G.R. No. 182088 January 30, 2009
ROBERTO L. DIZON, Petitioner, vs. COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS and MARINO P. MORALES, Respondents.

FACTS

Petitioner Roberto L. Dizon filed a petition to disqualify and/or cancel the certificate of candidacy of respondent Marino P. Morales, the incumbent Mayor of Mabalacat, Pampanga, for the May 14, 2007 elections. Dizon argued that Morales had already served as mayor for three consecutive terms (1995-1998, 1998-2001, 2001-2004) and was therefore ineligible for a fourth term under the three-term limit rule of Section 43 of the Local Government Code. Morales countered that he was not elected in the 1998 elections, as the COMELEC en banc had affirmed a Regional Trial Court decision declaring Anthony D. Dee the duly elected mayor for that term. Thus, Morales claimed his terms should be reckoned from 2001, making the 2004 election only his second term. The COMELEC Second Division dismissed Dizon’s petition, taking judicial notice of the Supreme Court’s ruling in the consolidated Rivera cases ( G.R. No. 167591 & G.R. No. 170577) promulgated on May 9, 2007. In that Rivera ruling, the Supreme Court found Morales had been elected for four consecutive terms but disqualified him from the May 2004 elections due to the three-term limit, cancelling his certificate of candidacy and declaring him not a candidate in the 2004 elections. The COMELEC En Banc affirmed, noting Morales had relinquished the office on May 16, 2007 (more than a month before the term ended on June 30, 2007), creating an involuntary interruption or gap in service.

ISSUE

Whether the COMELEC gravely abused its discretion in ruling that respondent Marino P. Morales did not violate the three-term limit and was eligible to run for mayor in the May 14, 2007 elections.

RULING

The Supreme Court DISMISSED the petition and AFFIRMED the COMELEC Resolutions. The Court held that the three-term limit rule under Section 43(b) of the Local Government Code and Article X, Section 8 of the 1987 Constitution requires two conditions for disqualification: (1) the official has been elected for three consecutive terms, and (2) the official has fully served three consecutive terms. The Court’s ruling in the Rivera case, which cancelled Morales’ certificate of candidacy for the May 2004 elections and declared him not a candidate, constituted an involuntary severance from office with respect to the 2004-2007 term. This involuntary severance, even for a short period (from the decision’s promulgation on May 9, 2007, until the term’s end on June 30, 2007), amounted to an interruption in the continuity of his service. Consequently, Morales did not fully serve the 2004-2007 term. Therefore, when Morales ran in the May 2007 elections, he had not been elected and had not fully served three consecutive terms immediately preceding that election. The interruption broke the continuity of his service, rendering the three-term limit inapplicable. The Court found no grave abuse of discretion by the COMELEC.