GR 139489; (April, 2000) (Digest)
G.R. No. 139489; April 10, 2000
DANILO FERRER, petitioner, vs. COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS and RAFAEL M. GROSPE, respondents.
FACTS
Petitioner Danilo B. Ferrer and private respondent Rafael M. Grospe were candidates for Punong Barangay of Barangay Bantug Hacienda, Talavera, Nueva Ecija in the May 12, 1997 elections. The Barangay Board of Canvassers proclaimed Ferrer the winner by a margin of two votes, 277 to 275. Grospe filed an election protest with the Municipal Trial Court (MTC), which, after a recount of contested ballots from the barangay’s two precincts, affirmed Ferrer’s victory with a tally of 280 votes to Grospe’s 276.
Grospe appealed to the Commission on Elections (COMELEC). The COMELEC Second Division, and later the COMELEC En Banc, reversed the MTC. By re-appreciating specific contested ballots, the COMELEC credited additional ballots to Grospe and deducted some from Ferrer, resulting in a final count of 279 votes for Grospe and 278 for Ferrer. The COMELEC thus declared Grospe the duly elected Punong Barangay.
ISSUE
Whether the COMELEC committed grave abuse of discretion in its appreciation of the contested ballots, thereby erroneously declaring Rafael M. Grospe as the winner.
RULING
Yes. The Supreme Court granted the petition, reversed the COMELEC resolutions, and reinstated Danilo B. Ferrer as the duly elected Punong Barangay. The Court, after conducting its own visual scrutiny of the contested ballots, found that the COMELEC erred in its application of the rules on ballot appreciation.
The Court meticulously re-examined each ballot. It credited Ferrer with 29 valid votes from his claimed ballots, rejecting the COMELEC’s finding that one ballot (Exhibit “2”) was written by two persons, and ruling that scribbles by an unlettered voter did not invalidate the intent to vote for “Danny F.” It also validated ballots containing “Kamot Capitan,” holding the phrase was a stray vote for councilor but did not invalidate the entire ballot or the vote for Punong Barangay. For Grospe, the Court credited only 8 of his 11 claimed ballots. It rejected the COMELEC’s application of the neighborhood rule to ballots where “Rafael Grospe” or “Ape Grospe” was written on lines for Kagawad, finding no clear intent to vote for him as Punong Barangay. These were declared stray votes.
The final tally, based on the uncontested ballots from the MTC revision plus the valid claimed ballots per the Supreme Court’s appreciation, was 280 votes for Ferrer and 276 for Grospe. The COMELEC’s conclusions were not supported by a correct application of statutory rules and jurisprudence on discerning voter intent, constituting grave abuse of discretion.