G.R. No. 268891 , October 22, 2024
GERARDO “JERRY” A. NOVERAS, PETITIONER, VS. COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS AND NARCISO DELA CRUZ AMANSEC, RESPONDENTS.

FACTS

Petitioner Gerardo “Jerry” A. Noveras, the incumbent Governor of Aurora, filed his Certificate of Candidacy for Vice-Governor for the May 9, 2022 elections. On March 30, 2022, respondent Narciso Dela Cruz Amansec discovered tarpaulin campaign materials for Noveras being printed inside the Aurora Training Center (ATC) compound, a provincial government facility, by Michael Tecuico, a casual employee of the Aurora Local Government Unit (LGU). Amansec filed a police report and obtained a search warrant. The search on April 2, 2022, recovered printing equipment and 41 pieces of tarpaulin campaign materials bearing Noveras’s name and other candidates. Amansec filed a criminal complaint and, on April 26, 2022, a petition with the COMELEC to disqualify Noveras. Noveras denied the allegations, argued that the petition should be dismissed for Amansec’s failure to appear at the preliminary conference, and contended that violation of Section 261(o) of the Omnibus Election Code is not a ground for disqualification under the relevant statutes, and that a final conviction is necessary for disqualification. Noveras won the election for Vice-Governor. The COMELEC First Division, in a Resolution dated July 10, 2023, granted the disqualification petition, finding that Noveras, through his moral and legal ascendancy over his subordinate Tecuico, influenced the use of government resources for his campaign, constituting a violation of Section 261(d)(1) of the Omnibus Election Code. The COMELEC En Banc affirmed this decision in a Resolution dated September 6, 2023.

ISSUE

Whether the COMELEC committed grave abuse of discretion in disqualifying petitioner Gerardo “Jerry” A. Noveras from the position of Vice-Governor of Aurora.

RULING

No, the COMELEC did not commit grave abuse of discretion. The Supreme Court dismissed the petition and affirmed the COMELEC’s Resolutions disqualifying Noveras. The Court held that the COMELEC’s findings were supported by substantial evidence. The evidence established that a casual employee of the Aurora LGU, Michael Tecuico, was caught printing Noveras’s campaign tarpaulins inside a provincial government facility using government equipment. As the incumbent Governor and local chief executive, Noveras had moral ascendancy, command, and control over Tecuico and the provincial resources. The COMELEC correctly concluded that Tecuico would not have undertaken such an activity without the influence, knowledge, or consent of Noveras, and that the act constituted a violation of Section 261(d)(1) of the Omnibus Election Code (coercion of subordinates). The Court rejected Noveras’s argument that Section 261(d) was repealed by Republic Act No. 7890 , agreeing with the COMELEC’s analysis that the repeal was not blanket but only removed references to religious groups, leaving the prohibition against coercion by public officers intact. The Court also found that the COMELEC did not err in proceeding with the case despite Amansec’s non-appearance at the preliminary conference, as election cases involve public interest and procedural rules may be liberally construed. Furthermore, the disqualification was proper under Section 40 of the Local Government Code, which disqualifies those removed from office as a result of an administrative case, as the act constituted serious dishonesty and grave misconduct. The Court ruled that a prior criminal conviction is not a prerequisite for disqualification in such cases.