Case Digest (G.R. No. 193314)
Facts:
Svetlana P. Jalosjos v. Commission on Elections, Edwin Elim Tumpag and Rodolfo Y. Estrellada, G.R. No. 193314, February 26, 2013, the Supreme Court En Banc, Sereno, C.J., writing for the Court. Petitioner Svetlana P. Jalosjos filed a Petition for Review under Rule 64 challenging COMELEC resolutions that denied due course to or cancelled her Certificate of Candidacy (CoC) for mayor of Baliangao, Misamis Occidental.On 20 November 2009 petitioner filed her CoC indicating her place of birth and residence as Barangay Tugas, Baliangao. Private respondents Edwin Elim Tumpag and Rodolfo Y. Estrellada filed a Petition to Deny Due Course to or Cancel the CoC, alleging that petitioner was born in San Juan, Metro Manila, and had not abandoned her domicile of origin in Dapitan City. They submitted certifications from Baliangao offices and joint affidavits of barangay officials and residents to support nonresidence.
Petitioner countered that she had acquired residence in Baliangao in December 2008 after purchasing two parcels of land, was overseeing construction of a house and resort, and that the incorrect place of birth entry was a secretary's error. She submitted her Certificate of Live Birth, an Extrajudicial Partition with Simultaneous Sale and related titles and sketches, photographs, a voter registration application, her CoC, and numerous affidavits from workers, local officials, organization presidents and her personal secretary.
The Petition to Deny Due Course remained pending through the 10 May 2010 elections, where petitioner received the highest votes and was proclaimed mayor. On 04 June 2010 the COMELEC Second Division issued a resolution disqualifying petitioner for failure to meet the one-year residency requirement and cancelling her CoC under B.P. Blg. 881, Sec. 78 in relation to Sec. 74. The COMELEC En Banc denied petitioner’s motion for reconsideration on 19 August 2010, reaffirming defects in her proof (e.g., nonparticipation in the sale instrument, unsigned sketch plans, voter registration proving only six-month residency, and biased affiants).
Petitioner filed the present Rule 64 petition alleging grave abuse of discretion and due process violations for lack of advance notice of promulgation under ...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Did COMELEC commit grave abuse of discretion by failing to serve advance notice of promulgation of its 04 June 2010 and 19 August 2010 Resolutions, thereby violating petitioner’s right to due process?
- Did COMELEC commit grave abuse of discretion in finding that petitioner failed to prove compliance with the one-year residency requirement f...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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