G.R. No. 46172; August 22, 1938
BASILIO MARTINEZ, petitioner, vs. JOSE GUTIERREZ DAVID, Judge of First Instance of Capiz, and BERNARDO NAVARRA, respondents.

FACTS

In an election protest for municipal councilors of Capiz, the trial court initially proclaimed Basilio Martinez as the sixth elected councilor with 800 votes, while Bernardo Navarra received 803 votes. During the protest, Martinez objected to 51 ballots (including 4 cast in his favor) as marked ballots prepared by one hand. The court overruled the objection, declared the ballots valid, and counted them for the respective candidates—except it did not credit Martinez with the 4 ballots in his favor. After the decision, Baltazar Corcino (another candidate) successfully moved for reconsideration, correcting a typographical error that increased his votes from 727 to 827, thereby displacing Martinez as the sixth councilor. Martinez then filed his own motion for reconsideration, arguing that if the 51 ballots were valid, the 4 ballots in his favor should be counted for him. The trial court denied his motion, reasoning that Martinez never asked for these ballots to be counted in his favor.

ISSUE

Whether the trial court acted with grave abuse of discretion in denying Basilio Martinez’s motion for reconsideration seeking to have the 4 ballots in his favor counted.

RULING

Yes. The Supreme Court held that the trial court committed grave abuse of discretion. Martinez could not have asked for the adjudication of the 4 ballots during the hearing because he was then contesting their validity as marked ballots. Once the court declared all 51 ballots valid, it was incumbent upon the court to count the 4 ballots for Martinez, or at least allow him to present them for examination upon his motion for reconsideration. The denial of his motion deprived him of due process. The Court set aside the judgment and remanded the case to the trial court to determine whether the 4 ballots were indeed cast for Martinez and to render judgment accordingly.

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