G.R. No. 137232 - Rosario Textile Mills Corp. vs. Home Bankers Savings and Trust Co.

Petitioners National Press Club of the Philippines (NPCP), Automated Election System Watch (AES Watch), and Guardians Brotherhood, Inc. (GBI) filed a Petition for Writ of Mandamus against the Commission on Elections (COMELEC).
They sought orders to compel the COMELEC to:

Implement digital signatures for the 2022 National and Local Elections (NLE).
Disclose critical information and allow political parties, candidates, accredited media, and organizations to observe or inspect specified election activities and facilities (the “Election Transparency Activities”).

Republic Act (R.A.) No. 8436, as amended by R.A. No. 9369 (the Automated Election System Law):

Section 22 mandates that printed election returns be signed and thumb-marked by board members and watchers and that electronically transmitted, digitally signed returns shall be official.
Section 14 (amending original Sec. 10) requires the COMELEC to allow examination and testing of AES equipment before voting.

Section 187 obliges the COMELEC to allow designated watchers to observe printing, distribution of ballots, and guard the printer premises.

R.A. No. 8436, sec. 28 defines AES equipment and devices (e.g., counting machines, memory packs, computers).

Digital Signatures: Commissioner Casquejo’s letters to Senator Marcos (Mar. 7, 2022) acknowledged logistical constraints—insufficient cable assemblies to load iButtons for tens of thousands of teachers—so digital signatures would be limited to highly urbanized areas.
Ballot Printing Observers: COMELEC denied political parties’ requests to observe printing at the National Printing Office (NPO), citing COVID-19 protocols and risk of delay; by JCOC (Joint Congressional Oversight Committee) hearing (Mar. 9, 2022), 66.4% of ballots printed without watchers and 5.2 million allegedly defective.
SD Card/VCM Configuration: Parties requested walkthroughs and testing access at the Sta. Rosa, Laguna warehouse; COMELEC guards denied entry without formal coordination or authorization.
Transmission Facilities: Petitioners sought disclosure of the data/communications network architecture, transmission router server, and “Meet-Me Room” details for result transmission.

COMELEC Comment (July 14, 2022): Argued mootness after successful conduct of the 2022 NLE; no ministerial duty breached; political question.
COMELEC’s Transparency Measures Post-Petition:

Livestreamed ballot printing (Mar. 17, 2022) with CCTV footage offered thereafter.
Random on-site ballot checking with party representatives.
End-to-end AES demonstrations and source code reviews for stakeholders.
Warehouse walkthroughs (Sta. Rosa) for SD card configuration.
Public final testing and sealing of VCMs (May 2–7, 2022).
Publication of local hubs, dispatch schedules, and server/data center locations; Transmission Media Server walkthrough.

Whether petitioners, as media, watchdog groups, and civic organizations, have locus standi under the people’s right to information and Capalla v. COMELEC.

Whether the COMELEC has a clear, ministerial duty to implement digital signatures nationwide for 2022 NLE.

Whether the COMELEC is obliged to allow designated watchers to observe the printing, publication of deployment, and disposition of defective ballots.

Whether the COMELEC must permit observers to witness configuration, preparation, testing, and deployment of SD cards and VCMs at COMELEC facilities.

Whether petitioners can compel the COMELEC to disclose and allow inspection of transmission diagrams/network architecture, Meet-Me Room, routers, and related hubs/servers.

Whether the Petition is rendered moot by the conclusion of the 2022 NLE and subsequent COMELEC actions, and if exceptions to mootness justify relief.