Ocañada, Ralf Vincent D.

JD4 PUBLIC CORPORATION

CASE DIGEST

DOMINADOR G. JALOSJOS, JR. vs.

COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS and AGAPITO J. CARDINO; and
AGAPITO J. CARDINO vs. COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS and
DOMINADOR G. JALOSJOS, JR.
G.R. No. 193237
G.R. No. 193536
October 9, 2012
Carpio, J:

Facts:

1. Dominador G. Jalosjos, Jr. and Agapito J. Cardino were both

candidates for Mayor of Dapitan City, Zamboanga del Norte in the May
2010 elections. Jalosjos was running for his third term;

2. Cardino filed on 6th of December 2009 a petition under Section 78 of

the Omnibus Election Code to deny due course and to cancel the
certificate of candidacy of Jalosjos. Cardino asserted that Jalosjos
made a false material representation in his certificate of candidacy
when he declared under oath that he was eligible for the Office of
Mayor;

3. Cardino claims that long before Jalosjos filed his certificate of

candidacy as Mayor, the latter had been convicted by final judgment
for robbery and sentenced to prision mayor by Branch 18 of RTC Cebu.
Furthermore, Cardino claims that the Jalosjos has not served his
sentence, thus disqualifying him to run for office;

4. Jalosjos admitted his conviction but stated that he had already been
granted probation Cardino countered that the RTC revoked Jalosjos’
probation in an Order dated 19 March 1987;

5. Surprisingly, on December 19, 2003, Parole and Probation

Administrator Gregorio F. Bacolod issued a Certification attesting that
respondent Jalosjos, Jr., had already fulfilled the terms and conditions
of his probation. This Certification was the one used by respondent
Jalosjos to secure the dismissal of the disqualification case filed
against him by Adasa in 2004, docketed as SPA No. 04-235;

6. Cardino called the attention of the Commission on the decision of

the Sandiganbayan. On September 29, 2008 it found Gregorio F.
Bacolod, former Administrator of the Parole and Probation
Administration, guilty of violating Section 3(e) of R.A. 3019 for issuing
a falsified Certification on December 19, 2003 attesting to the fact that
respondent Jalosjos had fully complied with the terms and conditions
of his probation;

7. On 10 May 2010, the COMELEC First Division granted Cardino’s

petition and cancelled Jalosjos’ certificate of candidacy. The COMELEC
First Division concluded that "Jalosjos has indeed committed material
misrepresentation in his certificate of candidacy when he declared,
under oath, that he is eligible for the office he seeks to be elected to
when in fact he is not by reason of a final judgment in a criminal case,
the sentence of which he has not yet served;

8. On 11 August 2010, the COMELEC En Banc denied Jalosjos’ motion

for reconsideration.

9. Jalosjos argued that the COMELEC committed grave abuse of

discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction when it:
(1) ruled that Jalosjos’ probation was revoked;
(2) ruled that Jalosjos was disqualified to run as candidate for Mayor of
Dapitan City, Zamboanga del Norte; and
(3) cancelled Jalosjos’ certificate of candidacy without making a finding
that Jalosjos committed a deliberate misrepresentation as to his
qualifications, as Jalosjos relied in good faith upon a previous
COMELEC decision declaring him eligible for the same position from
which he is now being ousted. Finally, the Resolutions dated 10 May
2010 and 11 August 2010 were issued in violation of the COMELEC
Rules of Procedure.

10. The COMELEC used the Local Government Code’s provisions on the
law on succession in replacing Jalosjos;

11. Cardino argues that the COMELEC acted with grave abuse of
discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction when it added to
the dispositive portion of its 11 August 2010 Resolution that the
provisions of the Local Government Code on succession should apply.

ISSUE(S):
1.
Whether the COMELEC committed grave abuse of discretion
amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction when it cancelled
Jalosjos' certificate of candidacy without making a finding that
Jalosjos committed a deliberate misrepresentation as to his
qualifications, as Jalosjos relied in good faith upon a previous
COMELEC decision declaring him eligible for the same position
from which he is now being ousted.
2.
Whether the COMELEC acted with grave abuse of discretion
amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction when it added to the
dispositive portion of its 11 August 2010 Resolution that the
provisions of the Local Government Code on succession should
apply.

RULING:

Negative. The perpetual special disqualification against Jalosjos arising

from his criminal conviction by final judgment is a material fact
involving eligibility which is a proper ground for a petition under
Section 78 of the Omnibus Election Code. Jalosjos’ certificate of
candidacy was void from the start since he was not eligible to run for
any public office at the time, he filed his certificate of candidacy.

Jalosjos was never a candidate at any time, and all votes for Jalosjos
were stray votes. As a result of Jalosjos’ certificate of candidacy being
void ab initio, Cardino, as the only qualified candidate, actually
garnered the highest number of votes for the position of Mayor.

A sentence of prision mayor by final judgment is a ground for

disqualification under Section 40 of the Local Government Code and
under Section 12 of the Omnibus Election Code. It is also a material
fact involving the eligibility of a candidate under Sections 74 and 78 of
the Omnibus Election Code. Thus, a person can file a petition under
Section 40 of the Local Government Code or under either Section 12 or
Section 78 of the Omnibus Election Code. The pertinent provisions
read:
Local Government Code:
Sec. 40. Disqualifications. - The following persons are
disqualified from running for any elective local position:
(a) Those sentenced by final judgment for an offense involving moral
turpitude or for an offense punishable by one (1) year or more of
imprisonment, within two (2) years after serving sentence;
(b) xxxxxxx;
(c) xxxxxxx;
(d) xxxxxxx;
(e) xxxxxxx;
(f) xxxxxxx; and
(g) xxxxxxx.

Omnibus Election Code:

Sec. 12. Disqualifications. — Any person who has been declared by
competent authority insane or incompetent, or has been sentenced by
final judgment for subversion, insurrection, rebellion or for any offense
for which he was sentenced to a penalty of more than eighteen months
or for a crime involving moral turpitude, shall be disqualified to be a
candidate and to hold any office, unless he has been given plenary
pardon or granted amnesty.

The disqualifications to be a candidate herein provided shall be

deemed removed upon the declaration by competent authority that
said insanity or incompetence had been removed or after the
expiration of a period of five years from his service of sentence, unless
within the same period he again becomes disqualified.

Sec. 74. Contents of certificate of candidacy. – The certificate of

candidacy shall state that the person filing it is announcing his
candidacy for the office stated therein and that he is eligible for said
office; if for Member of the Batasang Pambansa, the province,
including its component cities, highly urbanized city or district or
sector which he seeks to represent; the political party to which he
belongs; civil status; his date of birth; residence; his post office
address for all election purposes; his profession or occupation; that he
will support and defend the Constitution of the Philippines and will
maintain true faith and allegiance thereto; that he will obey the laws,
legal orders, and decrees promulgated by the duly constituted
authorities; that he is not a permanent resident or immigrant to a
foreign country; that the obligation imposed by his oath is assumed
voluntarily, without mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that
the facts stated in the certificate of candidacy are true to the best of
his knowledge.

Sec. 78. Petition to deny due course to or cancel a certificate of

candidacy. – A verified petition seeking to deny due course or to cancel
a certificate of candidacy may be filed by the person exclusively on the
ground that any material representation contained therein as required
under Section 74 hereof is false. The petition may be filed at any time
not later than twenty-five days from the time of the filing of the
certificate of candidacy and shall be decided, after due notice and
hearing, not later than fifteen days before the election. (Emphasis
supplied)

The COMELEC properly cancelled Jalosjos’ certificate of candidacy. A

void certificate of candidacy on the ground of ineligibility that existed
at the time of the filing of the certificate of candidacy can never give
rise to a valid candidacy, and much less to valid votes.21 Jalosjos’
certificate of candidacy was cancelled because he was ineligible from
the start to run for Mayor. Whether his certificate of candidacy is
cancelled before or after the elections is immaterial because the
cancellation on such ground means he was never a valid candidate
from the very beginning, his certificate of candidacy being void ab
initio. Jalosjos’ ineligibility existed on the day he filed his certificate of
candidacy, and the cancellation of his certificate of candidacy
retroacted to the day he filed it. Thus, Cardino ran unopposed. There
was only one qualified candidate for Mayor in the May 2010 elections –
Cardino – who received the highest number of votes.
2.

POSITIVE. Decisions of this Court holding that the second-placer

cannot be proclaimed winner if the first-placer is disqualified or
declared ineligible should be limited to situations where the certificate
of candidacy of the first-placer was valid at the time of filing but
subsequently had to be cancelled because of a violation of law that
took place, or a legal impediment that took effect, after the filing of
the certificate of candidacy.

If the certificate of candidacy is void ab initio, then legally the person

who filed such void certificate of candidacy was never a candidate in
the elections at any time. All votes for such non-candidate are stray
votes and should not be counted. Thus, such non-candidate can never
be a first-placer in the elections. If a certificate of candidacy void ab
initio is cancelled on the day, or before the day, of the election,
prevailing jurisprudence holds that all votes for that candidate are
stray votes.

If a certificate of candidacy void ab initio is cancelled one day or more

after the elections, all votes for such candidate should also be stray
votes because the certificate of candidacy is void from the very
beginning. This is the more equitable and logical approach on the
effect of the cancellation of a certificate of candidacy that is void ab
initio. Otherwise, a certificate of candidacy void ab initio can operate to
defeat one or more valid certificates of candidacy for the same
position.

DISPOSITIVE PORTION
WHEREFORE, the Motion for Reconsideration in G.R. No. 193237 is
DENIED, and the Petition in G.R. No. 193536is GRANTED. The
Resolutions dated 10 May 2010 and 11 August 2010 of the COMELEC
First Division and the COMELEC En Bane, respectively, in SPA No. 09-
076 (DC), are AFFIRMED with the MODIFICATION that Agapito J.
Cardino ran unopposed in the May 2010 elections and thus received
the highest number of votes for Mayor. The COMELEC En Bane is
DIRECTED to constitute a Special City Board of Canvassers to proclaim
Agapito J. Cardino as the duly elected Mayor of Dapitan City,
Zamboanga del Norte.