G.R. No. 134913 . January 19, 2001.
ZAIPAL D. BENITO, petitioner, vs. COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS, IBRAHIM PAGAYAWAN, and the MUNICIPAL BOARD OF CANVASSERS OF CALANOGAS, LANAO DEL SUR, respondents.

FACTS

Petitioner Zaipal D. Benito and private respondent Ibrahim Pagayawan were candidates for municipal mayor of Calanogas, Lanao del Sur, in the May 11, 1998 elections. Voting in three clustered precincts at Sultan Disimban Elementary School was disrupted when around thirty armed men fired shots into the air, causing voters and election officials to scatter. Benito filed a petition with the COMELEC to declare a failure of elections in these precincts, alleging voting never resumed after the incident. Pagayawan countered that voting peacefully resumed after the armed men left at about 1:00 PM and concluded at 3:00 PM.
The Municipal Board of Canvassers excluded the ballots from the three contested precincts upon objection by Benito’s counsel. Pagayawan was proclaimed winner by a margin of 48 votes. The total votes cast in the three excluded precincts was only 41. Benito filed an amended petition with the COMELEC to declare a failure of election and to annul Pagayawan’s proclamation.

ISSUE

Did the COMELEC commit grave abuse of discretion in dismissing the petition to declare a failure of elections and in ordering the canvass of the votes from the excluded precincts?

RULING

No. The Supreme Court held that the COMELEC did not commit grave abuse of discretion. For a failure of election to be declared under Section 6 of the Omnibus Election Code, three conditions must concur: (1) no voting took place, (2) voting was suspended before the hour fixed by law, or (3) after the voting, the election results failed to reach the proper canvassing board. The COMELEC found, based on substantial evidence including a Final Incident Report from the military, that voting in the contested precincts resumed and was completed. The mere fact of violence or intimidation does not automatically warrant a declaration of failure of election if the voting process was ultimately completed.
The Court emphasized that the COMELEC is the constitutional body endowed with the expertise to determine factual issues regarding the conduct of elections. Its factual findings, absent a clear showing of grave abuse of discretion, are accorded finality and respect. The mathematical reality that counting the 41 excluded votes would not alter the election outcome further supported the COMELEC’s dismissal of the petition. The petition for certiorari was denied.