Case Digest (G.R. No. L-6806)
Facts:
Simeon Macolor, Protestant and Appellee, vs. Carlos Amores, Protestee and Appellant, G.R. No. L-6806, November 05, 1953, Supreme Court En Banc, Bautista Angelo, J., writing for the Court.In the municipal elections of November 13, 1951, Simeon Macolor and Carlos Amores were opposing candidates for Mayor of Coron, Palawan. After returns from all precincts were canvassed, the Municipal Board of Canvassers proclaimed Amores mayor-elect on November 26, 1951, with a plurality of 212 votes. Included among the precincts were three precincts on the island of Culion (Nos. 16, 16‑A and 16‑B) where Macolor received 39 votes and Amores 430 votes. Excluding those precincts, the totals from the other precincts were Amores 444 and Macolor 623; with the Culion precincts included Amores led by 212, and with them excluded Macolor led by 179.
Contesting the inclusion of the votes from Culion on the ground that they were illegal because cast by residents of the Culion Leper Colony (a national reservation under the Department of Health), Macolor filed an election contest in the Court of First Instance (CFI) of Palawan. The CFI sustained Macolor’s contention: it declared illegal the votes cast in precincts Nos. 16, 16‑A and 16‑B and held Macolor to be mayor‑elect with a plurality of 179 votes. From that decision, Amores appealed to the Supreme Court.
To resolve the contest the Court examined the history and legal status of the Culion Leper Colony, including Executive Order No. 35 (August 22, 1904) withdrawing Culion as a reservation for a leper colony and the implementing provisions of the Revised Administrative Code, notably Secs. 1066–1068, which vested administrative control of the reservation in the Department Head exercised through the Director of Health and conferred special administrative powers over the colony’s internal administration. The Court also considered prior decisions regarding the voting rights of confined le...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Are the votes cast in precincts Nos. 16, 16‑A and 16‑B (within the Culion Leper Colony) legal and properly counted in the municipal election for Mayor of Coron?
- If inmates of the Culion Leper Colony may exercise the right of suffrage, what elective offices ...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Ratio:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Doctrine:
- (Subscriber-Only)