G.R. No. 135150 July 28, 1999
ROMEO LONZANIDA, petitioner, vs. THE HONORABLE COMMISSION ON ELECTION and EUFEMIO MULI, respondents.

FACTS

Petitioner Romeo Lonzanida was elected and served as mayor of San Antonio, Zambales for two consecutive terms prior to the May 1995 elections. He ran again in May 1995, was proclaimed winner, and assumed office. However, his opponent, Juan Alvez, filed an election protest. The Regional Trial Court initially declared a failure of election, but on appeal, the COMELEC, on November 13, 1997, declared Alvez the duly elected mayor and issued a writ of execution. Lonzanida vacated the post in February 1998, and Alvez served the remainder of the term. Lonzanida then filed his certificate of candidacy for mayor in the May 1998 elections.
His opponent in the 1998 elections, Eufemio Muli, filed a petition for disqualification on April 21, 1998, arguing Lonzanida had already served three consecutive terms (including the 1995-1998 term) and was thus barred under the constitutional three-term limit. The COMELEC First Division granted the petition on May 21, 1998, and the En Banc affirmed it on August 11, 1998. The COMELEC ruled that Lonzanida’s assumption of office in 1995, despite his subsequent ouster, constituted service for one full term for the purpose of the term limit.

ISSUE

The primary issue is whether Lonzanida’s assumption of office and service as mayor from 1995 until his ouster in 1998 should be counted as one full term for applying the three-term limit.

RULING

The Supreme Court granted the petition and set aside the COMELEC resolutions. The legal logic is anchored on the interpretation of “service of a term” for the purpose of the constitutional three-term limit. The Court held that for a term to be considered “served” under the disqualification rule, two conditions must concur: first, the official must have been elected to the position; second, he must have served the full term. Both conditions are mandatory.
Applying this to Lonzanida, while he assumed office after the 1995 election, he was not duly elected for that term. The COMELEC itself, in a final decision, declared Juan Alvez the duly elected mayor for the 1995-1998 term and unseated Lonzanida. Consequently, Lonzanida cannot be considered to have served that term for disqualification purposes. His service during that period was merely as a de facto officer, which does not constitute “service of a term” as contemplated by the constitutional prohibition. The term limit is intended to prevent the monopolization of political power by those who have been duly elected and have completed their terms. Since Lonzanida was never validly elected for the 1995-1998 term, his candidacy in 1998 was only for what would be his third consecutive term, not his fourth, and thus permissible. The Court clarified that the COMELEC retained jurisdiction to decide the disqualification case filed before the election, but ruled it erred on the substantive application of the term limit rule.