GR 264029 CAguioa (Digest)
G.R. No. 264029, August 8, 2023
JOENAR VARGAS AGRAVANTE, PETITIONER, VS. COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS, MUNICIPAL TRIAL COURT OF GOA, CAMARINES SUR, AND JOSEPH AMATA BLANCE, RESPONDENTS.
FACTS
Joseph Amata Blance and Joenar Vargas Agravante were candidates for Punong Barangay of Matacla, Goa, Camarines Sur in the May 14, 2018 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections. Agravante initially won by three votes (789 to 786). Blance filed an election protest with the Municipal Trial Court (MTC). The MTC granted the protest after excluding from the official count several ballots which were not formally offered in evidence by Agravante, pursuant to A.M. No. 07-4-15-SC (Rules of Procedure in Election Contests before the Courts involving Elective Municipal and Barangay Officials). After revision, the MTC declared Blance the winner by five votes (789 to 784). Agravante’s appeal to the COMELEC First Division was dismissed outright on technical grounds, and the COMELEC en banc denied his motion for reconsideration. In the present Petition, Agravante argues the MTC erred in excluding the ballots he failed to formally offer.
ISSUE
Whether the Municipal Trial Court correctly excluded from consideration the ballots which were not formally offered in evidence by Agravante.
RULING
Yes. The MTC correctly excluded the ballots not formally offered. The formal offer of evidence is a mandatory requirement under Rule 13, Section 2 of A.M. No. 07-4-15-SC, which states, “The court shall consider no evidence that has not been formally offered.” This rule is fundamental to due process, as it allows the opposing party to know the evidence presented against them and to interpose objections. Evidence not formally offered has no probative value and must be excluded. The rule facilitates judicial review, as appellate courts are not required to examine evidence not previously scrutinized by the trial court. Agravante’s invocation of the 1958 case Reforma v. De Luna is inapplicable, as it was decided prior to the specific procedures established under A.M. No. 07-4-15-SC. A long line of jurisprudence affirms the strict application of the rule on formal offer of evidence.