Facts:

• Lucas Ancheta and Florencio A. Aguilar filed a case against the Judge of the Court of First Instance of La Union and Marcos Verceles.
• The dispute arose from a municipal election held on June 3, 1919, in Luna, La Union, where the petitioners contested for the position of municipal president.
• Marcos Verceles was declared the winner by the municipal council on June 7, 1919.
• Ancheta and Aguilar filed election protests against Verceles on June 17 and June 19, 1919, respectively, offering to post the required bond for costs.
• The presiding judge was on vacation, delaying the bond amount's determination as per Section 482 of the Administrative Code (Act No. 2711).
• Upon the judge's return on July 1, 1919, the bond was set at P500, which the petitioners complied with shortly after being notified.
• The court appointed commissioners to examine the ballots on August 11, 1919, and they submitted their report on August 14, 1919.
• Verceles filed a motion to dismiss the protest on August 16, 1919, claiming the bond was not posted in time.
• The judge dismissed the protest on August 31, 1919, citing the late posting of the bond.
• The petitioners sought a writ of mandamus from the Supreme Court to compel the judge to reinstate the election protest.

Issue:

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Ruling:

• The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the petitioners, granting the writ of mandamus.
• The Court ordered the respondent judge to reinstate ...(Unlock)

Ratio:

• The Court noted that while a bond is required for an election protest, the law does not specify a timeframe for posting the bond after filing the protest.
• The filing of the protest grants the court jurisdiction, and the bond requir...continue reading