Case Digest (G.R. No. 133676)
Facts:
Loong v. Commission on Elections, G.R. No. 133676, April 14, 1999, Supreme Court En Banc, Puno, J., writing for the Court.Petitioner Tupay T. Loong (gubernatorial candidate) challenged COMELEC minute resolutions that ordered manual counting of votes in the Province of Sulu after the May 11, 1998 ARMM elections; respondents were the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) and private respondent Abdusakur Tan (proclaimed governor), with Yusop Jikiri intervening.
After the May 11, 1998 voting, automated counting at the Sulu State College revealed discrepancies: in Pata some ballots showed votes not reflected in machine-generated election returns, and in five other municipalities machines rejected local ballots because of wrong sequence codes. Atty. Jose Tolentino, Jr., head of the COMELEC Task Force in Sulu, investigated and reported that the defects were in the printing of local ballots (misaligned ovals, wrong sequence codes), not in the machines. He suspended counting in Pata and recommended a wider remedy.
On May 12–15, 1998 the COMELEC en banc issued Minute Resolution No. 98-1747 (ordering manual count in Pata), Resolution No. 98-1750 (authorizing transfer of machines/ballots to PICC and implementation measures), and Minute Resolution No. 98-1796/98-1798 (rules and procedures for manual counting and consolidation, creation of special boards, and detailed counting protocol). Machines and ballot boxes were flown to Manila; party watchers escorted the ballots; manual counting was done with assigned boards and volunteer teachers at several Pasay schools; national ballots were to be machine-counted and local ballots manually counted and consolidated.
Petitioner filed a Rule 65 petition (certiorari and prohibition) with this Court on May 25, 1998, arguing among other things that COMELEC acted without jurisdiction, that RA 8436 mandated automated counting and prohibited substitution by manual count, that manual counting made manipulation possible, and that he was denied due process. The Court issued an order to maintain status quo on June 23, 1998; in the meantime private respondent Tan was proclaimed governor on June 8, 1998 on the basis of the manual count (Tan: 43,573; Loong third with 35,452). Jikiri intervened seeking relief on similar grounds.
The parties filed comments and memoranda; oral arguments were heard on September 25, 1998. The Court considered technical reports, Tole...(Pro-only)
Issues:
- Is a petition for certiorari and prohibition under Rule 65 the appropriate remedy to challenge the COMELEC minute resolutions?
- Assuming Rule 65 is appropriate, did COMELEC commit grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack of jurisdiction in ordering a manual count?
- If the manual count were illegal or its results unreliable, is a special...(Pro-only)
Ruling:
- (Pro-only)
Ratio:
- (Pro-only)
Doctrine:
- (Pro-only)