G.R. No. L-36893 September 28, 1973
BENJAMIN FARIN, petitioner, vs. OSCAR R. GONZALES and COURT OF APPEALS, respondents.

FACTS

In the 1971 elections for Municipal Mayor of Iba, Zambales, the Municipal Board of Canvassers proclaimed Benjamin Farin as the winner with 2,252 votes against Oscar R. Gonzales’s 2,250. Gonzales filed an election protest. The Court of First Instance of Zambales confirmed Farin’s proclamation, finding he received 2,254 valid votes against Gonzales’s 2,248. Gonzales appealed to the Court of Appeals.
The Court of Appeals, after appreciating contested ballots, concluded that both candidates received an equal number of 2,151 votes. Consequently, it ordered the drawing of lots between them pursuant to Section 224 of the Revised Election Code of 1971. Farin filed the instant petition for review, challenging the appellate court’s appreciation of five specific contested ballots.

ISSUE

Whether the Court of Appeals erred in its appreciation of the five contested ballots, specifically Exhibits “OO”, “54”, “7”, “TT”, and “SSS”.

RULING

The Supreme Court partially granted the petition, modifying the Court of Appeals’ appreciation of certain ballots. For Exhibit “OO”, the Court held it was a valid vote for Farin. The name “Firni” (idem sonans with “Farin”) was written in a senatorial space but preceded by “MIIYOR” (Mayor). The intention to vote for Farin for Mayor was clear, and the “neighborhood rule” was irrelevant; the rule that a name preceded by the office title should be counted applies. For Exhibit “54”, the Court agreed with the Court of Appeals. The voter wrote “Farin” in a councilor space but crossed it out, and only an initial “F” remained in the mayoral space. The cancellation showed desistance, and an initial alone is an invalid vote.
For Exhibit “7”, the Court sustained the Court of Appeals. The ballot contained a valid vote for Gonzales for Mayor. The extraneous words “Lando Batitu Bangal” on the eighth councilor line did not constitute a marking absent evidence aliunde of an intent to identify the ballot, especially given the voter’s apparent low educational attainment. For Exhibits “TT” and “SSS”, the Court reversed the Court of Appeals. In both ballots, the name “Gonzales” was written in the space for Vice-Mayor, not Mayor. No prefix like “Mayor” preceded it, and the space for Mayor was either blank or occupied by another name. The intention to vote for Gonzales for Mayor was not ascertainable; therefore, these were stray votes not countable for him. The Supreme Court’s re-tally resulted in Farin obtaining one more valid vote than Gonzales. Consequently, the Court reversed the Court of Appeals’ decision, declared Benjamin Farin the duly elected Mayor, and set aside the order for a drawing of lots.