CASE DIGEST: Mutilan v. Commission on Elections

 

DR. MAHID M. MUTILAN, petitioner, vs. COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS and ZALDY UY AMPATUAN, respondents.
G.R. No. 171248. April 2, 2007.

ISSUE:

Jurisdiction of a COMELEC division and en banc

FACTS:

Dr. Mahid M. Mutilan (petitioner) and Zaldy Uy Ampatuan (private respondent) were candidates for Governor during the election of regional officials held on 8 August 2005 in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). On 11 August 2005, private respondent was proclaimed as the duly elected Governor of the ARMM.

On 19 August 2005, petitioner filed an Electoral Protest and/or Petition to Annul the Elections. Petitioner contested the results of the elections in Maguindanao, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, and Sulu on the ground that no actual election was conducted in the precincts in these four provinces. Petitioner alleged that the voters did not actually vote and that the ballots were filled up by non-registered voters in the four provinces. Petitioner also contested the results in the municipalities of Butig, Sultan Gumander, Calanogas, Tagoloan, Kapai, Masiu, and Maguing in Lanao del Sur where massive substitute voting allegedly took place.

The COMELEC Second Division ruled that jurisdiction over petitions for annulment of elections is vested in the COMELEC En Banc. However, the elevation of the case to the COMELEC En Banc is not sanctioned by the rules or by jurisprudence. Thus, the COMELEC Second Division dismissed the petition for lack of jurisdiction. 

RULING:

Under Section 3, Article IX-C of the 1987 Constitution, all election cases, including pre-proclamation controversies, must be heard and decided by a division of the COMELEC.

Under Section 4 of RA 7166, jurisdiction over postponements, failure of elections and special elections vests in the COMELEC En Banc. The jurisdiction of the COMELEC En Banc over a petition to declare a failure of elections has been affirmed by this Court which ruled that a petition to declare a failure of elections is neither a preproclamation controversy nor an election case. A prayer to annul election results and a prayer to declare failure of elections based on allegations of fraud, terrorism, violence or analogous causes are actually of the same nature and are denominated similarly in the Omnibus Election Code. Thus, the COMELEC Second Division has no jurisdiction over the petition to annul the elections.