G.R. No. 230744 - Salvador vs. Commission on Elections

Petitioner Mario O. Salvador, a member of the political party Bagong Lakas ng Nueva Ecija and a mayoralty candidate in San Jose City, Nueva Ecija during the 2010 elections, is at the center of the controversy.
His electoral opponent was represented by Marivic Violago-Belena, the wife of private respondent Alexander S. Belena, who ultimately won the mayoralty race.

On December 4, 2014, Belena filed a Complaint-Affidavit for overspending, alleging that Salvador exceeded the allowable expenditure limit as prescribed by law.
According to Belena, based on Salvador’s Statement of Election Contribution and Expenditure (SOCE), Salvador spent P449,000.00, while the law permits a maximum expenditure of P275,667.00.
The computation of the allowable limit was anchored on the registered voter count in San Jose City (91,889) multiplied by the cap of P3.00 per voter, which applies to candidates with political party affiliation.

Salvador argued that although he is a member of a political party, he did not receive any support from that party; thus, he contended that the exception allowing a P5.00 cap (normally reserved for independent candidates without any political party affiliation or support) should apply to him.
Belena, however, maintained that the legal provision under Section 13 of R.A. No. 7166 requires a candidate to be both without any political party and without its support for the P5.00 cap to apply.

By Resolution dated November 2, 2015, the COMELEC En Banc directed its Law Department to file the appropriate information against Salvador for overspending, rejecting Salvador’s interpretation and applying the P3.00 cap through the principle “verba legis non est recedendum.”
Salvador subsequently filed a Motion for Reconsideration, which was denied in another Resolution dated March 8, 2017, with the COMELEC reaffirming that the law is plain and unambiguous regarding the expenditure limits.

The central issue is whether the COMELEC En Banc committed grave abuse of discretion amounting to a lack or excess of jurisdiction when it ordered the filing of an appropriate information against Salvador for alleged overspending.

Specifically, the question arises as to whether the candidate’s claim of not receiving political party support entitles him to the enhanced allowable expenditure (P5.00 per voter) or whether the strict interpretation of the statute (applying the P3.00 cap due to party membership) must prevail.