AGRIPINO DEMAFILES, PETITIONER, VS. COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS, PROVINCIAL BOARD OF ANTIQUE, IN ITS CAPACITY AS BOARD OF CANVASSERS FOR THE NEW­LY CREATED MUNICIPALITY OF SEBASTE O…

Demafiles versus Commission on Elections

The Case

This is a petition for mandamus and certiorari filed by Agripino Demafiles against the Commission on Elections and the Provincial Board of Antique, sitting as board of canvassers for the newly created Municipality of Sebaste. Demafiles asks the Supreme Court to set aside the resolutions of the Commission on Elections which upheld the canvass and proclamation of his rival, Benito Galido, as mayor-elect. The case matters because it draws the boundary between the ministerial function of a board of canvassers and the adjudicatory function of courts in election contests, and because it settles that the Commission on Elections may compel a canvassing body to count a return it has wrongfully excluded.

Procedural History

The case began before the Provincial Board of Antique, acting as municipal board of canvassers under the Revised Election Code. On the request of Galido, the board rejected the return from precinct 7 and canvassed the remaining returns, proclaiming Galido as mayor-elect. Demafiles protested to the Commission on Elections, which on November 28, 1967 annulled the canvass and proclamation and directed the constitution of a new board of canvassers. On Galido's motion for reconsideration, the Commission reversed itself on December 4, 1967 and held that the canvass and proclamation stood. Demafiles then filed this original petition for mandamus and certiorari before the Supreme Court to set aside that resolution, annul Galido's proclamation, and compel a new canvass including the return from precinct 7.

Facts

The new Municipality of Sebaste in Antique held its first election of officers in the general elections of November 14, 1967. Agripino Demafiles and Benito Galido vied for the mayoralty. On November 21, Galido asked the provincial board, acting as municipal board of canvassers, to disregard as "obviously manufactured" the return from precinct 7. He relied on a certificate of the municipal election registrar stating that only 182 voters had registered in that precinct as of October 30, 1967, while the return showed 195 registered voters, of whom 188 voted.

On November 22, over the objection of one member, the board voted to reject the return from precinct 7 and canvassed the other returns. The tally gave Galido 888 votes against 844 for Demafiles, and Galido was proclaimed mayor-elect. On November 24, Demafiles protested to the Commission on Elections, challenging both the rejection of the return and the right of two board members, Julito Moscoso and Quirico Escaño, to sit, considering that they were reelectionists.

The Commission first annulled the canvass and proclamation and ordered a new board constituted under the Revised Election Code. On Galido's reconsideration, however, the Commission reversed itself and held that the canvass and proclamation stood. Galido also argued that the case had become moot because he had taken his oath and assumed office on November 22 pursuant to Republic Act 4870.

Issues

• Whether or not the case is moot because Galido had taken his oath and assumed office.
• Whether or not the board of canvassers acted within its power in rejecting the return from precinct 7 on the strength of the election registrar's certificate.
• Whether or not the provincial board members who were candidates for reelection were disqualified from sitting as a municipal board of canvassers.
• Whether or not the Commission on Elections can order the board of canvassers to count a return from a given precinct.

Applicable Provisions

Section 2 of Republic Act 4870, creating the Municipality of Sebaste, provides:

The first mayor, vice-mayor and councilors of the Municipality of Sebaste shall be elected in the next general elections for local officials and shall have qualified.

The Court found the phrase "and shall have qualified" devoid of meaning, and refused to supply a meaning so as to make the term begin immediately upon proclamation.

Section 28 of the Revised Election Code provides:

Any member of a provincial board or of a municipal council who is a candidate for office in any election, shall be incompetent to act on said body in the performance of the duties thereof relative to said election.

This disqualification is all-inclusive and draws no distinction between the board acting as a provincial board of canvassers and as a municipal board of canvassers.

Ruling

First, on mootness. The Court held that the assumption of office by Galido did not affect the basic issues. The clause "and shall have qualified" is unmitigated jargon, and the Court declined to rewrite the statute, invoking the admonition that a judge must not rewrite a statute, neither to enlarge nor to contract it. The general rule therefore applies, that the term of municipal officials begins on the first day of January following their election.

Second, on the rejection of the return. A canvassing board performs a purely ministerial function of compiling and adding the results as they appear in the returns. It cannot pass upon the validity of a return, much less exclude it, on the ground that the votes cast in the precinct are illegal. Unlike the returns in Lagumbay, which were palpably false on their face, the return here showed nothing on its face from which the canvassers might conclude that it did not speak the truth. The discrepancy appeared only when compared with the registrar's certificate. The claim of irregular voting should be threshed out in an election contest.

Third, on disqualification. Two of the four members of the board were candidates for reelection and were disqualified from sitting. The Court rejected the argument that the disqualification applies only when the board acts as a provincial board of canvassers, applying the maxim ubi lex non distinguit, nec nos distinguere debemos — where the law does not distinguish, neither should we.

Fourth, on the power of the Commission. It is settled doctrine that the Commission on Elections has the power to annul an illegal canvass and illegal proclamation based on incomplete returns, and to order a new canvass counting the returns wrongfully excluded. Indeed, it is its duty to do so, failing which it may be compelled by mandamus.

Doctrine

A board of canvassers performs a purely ministerial function: it compiles and adds the results as they appear in the returns transmitted to it. It may not reject a return because of informalities or alleged illegal or fraudulent practices in the election; such questions belong to election contests. A return may be excluded only where the fraud is palpable on its face, as in Lagumbay, where the return itself revealed the falsity without need of evidence aliunde. Under Section 28 of the Revised Election Code, a member of a provincial board who is a candidate for office is incompetent to act on that body in the performance of its duties relative to the election, whether it sits as a provincial or as a municipal board of canvassers. The Commission on Elections has the power, and the duty, to annul an illegal canvass and proclamation and to order a new canvass counting returns wrongfully excluded, and may be compelled by mandamus to do so.

Disposition

The Court set aside the resolutions of the Commission on Elections, annulled the canvass and proclamation of Galido, and directed the Commission to appoint new members of the board of canvassers in substitution of Moscoso and Escaño, and thereafter to order the reconstituted board to canvass all votes including those in the return from precinct 7 and proclaim the winning candidates, with costs against Galido.

Remember This

A canvassing board is ministerial and cannot look behind a return that is regular on its face; fraud must be palpable from the return itself to justify exclusion. Examiners use this case to test the ministerial duty of canvassers, the disqualification of reelectionist board members under Section 28, and the power of the Commission on Elections to order a new canvass.