CASE DIGEST : CASTAMAYOR VS COMELEC

G.R. No. 120426 November 23, 1995

NICOLAS C. CASTROMAYOR, petitioner, 

vs.

COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS and the MUNICIPAL BOARD OF CANVASSERS OF CALINOG, ILOILO, respondents.

FACTS : Petitioner was a candidate for a seat in the eight-member Sangguniang Bayan of the municipality of Calinog, Iloilo in the elections held on May 8, 1995.

After the votes had been cast, the Municipal Board of Canvassers (MBC) convened at 6:00 p.m. of that day and began the canvass of the election returns from the different precincts in the municipality. The canvassing lasted well into the night of May 9, 1995. The totals of the votes cast were checked by the Municipal Accountant who acted as recorder of votes.

On May 10, 1995, the winners were proclaimed on the basis of the results of the canvass which showed that petitioner received 5,419 votes and took eighth place in the election for members of the Sangguniang Bayan

As matters stood, therefore the total number of votes cast for Demorito was 5,470, or 51 more than the 5,419 votes cast for petitioner.

As matters stood, therefore the total number of votes cast for Demorito was 5,470, or 51 more than the 5,419 votes cast for petitioner.

Garin reported the matter to the Regional Election Director, Atty. Rodolfo Sarroza, who advised her to request authority from the COMELEC to reconvene for the purpose of correcting the error.

On May 13, 1995, a fax letter was sent to the Law Department of the COMELEC in Manila. The letter explained the problem and asked for authority for the MBC to reconvene in order to correct the error, annul the proclamation of petitioner and proclaim Demorito as the eighth member of the Sangguniang Bayan.

A formal letter was later sent to the COMELEC on May 17, 1995.

On May 23, 1995, the COMELEC issued the following resolution

On May 25, 1995, not yet apprised of the resolution of the COMELEC en banc, Garin sent a letter to petitioner Castromayor, informing him of the error in the computation of the totals and of the request made by the MBC for permission to reconvene to correct the error.

Petitioner protested the proposed action in a letter dated June 5, 1995 to COMELEC Executive Director Resurreccion A. Borra. He questioned the legality of the actuations of Garin as stated in her letter.6

On June 9, 1995, the MBC was informed by fax of the COMELEC's action on its request.7

Accordingly on June 14, 1995, the MBC sent notices to the parties concerned that it was going to reconvene on June 22, 1995, at 10:00 a.m., at the Session Hall of the Sangguniang Bayan, to make a correction of errors.

Hence this petition to annul COMELEC Resolution No. 95-2414.

ISSUE : WON the comelec erred in issuing  the resolution in question without notice and hearing, solely on the basis of the fax letter of the MBC.

To be sure, the COMELEC did not itself annul the proclamation of petitioner, but, by "direct[ing] the Municipal Board of Canvassers of said municipality to reconvene to annul the proclamation of Nicolas C. Castromayor," the COMELEC in effect did so. After all, the authority of the COMELEC was sought because, without such authority, the MBC would not have the power to annul the proclamation of petitioner.

The proceedings before the MBC should be summary. Should any party be dissatisfied with the ruling of the MBC, the party concerned shall have a right to appeal to the COMELEC en banc, in accordance with Rule 27, §7 of the COMELEC Rules of Procedure

Athough this provision applies to preproclamation controversies and here the proclamation of petitioner has already been made, there is nothing to suggest that it cannot be applied to cases like the one at bar, in which the validity of the proclamation is precisely in question. On the contrary, in Duremdes v. COMELEC, 11 this Court sustained the power of the COMELEC en banc to order a correction of the Statement of Votes to make it conform to the election returns in accordance with a procedure similar to the procedure now embodied in Rule 27, §7. If the Rule was not applied, it was only because it was adopted after that case had arisen. Otherwise, as we said there, this procedure "best recommends itself specially considering that the Statement of Votes is a vital component in the electoral process."

Indeed, since the Statement of Votes forms the basis of the Certificate of Canvass and of the proclamation, any error in the statement ultimately affects the validity of the proclamation. It begs the question, therefore, to say that this is not a preproclamation controversy and the procedure for preproclamation controversies cannot be applied to the correction in the computation of the totals in the Statement of Votes.

It should be pointed out, in this connection, that what is involved here is a simple problem of arithmetic. The Statement of Votes is merely a tabulation per precinct of the votes obtained by the candidates as reflected in the election returns. In making the correction in computation, the MBC will be acting in an administrative capacity, under the control and supervision of the COMELEC. Hence any question pertaining to the proceedings of the MBC may be raised directly to the COMELEC en banc in the exercise of its constitutional function to decide questions affecting elections.