Case Digest (G.R. No. 32181)
Facts:
Mamerto Portillo v. Enrique Salvani, G.R. No. 32181, March 10, 1930, the Supreme Court En Banc, Malcolm, J., writing for the Court.Following the 1928 general elections in Antique Province, the provincial board of canvassers proclaimed Enrique Salvani elected governor with 2,934 votes against Mamerto Portillo's 2,925. Portillo filed an election protest on July 9, 1928. The trial court heard the case and the matter was submitted for decision on March 23, 1929.
Although the challenged decision bore the date July 3, 1929, it did not reach the clerk of court in Antique until August 15, 1929 (having been forwarded from Capiz on August 12). On July 26, 1929—more than one year after the protest was filed—Salvani, having received no notice of any decision, moved to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction under the Election Law provision that electoral contests must be terminated within one year. After the decision was received and the clerk filed it, the trial court declared Portillo elected; Salvani renewed his jurisdictional objection and moved to have the judgment declared void. The Auxiliary Judge of the Court of First Instance in Antique denied Salvani’s motions.
Salvani appealed the denial to this Court, contending the trial court had lost jurisdiction when the one-year period lapsed and that the subsequent judgment was void. The Supreme Court took up whether the one-yea...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Is the Election Law provision that electoral contests "shall be terminated within one year" mandatory (jurisdictional) or merely directory?
- If mandatory, did the trial court lose jurisdiction over the contest when the one-year period expired, rendering its subseq...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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