised and appreciated clustered precincts and total protested clustered precincts multiplied by the overall lead per proclamation (13.56% * 263,473) 35,726
Fifth, determine if reasonable recovery is met. Under this step, identify and compare the protestee's total lead after revision and appreciation and the protestee's overall lead per proclamation. Then, compute the resulting difference by deducting the total lead after revision and appreciation from the overall lead per proclamation. If the resulting difference is greater than or equal to the reasonable recovery, then the protest may prosper. Otherwise, the protest may be dismissed.
Robredo Marcos, Jr.Revision and Appreciation Results 1,510,17823 204,51224 Add: Total votes in the clustered precincts other than the 5,415 pilot precincts revised and appreciated25 12,926,15926 13,953,25927Total 14,436,33728 14,157,77129TOTAL LEAD AFTER REVISION AND APPRECIATION 278,566
Here, it is clear that reasonable recovery is not met. The resulting difference is less than 35,726. The negative value (-15,093) suggests that the protestee's lead increased. On this ground alone, the election protest may be dismissed under Rule 65 of the 2010 PET Rules. Indeed, the protestant cast serious allegations of fraud and irregularities in his election protest. Thus, the Tribunal allowed the protestant to substantiate his allegations through the ballot boxes' opening and let him choose his pilot provinces. However, he failed to prove that electoral fraud and irregularities will alter the election results on who won.
Overall lead per proclamation 263,47330 Whether reasonable recovery of 35,726 is metLess: Total lead after revision and appreciation 278,56631DIFFERENCE -15,093 No
Endnotes:
1 A.M. No. 10-4-29-SC (2010).
2 Batas Pambansa Bilang 881 (1985).
3 276 Phil. 487 (1991).
4Id. at 492.
5 390 Phil. 478 (2000).
6Id. at 485-486.
7 See Rosal v. COMELEC, 547 Phil. 379 (2007).
8 G.R. No. 208610 (Notice), November 11, 2014.
9 G.R. No. 197975-76 (Notice), March 19, 2013.
10 695 Phil. 288 (2012).
11 See THE INTERNAL RULES OF THE SUPREME COURT, A.M. No. 10-4-20-SC, Rule 13, Section 6 (c) "[b]y unsigned resolution when the Court disposes of the case on the merits, but its ruling is essentially meaningful only to the parties; has no significant doctrinal value; or is minimal interest to the law profession, the academe, or the public. The resolution shall state clearly and distinctly the facts and the law on which it is based."
12 337 Phil. 70 (1997).
13 See Suliguin v. COMELEC, 520 Phil. 92 (2006).
14 462 Phil. 383 (2003).
15Id. at 390.
16Ponencia, pp. 35-36.
17 Protestee enjoys a lead margin of 263,473 votes.
18Ponencia, p. 46.
19Id. at 47.
20Id. at 2.
21 P.E.T. Resolution dated October 15, 2019, p. 4.
22Ponencia, p. 7.
23 P.E.T. Resolution dated October 15, 2019, p. 52.
24Id.
25Ponencia, p. 11.
26Id.
27Id.
28 P.E.T. Resolution dated October 15, 2019, p. 53.
29Id.
30 P.E.T. Resolution dated October 15, 2019, p. 53.
GAERLAN, J.:
I concur in the result. The electoral protest at bar was properly dismissed for failure to prove substantial recovery in the pilot precincts volunteered by the Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos (protestant), in accordance with the clear import of Rule 65 of the 2010 Rules of the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (2010 PET Rules). I write this Separate Opinion in the hope of guiding future adjudications of this tribunal on the matter of the annulment of elections.
Section 4. The President and the Vice-President shall be elected by direct vote of the people for a term of six years which shall begin at noon on the thirtieth day of June next following the day of the election and shall end at noon of the same date, six years thereafter. The President shall not be eligible for any re-election. No person who has succeeded as President and has served as such for more than four years shall be qualified for election to the same office at any time.It bears repeating that the present Constitution appointed and empowered this Court as the sole judge on matters relating to the election, returns, and qualifications of the two highest officers of the executive department of the Republic of the Philippines. Unlike its previous incarnations,1 the grant of power to the present Presidential Electoral Tribunal flows directly from the text of the fundamental law; it is not a grant of authority from the legislature but a mandate imposed by the sovereign people through the basic law. Consequently, the adjudicative powers of this tribunal with respect to the election, returns, and qualifications of the President and Vice-President are plenary in scope and limited only by the Constitution itself and the rules that this tribunal may promulgate.
x x x x
The Supreme Court, sitting en banc, shall be the sole judge of all contests relating to the election, returns, and qualifications of the President or Vice-President, and may promulgate its rules for the purpose.
Section 5. The Supreme Court shall have the following powers:On the basis of these constitutional postulations, I submit that the plenary power and authority of this tribunal as the sole judge of presidential and vice-presidential contests includes the power and authority to rule on causes of action for annulment of elections and to promulgate rules to govern such adjudications.
x x x x
(5) Promulgate rules concerning the protection and enforcement of constitutional rights, pleading, practice, and procedure in all courts, the admission to the practice of law, the integrated bar, and legal assistance to the under-privileged. Such rules shall provide a simplified and inexpensive procedure for the speedy disposition of cases, shall be uniform for all courts of the same grade, and shall not diminish, increase, or modify substantive rights. Rules of procedure of special courts and quasi-judicial bodies shall remain effective unless disapproved by the Supreme Court.
x x x [B]ecause of the frauds mentioned in the decision of Judges Mina and Paredes, the entire vote in the municipalities of Minalabac, Sagnay, Bato, Iriga, and Lagonoy, were annulled. Judges Mina and Paredes, after discussion of the various frauds committed in said municipalities arrived at the same conclusion, to wit: that said frauds and irregularities were such as to absolutely defeat the honest expression of the desires of the voters of said municipalities. Courts, of course, should be slow in nullifying and setting aside the election in particular municipalities or precincts, and they should not nullify the vote until it is shown that the irregularities and frauds are so numerous as to show an unmistakable intention or design to defraud, and which does actually and in fact defeat the true expression of the opinion of the voters of said precinct or municipality. A reading of the evidence adduced during the trial of the cause, in relation with the facts stated in connection there-with, in said municipalities, shows an unmistakable intention and design on the part not only of the election inspectors but of many of the voters, to defeat, by the methods adopted, the true expression of opinion, through the ballot, of the people of said municipalities. The presumption is that an election is honestly conducted, and the burden of proof to show it otherwise is on the party assailing the return. But when the return is clearly shown to be wilfully and corruptly false, the whole of it becomes worthless as proof. When the election has been conducted so irregularly and fraudulently that the true result cannot be ascertained, the whole return must be rejected. It is impossible to make a list of all the frauds which will invalidate an election. Each case must rest upon its own evidence. The rule, however, is so well established that authorities need no longer be cited in its support, that whenever the irregularities and frauds are sufficient to defeat the will of the people of the particular municipality or precinct, the entire vote should be rejected, and those who are guilty of such frauds and irregularities should be punished to the very limit of the law.Since then, this Court has consistently recognized the existence of annulment of elections as a remedy available to a losing candidate if it be alleged that an election is tainted with irregularities and frauds so numerous and so undeniably characteristic of an intention to defraud and defeat the true expression of the will of the electorate.4
The record of the frauds and irregularities committed in the said municipalities in which Judges Mina and Paredes annulled the entire vote, not only shows that legal voters were prevented from voting, but in some instances, legal ballots were tampered with and destroyed after they had been cast, to such an extent that no confidence can be placed in the return. The return in no sense discloses the expressed will of the voters. x x x3
The Court agrees that the power of the HRET to annul elections differ from the power granted to the COMELEC to declare failure of elections. The Constitution no less, grants the HRET with exclusive jurisdiction to decide all election contests involving the members of the House of Representatives, which necessarily includes those which raise the issue of fraud, terrorism or other irregularities committed before, during or after the elections. To deprive the HRET the prerogative to annul elections would undermine its constitutional fiat to decide election contests. The phrase "election, returns and qualifications" should be interpreted in its totality as referring to all matters affecting the validity of the contestee's title. Consequently, the annulment of election results is but a power concomitant to the HRET's constitutional mandate to determine the validity of the contestee's title.Furthermore, this Court's discussion in Abayon bears out the following guiding principles for determining the propriety of annulling an election:
The power granted to the HRET by the Constitution is intended to be as complete and unimpaired as if it had remained originally in the legislature. Thus, the HRET, as the sole judge of all contests relating to the election, returns and qualifications of members of the House of Representatives, may annul election results if in its determination, fraud, terrorism or other electoral irregularities existed to warrant the annulment. Because in doing so, it is merely exercising its constitutional duty to ascertain who among the candidates received the majority of the valid votes cast.
x x x x
x x x [T]he difference between the annulment of elections by electoral tribunals and the declaration of failure of elections by the COMELEC cannot be gainsaid. First, the former is an incident of the judicial function of electoral tribunals while the latter is in the exercise of the COMELEC's administrative function. Second, electoral tribunals only annul the election results connected with the election contest before it whereas the declaration of failure of elections by the COMELEC relates to the entire election in the concerned precinct or political unit. As such, in annulling elections, the HRET does so only to determine who among the candidates garnered a majority of the legal votes cast. The COMELEC, on the other hand, declares a failure of elections with the objective of holding or continuing the elections, which were not held or were suspended, or if there was one, resulted in a failure to elect. When COMELEC declares a failure of elections, special elections will have to be conducted.14
x x x Courts, of course, should be slow in nullifying and setting aside the election in particular municipalities or precincts, and they should not nullify the vote until it is shown that the irregularities and frauds are so numerous as to show an unmistakable intention or design to defraud, and which does actually and in fact defeat the true expression of the opinion of the voters x x x.23
Endnotes:
1 The Presidential Electoral Tribunal was first created in 1957 through Republic Act No. 1793; and later reorganized by Batas Pambansa Blg. 884 (1985).
2 39 Phil. 258 (1918).
3 Id. at 260-262. Citations omitted.
4 See Banaga, Jr. v. Commission on Elections, 391 Phil. 596, 609 (2000); See also Jardiel v. Commission on Elections, 209 Phil. 534, 545 (1983); See also Concurring Opinion of Barredo, J. in Badelles v. Cabili, 136 Phil. 383, 403-404 (1969); See also Capalla v. Tabiana, 63 Phil. 95 (1936) and cases cited therein; See also Garchitorena v. Crescini, supra note 2.
5 440 Phil. 683 (2002).
6 Id. at 692-696.
7Banaga, Jr. v. Commission on Elections, supra note 4 at 609.
8 Id. at 607; Soliva v. COMELEC, 409 Phil. 381, 398-399 (2001).
9 463 Phil. 212 (2003).
10 Id. at 237.
11Dr. Mutilan v. Commission on Elections, 548 Phil. 699, 710 (2007); Pasandalan v. Commission on Elections, 434 Phil. 161, 173 (2002).
12 Id.
13 785 Phil. 683 (2016).
14 Id. at 700-704. Citations omitted.
15 Id. at 704.
16 Id.
17 Id. at 705, citing the dissenting opinion of Chief Justice (then Associate Justice) Diosdado M. Peralta in the HRET Decision.
18 Id.
19 Id.
20 Id. at 705.
21 Id. at 706.
22 Id.
23Garchitorena v. Crescini, supra note 2 at 261.