Case Digest (G.R. No. 192474)
Facts:
Romeo M. Jalosjos, Jr. v. The Commission on Elections and Dan Erasmo, Sr., G.R. Nos. 192474, 192704, 193566, June 26, 2012, Supreme Court En Banc, Abad, J., writing for the Court.Petitioner Romeo M. Jalosjos, Jr. (Jalosjos) ran for and won as Mayor of Tampilisan, Zamboanga del Norte in May 2007. While serving as mayor he purchased, renovated, and in September 2008 began occupying a house and lot in Barangay Veterans Village, Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay. On May 6, 2009 he applied with the Election Registration Board (ERB) of Ipil to transfer his voter registration to Precinct 0051F, Barangay Veterans Village; respondent Dan Erasmo, Sr. opposed the transfer. The ERB approved Jalosjos’s application and denied Erasmo’s opposition (ERB resolution dated July 31, 2009).
Erasmo filed an election case to exclude Jalosjos from the voters’ list before the 1st Municipal Circuit Trial Court (MCTC) of Ipil-Tungawan-R.T. Lim (docketed Election Case 590). The MCTC, after hearing, on August 14, 2009 ordered Jalosjos excluded from the voters list, finding he had not abandoned his domicile in Tampilisan because he continued to serve as its mayor. Jalosjos appealed to the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Pagadian City (initially filed in RTC Ipil then transferred); the RTC affirmed the MCTC decision on September 11, 2009.
Jalosjos filed a petition for certiorari with application for preliminary injunction before the Court of Appeals (CA) (CA-G.R. SP 03179-MIN). On November 26, 2009 the CA granted the preliminary injunction and enjoined enforcement of the lower courts’ exclusion orders, resulting in Jalosjos’s name being reinstated in the Barangay Veterans Village voters list pending resolution.
On November 28, 2009 Jalosjos filed his Certificate of Candidacy (COC) for Representative of the Second District of Zamboanga Sibugay for the May 10, 2010 elections. Erasmo filed a petition before the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), docketed SPA 09-114(DC), seeking to deny due course to or cancel Jalosjos’s COC on grounds of material misrepresentation of residence. The COMELEC Second Division dismissed Erasmo’s petitions for insufficiency in form and substance in a joint resolution dated February 23, 2010. Erasmo moved for reconsideration before the COMELEC En Banc.
The May 10, 2010 elections were held and Jalosjos was proclaimed winner on May 13, 2010. Meanwhile, the CA rendered judgment in the voters exclusion case on June 2, 2010 holding that the lower courts erred in excluding Jalosjos and that he qualified to vote in Ipil under the Constitution and R.A. 8189 (Voters Registration Act of 1996); Erasmo filed a petition for review in this Court (G.R. 193566). On June 3, 2010 the COMELEC En Banc granted Erasmo’s motion for reconsideration and declared Jalosjos ineligible for the congressional office on residency grounds.
Both Jalosjos and Erasmo elevated related challenges to the Supreme Court via petitions for certiorari. The Court consolidated the three petitions by resolutions dated July 20, 2010 and December 13, 2010. The Office of the Solicitor General filed a comment urging dismissal of Erasmo’s petitions and grant of Jalosjos’s petition on the ground that jurisdiction over the qualifications of members of the House of Representatives lies with the House of Representatives Electoral Tribun...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- At the time the COMELEC En Banc declared Jalosjos ineligible, did the Supreme Court have jurisdiction to pass upon Jalosjos’s residency qualification for the office of Representative, given his proclamation and assumption of office?
- Did the COMELEC En Banc act within its jurisdiction when it declared Jalosjos ineligible for the congressional office on June 3, 2010?
- Should Erasmo’s petitions challenging (a) the validity of Jalosjos’s voter registration and (b) the COMELEC’s failure to annul Jalosjos’s pr...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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