Facts:

• Isidro Millare (petitioner) vs. Alfredo Elvena (private respondent).
• Judges involved: Leopoldo B. Gironella and Adriano Bernardino.
• Events occurred during the barangay elections on May 17, 1982, in Barangay Budac, Tayum, Abra.
• Millare contested the position of Barangay Captain against Elvena.
• On May 10, 1982, Elvena filed a petition to disqualify Millare for non-residence, claiming he had not resided in Barangay Budac for six months prior to the elections, as required by Section 7 of Batas Pambansa Blg. 222.
• Millare did not appear at the hearing, leading Judge Bernardino to strike his name from the voters' list on May 13, 1982, declaring him disqualified.
• Millare filed a motion for reconsideration on May 14, 1982, which was denied on May 16, 1982, although his name remained on the voters' list.
• Millare received the denial order shortly before the election and participated, receiving more votes than Elvena, but his votes were deemed stray.
• Elvena was proclaimed the winner and took his oath of office.
• Millare filed Election Protest No. 49 on May 20, 1982, to annul Elvena's proclamation, but the Municipal Circuit Court dismissed it, stating Millare's disqualification was final.
• Millare's appeal to the Court of First Instance was also dismissed.
• He subsequently filed a petition for review on certiorari to nullify the lower courts' decisions.

Issue:

• (Unlock)

Ruling:

• The Supreme Court granted Millare's petition.
• The Court annulled the orders of Judges Bernardino and Gironella.
• The case was remanded for further proceedings, allowing...(Unlock)

Ratio:

• The Court noted that Millare's failure to appeal the disqualification was a technicality that should not undermine the voters' will.
• Millare received the disqualification order shortly before the election, limiting his ...continue reading