GR 179313; (September, 2009) (Digest)
G.R. No. 179313 September 17, 2009
MAKIL U. PUNDAODAYA, Petitioner, vs. COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS and ARSENIO DENSING NOBLE, Respondents.
FACTS
Petitioner Makil Pundaodaya filed a disqualification case against private respondent Arsenio Noble, who was a candidate for mayor of Kinoguitan, Misamis Oriental in the 2007 elections. Pundaodaya alleged that Noble lacked the required one-year residency, claiming Noble was actually a resident of Cagayan de Oro City where he maintained a business. Noble countered that he was a registered voter in Kinoguitan, having married a local resident in 1992, and had voted there in the 1998, 2001, and 2004 elections.
The COMELEC Second Division initially disqualified Noble, finding he failed to prove bodily presence in Kinoguitan and an intention to abandon his Cagayan de Oro domicile. However, Noble won the election and was proclaimed. On reconsideration, the COMELEC En Banc reversed, holding that his marriage, voter registration, and property ownership in Kinoguitan sufficiently established residency. Pundaodaya then filed this certiorari petition.
ISSUE
Whether the COMELEC En Banc gravely abused its discretion in declaring Noble qualified to run for mayor.
RULING
The Supreme Court ruled in the negative, finding no grave abuse of discretion. The legal residency requirement for local office is domicile, which requires: (1) physical presence, and (2) an intention to remain (animus manendi). The Court emphasized that the COMELEC’s factual findings on residency are generally binding unless shown to be capricious or arbitrary.
The COMELEC En Banc rationally considered Noble’s marriage to a Kinoguitan native, his consistent voter registration and actual voting in the locality for over a decade, and his ownership of property there. These objective facts collectively demonstrate both physical presence and the requisite intention to establish domicile. While Noble maintained a business in another city, a person can have only one domicile at a time, and the evidence supported Kinoguitan as his chosen domicile. The En Banc’s reversal was a permissible reevaluation of the evidence, not a whimsical or despotic exercise of judgment. Consequently, the petition was dismissed for lack of merit.