GR 148941; (March, 2002) (Digest)

G.R. Nos. 148941-42; March 12, 2002
TEODORO O. O’HARA, petitioner, vs. COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS, MUNICIPAL BOARD OF CANVASSERS OF BINANGONAN, RIZAL, PROVINCIAL BOARD OF CANVASSERS OF RIZAL and JOVITA RODRIGUEZ, respondents.

FACTS

Petitioner Teodoro O. O’Hara and respondent Jovita Rodriguez were candidates for Vice-Governor of Rizal in the May 14, 2001 elections. The Provincial Board of Canvassers (PBC) proclaimed O’Hara as the winner on May 19, 2001, with 216,798 votes against Rodriguez’s 215,443. Subsequently, the Municipal Board of Canvassers (MBC) of Binangonan filed a petition with the COMELEC en banc to correct alleged typographical errors in its Certificate of Canvass. The MBC claimed a mathematical error occurred when a subtotal of 7,000 votes was erroneously added to O’Hara’s total, inflating his votes from 28,754 to 35,754. Rodriguez also filed a petition to annul O’Hara’s proclamation based on this error. The COMELEC en banc granted the petitions, annulled O’Hara’s proclamation, and ordered the PBC to correct the totals and proclaim Rodriguez as the winner, which it did on July 27, 2001.

ISSUE

Whether the COMELEC committed grave abuse of discretion in annulling O’Hara’s proclamation and ordering the correction of the canvass without a proper recanvass of the election returns.

RULING

Yes, the COMELEC committed grave abuse of discretion. The Supreme Court ruled that the correction sought was not a simple clerical error but involved a discrepancy requiring an examination of the election returns, which is beyond the scope of a pre-proclamation correction. The COMELEC’s power to correct manifest errors in the Certificate of Canvass under Section 15 of Republic Act No. 7166 is limited to errors apparent on the face of the certificate itself, such as incorrect arithmetic sums. Here, the alleged error—the mis-transfer of a 7,000-vote subtotal—necessitated a verification of the source documents, the election returns, to determine the true votes. This verification constitutes a recanvass, which is not allowed in a pre-proclamation controversy after a candidate has been proclaimed. The proper remedy was an election protest. Consequently, the Court set aside the COMELEC resolution, annulled Rodriguez’s proclamation, and ordered the MBC of Binangonan to recanvass the relevant election returns. The PBC was then directed to reconvene and proclaim the winning candidate based on the recanvassed results, with the temporary restraining order against Rodriguez’s assumption of office remaining in effect until final proclamation.