G.R. No. 157526 & 157527; April 28, 2004
Emiliana Toral Kare, petitioner, vs. Commission on Elections, respondent. / Salvador K. Moll, petitioner, vs. Commission on Elections, respondent.

FACTS

Petitioner Salvador K. Moll and private respondent Avelino Ceriola were candidates for mayor of Malinao, Albay, in the May 14, 2001 elections. Moll obtained the highest number of votes, while Emiliana Toral Kare was elected vice mayor. Prior to the election, Ceriola filed a petition to disqualify Moll, alleging that Moll had been sentenced by final judgment for the crime of usurpation of authority, which carried a penalty that disqualified him from running for public office under the Local Government Code.
The COMELEC First Division initially dismissed the disqualification petition. However, on reconsideration, the COMELEC En Banc, in a Resolution dated March 19, 2003, affirmed Moll’s disqualification, declared his proclamation void ab initio, and ordered the proclamation of Ceriola, the candidate who garnered the second-highest number of votes, as mayor-elect. Kare, the elected vice mayor, and Moll filed separate petitions challenging the COMELEC resolution.

ISSUE

The core issues are: (1) Whether Salvador K. Moll is disqualified from running for and holding the office of mayor; and (2) If he is disqualified, who should assume the mayoralty—the second-placer (Ceriola) or the elected vice mayor (Kare)?

RULING

The Supreme Court affirmed Moll’s disqualification but reversed the COMELEC’s proclamation of Ceriola. On the first issue, the Court held that Moll was perpetually disqualified from holding public office. His conviction for usurpation of authority, under Article 177 of the Revised Penal Code, carried a penalty that included the accessory penalty of perpetual special disqualification from the right of suffrage and from holding public office. This disqualification, imposed by final judgment, was a continuing legal impediment.
On the second issue, the Court ruled that the proper successor is Vice Mayor Emiliana Toral Kare, not the second-placer candidate. When a winning candidate is disqualified for ineligibility (as opposed to mere failure to qualify), the votes cast for that ineligible candidate are considered stray. Consequently, no one is legally elected to the office. This results in a permanent vacancy, which must be filled by succession according to law. Applying Section 44 of the Local Government Code, the vice mayor, as the duly elected official next in line, shall succeed to the position of mayor. The COMELEC erred in proclaiming the second-placer, as a candidate cannot be proclaimed winner based on a minority or plurality of valid votes. The Court modified the COMELEC resolution, declaring Kare as the rightful successor to the mayoralty.