G.R. No. 236573 EN BANC August 14, 2018
BARANGAY CHAIRMAN HERBERT O. CHUA, Petitioner vs. COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS, HON. MARIANITO C. SANTOS, in his capacity as the Presiding Judge of METC, Branch 57, San Juan City, and SOPHIA PATRICIA K. GIL, Respondents

FACTS

Petitioner Herbert O. Chua and respondent Sophia Patricia K. Gil were candidates for Punong Barangay of Addition Hills, San Juan City in the October 28, 2013 Barangay Elections. Chua was proclaimed the winner with 465 votes against Gil’s 460 votes. Gil filed an election protest with the Metropolitan Trial Court (MeTC), alleging fraud and irregularities, including the presence of non-resident voters, erroneous counting, and the misallocation of ballots where her name was written in the Kagawad slot. The MeTC dismissed the protest and affirmed Chua’s proclamation.
Gil appealed to the Commission on Elections (COMELEC). The COMELEC First Division reversed the MeTC decision on April 7, 2017, declaring Gil the duly-elected Punong Barangay. Chua’s motion for reconsideration was denied by the COMELEC En Banc in a Resolution dated November 6, 2017, which became final and executory. Chua then filed a petition for certiorari and prohibition with the Supreme Court, alleging grave abuse of discretion by the COMELEC for not ruling on the mootness of the protest after Gil filed a certificate of candidacy for councilor in 2015.

ISSUE

Whether the Supreme Court should grant the petition for certiorari assailing the COMELEC resolutions.

RULING

The Supreme Court dismissed the petition. The dismissal was grounded on two independent legal bases: procedural infirmity and mootness. Procedurally, the petition was filed out of time. Under Section 3, Rule 64 of the Rules of Court, a petition challenging a COMELEC En Banc resolution must be filed within thirty (30) days from notice. The COMELEC En Banc’s Resolution was promulgated on November 6, 2017, and became final on January 23, 2018, upon entry of judgment. Chua filed his Supreme Court petition on January 31, 2018, which was beyond the reglementary period. The Court emphasized that procedural rules are not mere technicalities but essential to the orderly administration of justice.
Substantively, the case had been rendered moot. The Court took judicial notice that Chua had won and assumed the position of Punong Barangay of the same barangay in the subsequent 2018 Barangay Elections. The 2013 term, which was the subject of the election protest, had already ended. Following the doctrine in Baldo v. Commission on Elections, the Court cannot grant any practical or effective relief where the contested term has expired and the petitioner already holds the office from a subsequent electoral mandate. There was no longer any post to vacate or assume pertaining to the 2013 elections. Therefore, the petition presented no justiciable controversy and was dismissed.