G.R. No. 87014-16 - Dumarpa vs. Dimaporo

Case Summary (G.R. No. 87014-16)

Factual Background

The municipal board of canvassers proclaimed Datu Jamil Dimaporo as Mayor-elect of Marogong on February 3, 1988, and two defeated candidates filed petitions to annul that proclamation on February 15 and 17, 1988, which were assigned to the COMELEC First Division. While those petitions were pending, the Secretary of Local Governments designated Maclis Balt as Officer-in-Charge of the Office of the Mayor on May 19, 1988, and Governor Saidamen Pangarungan lifted a prior suspension on financial processing for the municipality by memorandum dated May 23, 1988; Maclis Balt thereafter assumed and performed OIC functions in Marogong pending final resolution of the contested mayoralty.

Procedural History before COMELEC

The COMELEC First Division dismissed the petitions and affirmed Dimaporo’s proclamation by decision promulgated July 11, 1988; motions for reconsideration were timely filed and the matters were set for resolution by the en banc Commission. Governor Pangarungan’s office, upon receipt of a transmittal from Dimaporo’s counsel and related papers, referred the question of who should be recognized as mayor to the Provincial Fiscal by a third indorsement dated August 1, 1988; by fourth indorsement dated August 5, 1988 the Provincial Fiscal’s office, through 3rd Assistant Provincial Fiscal Maranao C. Danganan with the conformity of Salic B. Dumarpa, rendered a written legal opinion that OIC Maclis Balt remained mayor because a timely motion for reconsideration suspended the First Division decision under Sec. 3, paragraph C, Article IX of the Constitution and relevant COMELEC rules.

Motion for Contempt and Parties’ Responses

On August 22, 1988 Datu Jamil Dimaporo moved the COMELEC en banc to hold the Provincial Fiscal, the 3rd Assistant Provincial Fiscal, and Vice-Governor Saaduddin Alauya in contempt, alleging that the referral for opinion and the opinion itself improperly impeded and interfered with the processes of the Commission and caused confusion that impeded the proclaimed mayor from assuming office; respondents answered asserting that the Vice-Governor acted in good faith in seeking legal advice and that the fiscals merely performed their statutory duty under Sec. 1682 of the Revised Administrative Code in rendering a written opinion to a provincial officer and that such opinion did not constitute contempt.

COMELEC En Banc Resolution and Penalty

By Resolution dated October 28, 1988 the COMELEC en banc rejected the motions for reconsideration in the underlying pre-proclamation cases and, as to the contempt charge, found that the respondents’ acts amounted to suspending the effects of the proclamation, unlawfully paving the way for the OIC to continue in office and interfering with the Commission’s exclusive jurisdiction over pre-proclamation controversies; the en banc concluded that the respondents’ conduct constituted contempt under Rule 71 and fined each of them Five Hundred Pesos (P500.00), a penalty affirmed by the Commission’s January 12, 1989 order denying reconsideration and rebuking the movants for persisting in an erroneous legal position.

Petition for Certiorari to the Supreme Court

The convicted contemners filed a special civil action of certiorari in this Court to annul the COMELEC en banc’s finding of contempt. The Office of the Solicitor General declined to defend the COMELEC’s position and the COMELEC filed its own comment; Datu Dimaporo did not file any comment. The petitioners urged that the COMELEC’s contempt resolution lacked factual basis and punished them for performing a lawful duty by providing a legal opinion to the provincial chief executive.

Issues Presented

The case presented whether the rendition and communication of a legal opinion by the Provincial Fiscal and 3rd Assistant Provincial Fiscal to the Acting Governor, on a contested mayoralty proclamation pending before the COMELEC, constituted contempt of the Commission because it interfered with the Commission’s exclusive jurisdiction over pre-proclamation controversies and worked to suspend the proclaimed mayor’s authority.

The Supreme Court’s Ruling

This Court reversed and set aside the COMELEC en banc’s finding of contempt and absolved petitioners of the contempt charge. The Court held that the record did not show the factual predicates the COMELEC invoked—namely, actual chaos and confusion caused thereby, suspension of the proclamation’s effects by the respondents, or that the OIC was the wife of a party to the petitions—and that the respondents were acting within their lawful functions in furnishing an opinion to the Acting Governor.

Legal Basis and Reasoning

The Court reasoned that the fiscal opinion plainly invoked Sec. 3, paragraph C, Article IX of the Constitution and the COMELEC’s own rules concerning motions for reconsideration and the finality of pre-proclamation decisions, and that the fiscals were performing a statutory duty under Sec. 1682 of the Revised Administrative Code to submit written opinions when requested by provincial officers. The Court observed that an erroneous legal opinion, without eviden

Case Syllabus (G.R. No. 87014-16)

Parties and Procedural Posture

Petitioners Salic B. Dumarpa, Maranao C. Danganan, and Saaddudin Alauya were the respondents in the COMELEC contempt proceeding and are the petitioners in this special civil action of certiorari.
Jamil Dimaporo and the Commission on Elections were respondents to the certiorari petition.
The petition assailed the COMELEC en banc Resolution of October 28, 1988 and its January 12, 1989 order denying reconsideration insofar as they found petitioners guilty of contempt and imposed fines.
The Supreme Court delivered the dispositive opinion through Narvasa, J., with a concurrence list as indicated in the record.

Key Facts

Datu Jamil Dimaporo was proclaimed Mayor-elect of Marogong on February 3, 1988 by the Board of Canvassers.
Two defeated candidates filed separate petitions to annul the proclamation on February 15 and February 17, 1988.
The Secretary of Local Governments designated Maclis Balt as Officer-in-Charge, Mayor of Marogong by memorandum dated May 19, 1988, and Governor Saidamen Pangarungan lifted a suspension order by memorandum dated May 23, 1988.
The COMELEC First Division dismissed the annulment petitions by decision promulgated July 11, 1988, and motions for reconsideration were timely filed.
Counsel for Dimaporo transmitted the First Division decision to the Provincial Governor on July 18, 1988, leading to a referral by Vice-Governor Saaddudin Alauya to the Provincial Fiscal for legal opinion on recognition of the mayoralty.
By indorsement dated August 5, 1988 the Provincial Fiscal, through 3rd Assistant Provincial Fiscal Maranao C. Danganan with the conformity of Provincial Fiscal Salic B. Dumarpa, opined that OIC Maclis Balt remained Mayor because a motion for reconsideration had been timely filed and the Division decision was therefore not final and executory.
Dimaporo moved the COMELEC en banc on August 22, 1988 to hold the fiscals and the Vice-Governor in contempt under Rule 71, revised Rules of Court, alleging unlawful interference with COMELEC proceedings.
The COMELEC en banc, by Resolution dated October 28, 1988, found the three respondents guilty of contempt and imposed fines of P500.00 each, and by Order of January 12, 1989 denied their motion for reconsideration and rebuked them.
Petitioners deposited P1,500.00 with the Provincial Election Supervisor and filed this special civil action of certiorari in the Supreme Court.

Procedural History

The COMELEC First Division rendered the July 11, 1988 decision dismissing annulment petitions.
The COMELEC en banc resolved the two motions for reconsideration as without merit while separately adjudicating the motion for contempt against the petitioners.
Petitioners filed a motion for reconsideration with COMELEC which was denied on January 12, 1989.
Petitioners instituted an original special civil action of certiorari in the Supreme Court to annul the contempt finding and penalty.
The Office of the Solicitor General declined to represent the public respondent, and the Commission on Elections filed a comment on July 25, 1989.

Issues Presented

Whether the referral by Vice-Governor Saaddudin Alauya to the Provincial Fiscal and the written legal opinion rendered by Provincial Fiscal Salic B. Dumarpa and 3rd Assistant Provincial Fiscal Maranao C.