The Supreme Court, during its En Banc deliberations on August 8, 2023, directed the Commission on Elections to proclaim Roberto ‘Pinpin’ T. Uy, Jr. as winner in the 2022 elections for the position of Zamboanga del Norte’s First District Representative.
In a Decision penned by Justice Mario V. Lopez, the Court granted the consolidated petitions in the cases of Roberto ‘Pinpin’ T. Uy, Jr. v. COMELEC, et al. (G.R. No. 260650) and Frederico P. Jalosjos v. Romeo M. Jalosjos, Jr. and COMELEC (G.R. No. 260952) and set aside the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) En Banc’s Order dated May 12, 2022, and Resolution dated June 7, 2022 for being issued with grave abuse of discretion. The Court likewise annulled the proclamation of Romeo “Kuya Jonjon” M. Jalosjos, Jr. (R. Jalosjos) arising from the COMELEC’s execution of its assailed Order and Resolution, and lifted the status quo ante order it previously issued which required the parties to observe the prevailing conditions prior to the issuance of the assailed COMELEC Order and Resolution.
In the 2022 elections, the following were candidates for Zamboanga del Norte’s First District Representative: Uy; R. Jalosjos; Frederico “Kuya Jan” Jalosjos (F. Jalosjos); and Richard Amazon.
On November 6, 2021, R. Jalosjos filed a petition to declare F. Jalosjos a nuisance candidate and to cancel the latter’s certificate of candidacy (CoC) on the ground of lack of bona fide intention to run for public office. The case was docketed as SPA No. 21-224 (DC). R. Jalosjos claimed that F. Jalosjos is not known as “Kuya Jan,” the nickname the latter submitted, which sounds similar with R. Jalosjos’ nickname, “Kuya Jonjon.”
On April 19, 2022, the COMELEC declared F. Jalosjos a nuisance candidate, which he challenged by filing a motion for reconsideration.
Meantime, the elections were held on May 9, 2022 where Uy received 69,591 votes; R. Jalosjos 69,109 votes; F. Jalosjos 5,424 votes; and Amazon 288 votes.
The next day, R. Jalosjos filed a motion in SPA No. 21-224 (DC) to suspend the proclamation of Uy, claiming that the former won the elections since the votes of F. Jalosjos, as a nuisance candidate, must be credited to R. Jalosjos.
On May 12, 2022, the Provincial Board of Canvassers (PBOC) resolved to suspend the proclamation of Uy after receipt of an advance copy of COMELEC En Banc order, issued motu proprio, in SPA No. 21-224 (DC) directing that Uy’s proclamation be suspended.
This prompted Uy to file before the COMELEC an Extremely Urgent Petition to direct the PBOC to proclaim him as the winning candidate, having received the highest number of votes based on the complete transmission of election results.
On May 31, 2022, Uy filed before the Supreme Court a Petition for Certiorari, Prohibition and Mandamus Ex Abundati Ad Cautela arguing that the PBOC has the ministerial duty to proclaim the candidate with the highest votes.
Meantime, in SPA No. 21-224 (DC), the COMELEC En Banc denied on June 7, 2022 F. Jalosjos’ motion for reconsideration for being filed out of time, having been sent through electronic mail beyond 5:00 pm on April 25, 2022, the last day for filing. The COMELEC En Banc thus directed that the votes of F. Jalosjos be credited to R. Jalosjos, ruling that the votes received by a nuisance candidate should be credited to the legitimate candidate with the same surname. This led to the PBOC’s proclamation of R. Jalosjos as Zamboanga del Norte’s First District Representative on June 23, 2022.
F. Jalosjos was thus prompted to file a Petition for Certiorari before the Supreme Court, which was subsequently consolidated with Uy’s petition.
F. Jalosjos also prayed for the issuance of a status quo ante order against the COMELEC’s directive to credit his votes to R. Jalosjos, while Uy similarly asked for a status quo ante order to observe the prevailing conditions prior to the denial of F. Jalosjos’ motion for reconsideration. The Supreme Court later granted the said prayers for a status quo ante order and required the parties to observe the last, actual, peaceable, and uncontested state before the COMELEC En Banc issued its May 12, 2022 Order and June 7, 2022 Resolution.
In granting the petitions, the Supreme Court held that public policy dictates that candidates receiving the highest votes should be proclaimed without unnecessary delay. The Court stressed that the board of canvassers is a ministerial body with power generally limited to the mechanical function of adding or compiling the votes cast for each candidate.
The Court also emphasized that R. Jalosjos had not yet assumed office in view of the status quo ante order it issued, adding that the status quo ante order does not permit any proclamation while the case is pending and, thus, renders any proclamation ineffective.
The Court further said that the suspension of proclamation of a winning candidate is not a matter which the COMELEC can dispose of motu proprio.
In Uy’s case, the COMELEC, motu proprio, ordered the suspension of his proclamation even though the PBOC had clear basis to proclaim Uy as the winning candidate, having garnered the highest number of votes. The Court also noted there were several irregularities in the COMELEC En Banc’s suspension order, with the copy sent by electronic mail to the PBOC in advance, undated, and lacking the complete signatures of the COMELEC members as well as a certification and a notice signed by the COMELEC’s Clerk of Court.
The Court also found irregular that the COMELEC Chairperson intervened in the proclamation by calling directly the PBOC Chairperson to confirm the authenticity of the suspension order.
The Court further ruled that the COMELEC’s power to suspend the proclamation of a winning candidate is not available in proceedings to declare one a nuisance candidate. Thus, the COMELEC gravely abused its discretion when it suspended Uy’s proclamation in SPA No. 21-224 (DC), a proceeding where Uy is not a party, and was thus denied the opportunity to be heard.
In addition, the Court held that the suspension of Uy’s proclamation depends not only on whether F. Jalosjos is a nuisance candidate but also on the statistical probability of affecting the outcome of the elections. However, the suspension order was issued based on R. Jalosjos’ bare allegations, who did not even submit any document or certification from the PBOC to support his prayer to suspend the proclamation.
As to the issue of whether F. Jalosjos is a nuisance candidate, the Court ruled in favor of F. Jalosjos. The Court found that the COMELEC solely based its ruling on the alleged erroneous use of a nickname in declaring F. Jalosjos a nuisance without considering his membership in the political party, the importance of a CoC, the preceding campaign period, and the dissimiliarities in the names appearing on the ballots.
The Court held that the automated elections system (AES) ensured sufficient identifiers on the entries appearing on the ballots, with the candidates’ complete names and political parties now printed, as submitted by the candidates. Thus, the striking difference in the names of “Jalosjos, Kuya Jan (NUP)” and “Jalosjos, Jr., Romeo (NP)” on the ballots, which refer to F. Jalosjos and R. Jalosjos, respectively, are more than enough to distinguish the entries in the ballots despite the similarity in the surnames, said the Court.
The Court added that the COMELEC En Banc should not have denied F. Jalosjos’ motion for reconsideration for being filed an hour and a half past the 5:00 pm deadline. The Court said that the circumstances of F. Jalosjos’ case merit the liberal application of the rules in the interest of substantial justice, since the issue of whether F. Jalosjos is a nuisance candidate is determinative not only of the proper treatment of his votes but also as to the outcome of the elections.
The Court also ruled that the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET) has no jurisdiction over the case, since it acquires jurisdiction only when all of the following requisites are met: (1) a valid proclamation; (2) a proper oath; and (3) assumption of office. In the case of R. Jalosjos, he did not take an oath of office before the Speaker of the House in open session, which bars him from performing his functions. Neither has R. Jalosjos assumed office. Thus, the requisites that vest HRET jurisdiction are not present.
The Supreme Court Public Information Office shall upload a copy of the Decision once it receives a copy from the Office of the Clerk of Court En Banc. (Courtesy of the Supreme Court Public Information Office)