GR 90336; (August, 1991) (Digest)
G.R. No. 90336; August 12, 1991
RUPERTO TAULE, petitioner, vs. SECRETARY LUIS T. SANTOS and GOVERNOR LEANDRO VERCELES, respondents.
FACTS
The Federation of Associations of Barangay Councils (FABC) of Catanduanes convened on June 18, 1989, to elect its officers. Only six of its eleven members attended. When the group proceeded with the election despite the absence of a quorum, two members of the Board of Election Supervisors walked out. The election, presided over by the remaining supervisor, resulted in petitioner Ruperto Taule being elected President. Governor Leandro Verceles protested the election to Secretary of Local Government Luis T. Santos, citing irregularities.
Secretary Santos, acting under Department of Local Government (DLG) Circular No. 89-09, which provided guidelines for Katipunan ng mga Barangay elections, issued a resolution nullifying the election and ordering a new one. Taule’s motion for reconsideration was denied. Taule then filed a petition for certiorari, arguing that the Secretary had no jurisdiction over the election protest.
ISSUE
The primary issue is whether the Secretary of Local Government has jurisdiction to entertain an election protest and nullify the election of officers of the provincial-level Federation of Associations of Barangay Councils (Katipunan ng mga Barangay).
RULING
The Supreme Court ruled that the Secretary of Local Government acted without jurisdiction. The Court clarified that the Katipunan ng mga Barangay, while an organization of barangay councils, is distinct from the barangay government itself. Its officers are not “elective barangay officials” as contemplated by the Constitution.
Under Article IX, C, Section 2(2) of the 1987 Constitution, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) has exclusive original jurisdiction over contests involving elective regional, provincial, and city officials, and appellate jurisdiction over those involving elective municipal and barangay officials. The FABC President, though eventually sitting in the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, is not directly elected by the populace but is chosen by peers from among the Punong Barangays. Therefore, the contest involves an internal organizational election, not a public electoral contest falling under COMELEC’s constitutional mandate.
The authority of the Secretary of Local Government, derived from the general power to issue implementing rules under the Local Government Code, does not extend to adjudicating election protests. Such adjudication is a judicial or quasi-judicial function, which must be expressly conferred by law. No such grant was found. Consequently, the Secretary’s resolutions nullifying the election were issued with grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack of jurisdiction and were annulled and set aside.