G.R. No. 264661, July 30, 2024
CLARYLYN A. LEGASPI, ET AL., PETITIONERS, VS. COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS, RESPONDENT.

FACTS

The petitioners filed a Petition for Certiorari and Mandamus seeking to compel the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) to conduct a manual recount of votes in the province of Pangasinan from the May 9, 2022 National and Local Elections. They expressed doubt regarding the accuracy of the vote-counting machines. The ponencia (main Decision) found that the petitioners were essentially seeking to enforce their right to information but through an incorrect remedy.

ISSUE

Whether a petition for mandamus is the proper remedy to compel the COMELEC to grant a request for information, specifically a manual recount of election votes, based on the constitutional right to information.

RULING

The Concurring Opinion of Justice Singh agrees with the ponencia’s dismissal of the petition but clarifies the scope of mandamus as a remedy for enforcing the right to information. The opinion holds that while the right to information under Article III, Section 7 of the 1987 Constitution is self-executing, its enforcement via mandamus is limited. Mandamus lies to compel the performance of a ministerial duty. The duty to grant or deny a request for information, however, is not ministerial but discretionary, as it requires the government agency (like the COMELEC) to evaluate the request against legal exceptions and procedures. The COMELEC’s FOI Manual (Resolution No. 10685) establishes a process involving a Decision Maker and an Appeals and Review Committee, indicating the exercise of judgment. Therefore, mandamus cannot be used to absolutely compel the disclosure of information; at most, it can compel an agency to act upon or examine a request. Since the COMELEC has no ministerial duty to automatically grant a manual recount, and the petitioners failed to demonstrate grave abuse of discretion warranting certiorari, the petition was correctly dismissed. The right to information is subject to limitations and the prescribed administrative procedures for its exercise.