Title
Barbers vs. Commission on Elections
Case
G.R. No. 165691
Decision Date
Jun 22, 2005
Barbers challenged Biazon's Senate proclamation, alleging incomplete canvass. SC dismissed, citing SET jurisdiction and ruling uncanvassed votes wouldn't alter Biazon's lead.
barbers
commission on elections
proclamation
A

Case Summary (A.C. No. 12408)

Election, Canvass, Proclamation and Supplemental Returns

Both Barbers and Biazon were candidates in the 10 May 2004 synchronized national and local elections. On 24 May 2004, the COMELEC sitting en banc (as NBC) proclaimed the first eleven winning senators and announced that the remaining 12th slot would be proclaimed after canvassing outstanding Certificates of Canvass (COCs). On 2 June 2004, COMELEC promulgated Resolution No. NBC 04-005 proclaiming Biazon as the 12th duly elected Senator, reporting nationwide totals of 10,635,270 votes for Biazon and 10,624,585 for Barbers (a margin of 10,685 votes). The COMELEC stated that outstanding COCs and special elections would not materially affect the results.

Procedural History before COMELEC

Petition to Annul Proclamation and Special Division Assignment

On 7 June 2004 Barbers filed a petition with COMELEC to annul Biazon’s proclamation (SPC Case No. 04-258), asserting the proclamation was illegal and premature because the national canvass was allegedly incomplete and outstanding COCs and special elections could affect the outcome. The matter was assigned to a Special Division of COMELEC. Barbers also filed motions for immediate service, suspension of proclamation effects, and setting of the case for hearing, asserting urgency because senatorial terms would commence on 30 June 2004.

Respondent’s Position before COMELEC

Biazon’s Defenses and Jurisdictional Objections

In his answer, Biazon argued among other points that: the Special Division lacked jurisdiction to review a proclamation made by COMELEC sitting en banc as NBC; once COMELEC proclaimed him and he took his oath, the proper forum for post-proclamation challenges is the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET); the margin of 10,685 votes was sufficient that outstanding COCs and special-election votes could not materially alter the result; and the Special Division committed an alleged error in crediting certain votes from Lanao del Sur, which he addressed as an issue of tabulation.

COMELEC Special Division Resolution (6 July 2004)

Denial of Petition — Findings and Vote Totals from Supplemental Returns

The Special Division denied Barbers’s petition for lack of merit. It recited the canvass sources for the proclamation and summarized supplemental returns subsequently received from various localities (e.g., Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat, Northern Samar, Albay) and outstanding precincts where special elections remained to be held. The Special Division’s tabulation credited Barbers with an additional 6,736 votes and Biazon with 2,263 votes from supplemental materials, leaving Biazon with 10,637,533 and Barbers with 10,631,321 — a lead of 6,212 in favor of Biazon. The Special Division reasoned that even if the remaining 2,931 uncanvassed votes were all for Barbers, the result would not be materially affected (lead could reduce to 3,299), and thus the proclamation was not void for being based on an incomplete canvass.

COMELEC en banc Resolution (25 October 2004)

Denial of Reconsideration — Jurisdictional and Substantive Reasons

The COMELEC en banc denied Barbers’s motion for reconsideration, affirming the Special Division’s findings and emphasizing reliance on official COMELEC records. The en banc noted the Supervisory Committee’s report pointing to irregularities in some local returns but stated the Commission exercised its discretion to use only Municipal Certificates of Canvass (MCOCs) prepared by duly constituted municipal boards in specified provinces when appropriate. The en banc also cited prior jurisprudence distinguishing pre-proclamation contests (within COMELEC’s remedial scope) from post-proclamation disputes over proclaimed members (properly within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Electoral Tribunal), invoking cases such as Pangilinan v. COMELEC and Rasul v. COMELEC to support that the Senate Electoral Tribunal, not COMELEC, is the appropriate forum post-proclamation.

Legal Issues Presented to the Supreme Court

Issues Raised by Petitioner

Barbers presented principally two related issues: (1) whether COMELEC gravely abused its discretion and acted beyond its jurisdiction by using improvised and non-canvassed Municipal COCs (unauthentic and unreliable) submitted to the COMELEC department (ERSD) instead of official Provincial COCs in tabulating remaining uncanvassed results; and (2) whether COMELEC gravely abused discretion by proclaiming Biazon prematurely on 2 June 2004 despite recognizing an incomplete canvass and later reinstating that proclamation using allegedly dubious documents instead of lawful canvassed documents.

Standards for Certiorari and Prohibition

Thresholds for Extraordinary Relief

The Court summarized the requisites for certiorari and prohibition under the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure: certiorari requires (a) action by a quasi-judicial body without or in excess of jurisdiction or with grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack of jurisdiction, and (b) absence of any plain, speedy and adequate remedy in the ordinary course of law. Prohibition likewise requires (a) proceedings without or in excess of jurisdiction or with grave abuse amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction, and (b) lack of an adequate remedy to compel cessation of the proceedings. The Court stressed the need for capricious, arbitrary or whimsical exercise of power for certiorari/prohibition to succeed.

Exclusive Jurisdiction of the Senate Electoral Tribunal

Constitutional and Rule-Based Exclusivity Over Senatorial Contests

Relying on Article VI, Section 17 of the 1987 Constitution and Rule 12 of the Revised Rules of the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET), the Court reiterated that the SET is the sole judge of all contests relating to the election, returns and qualifications of senate members. The Court explained the phrase “election, returns and qualifications” includes conduct of polls, canvass of returns, proclamation of winners and authenticity of returns, thereby conveying that disputes like the present challenge to a senatorial proclamation fall squarely within SET’s exclusive jurisdiction. The Court cited prior decisions (e.g., Pangilinan v. COMELEC, Javier v. COMELEC) to support that once a candidate is proclaimed, the appropriate remedy is an electoral protest before the SET rather than collateral extraordinary remedies before the Court.

Jurisdictional Conclusion and Declination to Take Cognizance

Lack of Jurisdiction to Entertain the Petition; SET is Proper Forum

Applying the constitutional exclusivity, the Court held it had no jurisdiction to entertain Barbers’s petition and that Barbers’s proper recourse after the proclamation was to file an electoral protest with the SET. The petition for certiorari and prohibition was therefore dismissed on jurisdictional grounds because an adequate and plain remedy existed — the SET electoral protest mechanism. A concurrence by several justices reinforced the conclusion on lack of jurisdiction.

Discussion of Merits (Alternative Analysis)

COMELEC’s Discretion, Applicable Rules and Effect of Missing Returns

Although the Court dismissed the petition for lack of jurisdiction, it proceeded to address the merits to show the absence of grave abuse of discretion by COMELEC. The Court recogn

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