GR 168550; (August, 2006) (Digest)
G.R. No. 168550 August 10, 2006
URBANO M. MORENO, Petitioner, vs. COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS and NORMA L. MEJES, Respondents.
FACTS
Norma L. Mejes filed a petition to disqualify Urbano M. Moreno from running for Punong Barangay in the July 2002 elections. The ground was his final conviction for Arbitrary Detention, for which he was sentenced to imprisonment ranging from four months and one day to two years and four months. Moreno argued he was not disqualified under Section 40(a) of the Local Government Code, as he had been granted probation. He contended that his final discharge from probation in December 2000 restored his civil rights, including the right to run for office, pursuant to the Probation Law. The COMELEC disqualified him, ruling that the disqualification under the Local Government Code applies within two years after serving sentence, which it interpreted to mean from his release from probation.
ISSUE
Whether a probationer, who did not serve a prison sentence, is disqualified from running for elective local office under Section 40(a) of the Local Government Code, which applies to those convicted “within two (2) years after serving sentence.”
RULING
The Supreme Court GRANTED the petition and ruled in favor of Moreno. The legal logic centers on the statutory interpretation of the phrase “within two (2) years after serving sentence.” The Court held that for the disqualification in Section 40(a) of the Local Government Code to apply, the convicted individual must have actually served a prison sentence. Probation is not a service of sentence but a suspension of its execution. A probationer undergoes rehabilitation under supervision but does not serve the imposed prison term. Since Moreno was granted probation and never served his prison sentence, the two-year disqualification period from “serving sentence” never commenced. The Court distinguished this case from Dela Torre v. COMELEC, which involved a crime of moral turpitude where disqualification attaches immediately upon conviction, regardless of probation. Here, the disqualification was based on the second part of Section 40(a) pertaining to the service of a sentence for an offense punishable by one year or more. Consequently, Moreno was not disqualified from running for Punong Barangay.