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    70.tolentino Vs COMELEC Case Digest

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    1) After President Macapagal-Arroyo appointed Senator Teofisto Guingona Jr. as vice president in 2001, the Senate passed a resolution calling for a special election to fill Guingona's vacant Senate seat. The resolution stated that the candidate who received the 13th highest number of votes would serve the remainder of Guingona's term. 2) Petitioners argued that the COMELEC's proclamation of the election results was invalid because it failed to properly notify voters and require candidates to distinguish between the regular and special elections. 3) The Supreme Court ruled that the election law does not require the COMELEC to conduct separate canvassing and documentation for the special election

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    70.tolentino Vs COMELEC Case Digest

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    1) After President Macapagal-Arroyo appointed Senator Teofisto Guingona Jr. as vice president in 2001, the Senate passed a resolution calling for a special election to fill Guingona's vacant Senate seat. The resolution stated that the candidate who received the 13th highest number of votes would serve the remainder of Guingona's term. 2) Petitioners argued that the COMELEC's proclamation of the election results was invalid because it failed to properly notify voters and require candidates to distinguish between the regular and special elections. 3) The Supreme Court ruled that the election law does not require the COMELEC to conduct separate canvassing and documentation for the special election

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    70.Tolentino-vs-COMELEC-Case-Digest

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    1) After President Macapagal-Arroyo appointed Senator Teofisto Guingona Jr. as vice president in 2001, the Senate passed a resolution calling for a special election to fill Guingona's vacant Senate seat. The resolution stated that the candidate who received the 13th highest number of votes would serve the remainder of Guingona's term. 2) Petitioners argued that the COMELEC's proclamation of the election results was invalid because it failed to properly notify voters and require candidates to distinguish between the regular and special elections. 3) The Supreme Court ruled that the election law does not require the COMELEC to conduct separate canvassing and documentation for the special election

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    316 views2 pages

    70.tolentino Vs COMELEC Case Digest

    Uploaded by

    A M I R A
    1) After President Macapagal-Arroyo appointed Senator Teofisto Guingona Jr. as vice president in 2001, the Senate passed a resolution calling for a special election to fill Guingona's vacant Senate seat. The resolution stated that the candidate who received the 13th highest number of votes would serve the remainder of Guingona's term. 2) Petitioners argued that the COMELEC's proclamation of the election results was invalid because it failed to properly notify voters and require candidates to distinguish between the regular and special elections. 3) The Supreme Court ruled that the election law does not require the COMELEC to conduct separate canvassing and documentation for the special election

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    Arturo M. Tolentino and Arturo C.

    Mojica versus Commission on Elections, Senator Ralph Recto and


    Senator Gringo Honasan, GR No. 148334, January 21, 2004,
    Carpio, J
    Facts
    After the succession of Macapagal-Arroyo to her presidency in 2001, she nominated Sen. Teofisto
    T. Guingona, Jr. as her vice-president. Congress confirmed the nomination of Senator Guingona who took
    his oath as the vice president in the same year. Following Guingona’s confirmation, the Senate passed
    Resolution no. 84 certifying the existence of the vacancy in the Senate. That said resolution called
    COMELEC to fill the vacancy through special elections. The said resolution further stated that “Senatorial
    candidate garnering the 13th highest number of votes shall serve only for the unexpired term of former
    Senator Teosto T. Guingona, Jr.," which ends on 30 June 2004. After the COMELEC had canvassed the
    election results from all provinces (except Lanao del Norte), COMELEC issued a Resolution no. 01-005
    proclaiming the 13 candidates as Senators. The said resolution also provided that "the first twelve (12)
    Senators shall serve for a term of six (6) years and the thirteenth (13th) Senator shall serve the unexpired
    term of three (3) years of Senator Teosto T. Guingona, Jr. who was appointed Vice-President."
    Respondents Ralph Recto ("Recto") and Gregorio Honasan ("Honasan") ranked 12th and 13th,
    respectively, in Resolution No. 01-005.
    Petitioners Arturo Tolentino and Arturo Mojica, as voters and taxpayers, filed the instant petition for
    prohibition, praying for the nullification of Resolution No. 01-005. They contend that COMELEC issued
    Resolution 01-005 without jurisdiction because: (1) it failed to notify the electorate of the position to be filled
    in the special election as required under Section 2 of RA 6645; (2) it failed to require senatorial candidates
    to indicate in their certificates of candidacy whether they seek election under the special or regular
    elections as allegedly required under Section 73 of BP 881; and, consequently, (3) it failed to specify in the
    Voters Information Sheet the candidates seeking election under the special or regular senatorial elections
    as purportedly required under Section 4, paragraph 4 of RA 6646. Tolentino and Mojica add that because
    of these omissions, COMELEC canvassed all the votes cast for the senatorial candidates in the 14 May
    2001 elections without distinction such that “there were no two separate Senate elections held
    simultaneously but just a single election for thirteen seats, irrespective of term.” The petitioners sought
    issuance of TRO during the dependency of their petition. Without issuing any restraining order, the Court
    required COMELEC to Comment on the petition. COMELEC, Honasan, and Recto all claim that a special
    election to the seat vacated by Senator Guingona was validly held on 14 May 2001. COMELEC and
    Honasan further raise preliminary issues on the mootness of the petition and on petitioners' standing to
    litigate. Honasan also claims that the petition, which seeks the nullity of his proclamation as Senator, is
    actually a quo warranto petition and the Court should dismiss the same for lack of jurisdiction. Recto, as the
    12th ranking Senator, contends he is not a proper party to this case because the petition only involves the
    validity of the proclamation of the 13 th placer in the 14 May 2001 senatorial elections.
    Issue
    Whether the Special Election held on May 14, 2001 should be nullified for not following the procedure of
    filling up the vacancy pursuant to R.A. 6645.
    Ruling
    There is no basis in the petitioners’ claim that the manner by which the COMELEC conducted the
    special Senatorial election on May 14, 2001 is a nullity because the COMELEC failed to document
    separately the candidates and to canvass separately the votes cast for the special election. No such
    requirement exists in our election laws. What is mandatory under Section 2 of R.A. 6645 is that the
    COMELEC “fix the date of election,” if necessary, and state among others, the office/s to be voted for.
    Significantly, the method adopted by the COMELEC in conducting the special election on May 14,
    2001 merely implemented the procedure specified by the Senate in Resolution No. 84. Initially, the original
    draft of said resolution as introduced by Senator Francisco Tatad made no mention of the manner by which
    the seat vacated by former Senator Guingona would be filled. However, upon the suggestion of Senator
    Raul Roco, the Senate agreed to amend the resolution by providing as it now appears, that “the senatorial
    cabdidate garnering the 13th highest number of votes shall serve only for the unexpired term of former
    Senator Teofisto Giongona, Jr.”

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