G.R. No. 184082 March 17, 2009
NICASIO BOLOS, JR., Petitioner, vs. THE COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS and REY ANGELES CINCONIEGUE, Respondents.

FACTS

Petitioner Nicasio Bolos, Jr. was elected as Punong Barangay of Barangay Biking, Dauis, Bohol for three consecutive terms in the Barangay Elections of 1994, 1997, and 2002. While serving his third term, he ran and won as Municipal Councilor (Sangguniang Bayan member) of Dauis, Bohol in the May 2004 National and Local Elections. He assumed the office of Municipal Councilor on July 1, 2004, thereby leaving his post as Punong Barangay. He served the full term as Municipal Councilor until June 30, 2007. Subsequently, petitioner filed his Certificate of Candidacy for Punong Barangay in the October 29, 2007 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections. Respondent Rey Angeles Cinconiegue, a candidate for the same office, filed a petition for disqualification against petitioner before the COMELEC, arguing that petitioner had already served the three-term limit under Section 8, Article X of the Constitution and Section 43(b) of the Local Government Code ( R.A. No. 7160 ). The COMELEC First Division, in a Resolution dated March 4, 2008, granted the petition and disqualified petitioner, ruling that his assumption of the office of Municipal Councilor constituted a voluntary renunciation of his office as Punong Barangay, thereby rendering his service for the third term unbroken and complete. The COMELEC en banc denied petitioner’s motion for reconsideration in a Resolution dated August 7, 2008.

ISSUE

Whether the COMELEC committed grave abuse of discretion in disqualifying petitioner as a candidate for Punong Barangay on the ground that he had served three consecutive terms, specifically, whether petitioner’s election and assumption of office as Municipal Councilor during his third term as Punong Barangay constituted a voluntary renunciation of office such that he is deemed to have fully served that third term.

RULING

The Supreme Court denied the petition and affirmed the COMELEC’s Resolutions. The Court held that petitioner’s relinquishment of the office of Punong Barangay as a consequence of his assumption of office as Municipal Councilor was a voluntary renunciation. The three-term limit rule under Section 8, Article X of the Constitution and Section 43(b) of the Local Government Code provides that voluntary renunciation of office for any length of time shall not be considered as an interruption in the continuity of service for the full term. The Court cited Lonzanida v. Commission on Elections, which established that for the disqualification to apply, two conditions must concur: (1) the official has been elected for three consecutive terms in the same post, and (2) he has fully served three consecutive terms. While petitioner was elected for three consecutive terms as Punong Barangay, satisfying the first condition, the Court agreed with the COMELEC that he fully served his third term because his voluntary act of running for and assuming a higher elective office constituted a voluntary renunciation. This renunciation prevented any interruption in the continuity of his service for that full term. Consequently, petitioner was deemed to have served three consecutive terms and was disqualified from running for the same position in the subsequent election. The Court found no grave abuse of discretion on the part of the COMELEC.