GR 52451; (March, 1981) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-52451, L-52678, L-53393. March 31, 1981.
ZACARIAS A. TICZON vs. COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS, et al.; RAMON ARMEDILLA vs. COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS and CESAR P. DIZON.
FACTS
These consolidated cases involve the mayoralty election in San Pablo City on January 30, 1980, centered on disqualification for turncoatism. Petitioner Zacarias Ticzon, historically a Liberal Party candidate, ran as the official Nacionalista candidate. Respondent Cesar Dizon, historically a Nacionalista, ran as the official Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL) candidate. Both faced disqualification petitions filed by voters before the Commission on Elections (COMELEC). The COMELEC did not resolve these petitions before election day. The board of canvassers, directed by COMELEC, suspended Ticzon’s proclamation despite his apparent victory, pending the disqualification case. Dizon was later proclaimed winner after the COMELEC, in its subsequent resolutions, disqualified Ticzon and dismissed the disqualification case against Dizon.
ISSUE
The primary issue is whether the COMELEC acted with grave abuse of discretion in disqualifying Ticzon and in dismissing the disqualification case against Dizon.
RULING
The Supreme Court dismissed the petitions, upholding the COMELEC’s resolutions. The legal logic rests on the application of constitutional and statutory provisions against turncoatism. For Ticzon, the Court found he was properly disqualified. He was a candidate of the Liberal Party in the 1971 elections and sought to run under the Nacionalista banner in 1980 without the six-month residency in the new party required by the 1973 Constitution. His claim of expulsion from the Liberal Party in 1971 was insufficient to negate the prohibition, as he did not subsequently affiliate with the Nacionalista Party for the required period. His votes were thus correctly considered stray.
For Dizon, the Court found no grave abuse of discretion in the COMELEC’s dismissal of the disqualification case against him. The COMELEC accepted Dizon’s defense that he affiliated with the KBL in April 1978, which was more than six months before the January 1980 election, thus complying with the constitutional six-month rule. The petitioner in that case, Armedilla, failed to rebut this evidence. The Court also noted that questions regarding Dizon’s status during his extended term as a “hold-over” official could be further litigated in a separate quo warranto proceeding Ticzon had initiated. The proclamation of Dizon as mayor was sustained.