Case Digest (G.R. No. 165677)
Facts:
Edilwasif T. Baddiri v. Commission on Elections, Alkadar T. Loong, Nijar I. Hassan and the Provincial Board of Canvassers of Sulu, G.R. No. 165677, June 08, 2005, Supreme Court En Banc, Azcuna, J., writing for the Court.Petitioner Edilwasif T. Baddiri, and private respondents Alkhadar T. Loong and Nijar I. Hassan were candidates for Board Member, Sangguniang Panlalawigan, First District of Sulu in the May 10, 2004 elections. During the Provincial Board of Canvassers’ proceedings on May 17, 2004, Loong discovered an apparent 2,000-vote overstatement credited to Baddiri in the Certificate of Canvass (CoC) from the Municipality of Patikul: the CoC reflected 4,873 votes for Baddiri while the underlying Statements of Votes by Precinct (SOVP) summed to 2,873.
On May 17, 2004 the Municipal Board of Canvassers of Patikul executed an affidavit admitting an arithmetic error in the CoC totals. The same day, Loong filed a Petition for Correction of Manifest Error with the Provincial Board of Canvassers of Sulu; Baddiri filed an Opposition on May 18, 2004. On May 19, 2004 the Provincial Board granted Loong’s petition, corrected the Patikul CoC, and—after recomputing totals—placed Loong and Nijar Hassan among the top four while excluding Baddiri from proclamation.
Baddiri appealed to the COMELEC, docketed SPC No. 04-159. Nijar I. Hassan filed and was granted leave to intervene in COMELEC proceedings. By Resolution dated July 8, 2004, the COMELEC First Division dismissed Baddiri’s appeal and affirmed the Provincial Board’s correction and the directive to reconvene and proclaim Hassan as the 4th winning candidate. Baddiri moved for reconsideration; the COMELEC en banc denied it on October 1, 2004 and affirmed the First Division’s Resolution, directing implementation and referring the matter to the Law Department for investigation of the municipal board’s admitted inadvertence.
Petitioner then filed a petition for certiorari with a prayer for a temporary restraining order and wr...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Was there a manifest error in the Certificate of Canvass of Votes from the Municipality of Patikul, Sulu?
- Did the Provincial Board of Canvassers of Sulu have jurisdiction to entertain Loong’s Petition for Correction of Manifest Error?
- Did the COMELEC commit grave abuse of discretion in affirming the Pr...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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