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Claudio V Comelec

The COMELEC granted a petition to recall the mayor of Pasay City that was filed within one year of the mayor assuming office, in violation of Section 74(b) of the Local Government Code. The issue is whether "recall" in Section 74(b) includes initiating recall proceedings like convening an assembly and filing a resolution, or just the recall election. The Supreme Court held that "recall" in Section 74(b) refers only to the recall election, not preliminary proceedings, because: 1) voters only exercise recall power in an election; 2) voters need time after an official takes office to properly evaluate them; and 3) construing it to include initiating proceedings would unduly limit constitutional rights.

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Jennilyn Rosebel de Paz-Biong
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79 views1 page

Claudio V Comelec

The COMELEC granted a petition to recall the mayor of Pasay City that was filed within one year of the mayor assuming office, in violation of Section 74(b) of the Local Government Code. The issue is whether "recall" in Section 74(b) includes initiating recall proceedings like convening an assembly and filing a resolution, or just the recall election. The Supreme Court held that "recall" in Section 74(b) refers only to the recall election, not preliminary proceedings, because: 1) voters only exercise recall power in an election; 2) voters need time after an official takes office to properly evaluate them; and 3) construing it to include initiating proceedings would unduly limit constitutional rights.

Uploaded by

Jennilyn Rosebel de Paz-Biong
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Claudio v.

COMELEC
331 SCRA 388, 404 (2000)

Facts:
Jovito Claudio was the duly elected mayor of Pasay City in the May 11, 1998
elections. He assumed office on July 1, 1998.
Sometime during the second week of May 1999, the chairs of several barangays in
Pasay City gathered to discuss the possibility of filing a petition for recall against Mayor
Claudio for loss of confidence. On May 29, 1999, 1,073 members of the PRA composed of
barangay chairs, kagawads, and sangguniang kabataan chairs of Pasay City, adopted
Resolution No. 01, S-1999, entitled RESOLUTION TO INITIATE THE RECALL OF JOVITO O.
CLAUDIO AS MAYOR OF PASAY CITY FOR LOSS OF CONFIDENCE.
He became the subject of a petition for recall filed by the Preparatory Recall
Assembly of Pasay City (PRA) on July 2, 1999. The petition was opposed on grounds that it
violated the one-year prohibitory period from assumption of office and the pendency of an
election case seeking the annulment of the proclamation of the incumbent mayor, a
prejudicial question. The petition was, nevertheless, granted by the COMELEC, ruling that
recall starts with the filing of the petition. Aggrieved, petitioners filed separate petition.

Issue:
Whether or Not the word “recall” in paragraph (b) of Section 74 of the Local
Government ode includes the convening of the preparatory recall assembly and the filing by
it of a recall resolution.

Held:
NO. Recall is a process which begins with the convening of the preparatory recall
assembly or the gathering of the signatures at least 25% of the registered voters of a local
government unit, and then proceeds to the filing of a recall resolution or petition with the
COMELEC, the verification of such resolution or petition, the fixing of the date of the recall
election, and the holding of the election on the scheduled date. However, as used in
paragraph (b) of § 74, "recall" refers to the election itself by means of which voters decide
whether they should retain their local official or elect his replacement. The term "recall" in
paragraph (b) refers to the recall election and not to the preliminary proceedings to initiate
recall —
1.Because §74 speaks of limitations on "recall" which, according to §69, is a power
which shall be exercised by the registered voters of a local government unit. Since
the voters do not exercise such right except in an election, it is clear that the
initiation of recall proceedings is not prohibited within the one-year period provided
in paragraph (b);
2.Because the purpose of the first limitation in paragraph (b) is to provide voters a
sufficient basis for judging an elective local official, and final judging is not done until
the day of the election; and
3.Because to construe the limitation in paragraph (b) as including the initiation of
recall proceedings would unduly curtail freedom of speech and of assembly
guaranteed in the Constitution.

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