GR 124893; (April, 1997) (Digest)
G.R. No. 124893 April 18, 1997
LYNETTE G. GARVIDA, petitioner, vs. FLORENCIO G. SALES, JR., THE HONORABLE COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS, ELECTION OFFICER DIONISIO F. RIOS and PROVINCIAL SUPERVISOR NOLI PIPO, respondents.
FACTS
Petitioner Lynette G. Garvida applied for registration as a member and voter of the Katipunan ng Kabataan for the May 6, 1996 Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections. The Board of Election Tellers denied her application because she was twenty-one years and ten months old, exceeding the age limit under COMELEC rules. The Municipal Circuit Trial Court later ordered her registration, but this was appealed. Garvida filed her certificate of candidacy for SK Chairman, which the Election Officer disapproved due to her age. COMELEC Regional Director Filemon A. Asperin, however, allowed her to run. Meanwhile, her rival, Florencio G. Sales, Jr., filed a petition with the COMELEC en banc to deny or cancel her certificate of candidacy based on her age. On May 2, 1996, the COMELEC en banc issued an order directing the suspension of Garvida’s proclamation should she win. Garvida won the election but her proclamation was suspended pursuant to the COMELEC order, prompting her to file this petition for certiorari.
ISSUE
The primary issues are: (1) whether the COMELEC en banc had jurisdiction to act on the petition to cancel Garvida’s certificate of candidacy; and (2) whether Garvida was disqualified as a candidate for SK Chairman for being over the age limit at the time of the election.
RULING
The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the petitioner. On jurisdiction, the Court held that the COMELEC en banc acted without jurisdiction. Under Section 78 of the Omnibus Election Code, a petition to cancel a certificate of candidacy must be filed not later than twenty-five days from the filing of the certificate and decided not later than fifteen days before the election. Garvida filed her certificate on April 23, 1996. Sales’s petition was filed via fax on April 29, 1996, which was within the 25-day period. However, the COMELEC en banc issued its suspension order on May 2, 1996, only four days before the May 6 election, thereby violating the mandatory 15-day pre-election deadline for resolution. The order was thus issued without jurisdiction and is void.
On the substantive issue of age qualification, the Court held that Garvida was not disqualified. The relevant law, Section 424 of the Local Government Code, states that an SK official must be at least fifteen but not more than twenty-one years of age on the day of the election. The Court applied the Civil Code rule for computing age, where a person is deemed to have attained an age on the day before their birthday. Garvida was born on June 11, 1974. For the May 6, 1996 election, she was considered twenty-one years old until June 10, 1996. Therefore, she was qualified on election day. The COMELEC’s reliance on a different age computation was erroneous. Consequently, the COMELEC’s order was annulled and set aside.