FRANCISCO JAVIER O. CARAM AND THE LABAN NG DEMOKRATIKONG PILIPINO, PETITIONERS, VS. COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS AND ILOILO PROVINCIAL BOARD OF CANVASSERS, RESPONDENTS.

This is a petition for mandamus to compel the Commission on
Elections (COMELEC) to conduct special elections for the Sub-province of
Guimaras, Province of Iloilo and in areas in the Second Congressional District
of Iloilo, which were directly affected by the conversion of the Sub-province
of Guimaras into a full-pledged province, for the purpose of electing the
Governor, Vice-Governor, Members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan representing
the Second District of the Province of Iloilo and the Congressman for the
Second Congressional District of said province. The petition also asked for the issuance of a temporary
restraining order to stop the Provincial Board of Canvassers of the Province of
Iloilo from canvassing and proclaiming the results of the elections for the
Office of the Governor, Vice-Governor, Members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan
representing the Second District of the Province of Iloilo and the Congressman
of the Second Congressional District of said province (Rollo, pp. 2-7).

The petition, in substance, alleged that the COMELEC had no
authority to exclude the voters of the Sub-province of Guimaras to vote for the
Governor, Vice-Governor and the Members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of the
Province of Iloilo. It also alleged
that the COMELEC failed to properly disseminate information regarding the right
of the Sub-province of Guimaras to vote for a Congressman for the Second
Congressional District of Iloilo with the result that almost one-third of the
registered voters of the sub-province were not able to exercise the right to
vote.

The Local Government Code, which took effect on January 1, 1992,
provided, inter alia, for the conversion of the Sub-province of Guimaras
into a province and the holding of the plebiscite, wherein voters of the Province
of Iloilo and the Sub-province of Guimaras were asked to resolve the issue of
the conversion of the sub-province to a regular province, simultaneously with
the national elections on May 11, 1992.

On May 11, 1992, when the official ballots of the three
municipalities were distributed for the purpose of the 1992 national elections,
the ballots did not contain any provisions for the election of the Governor,
Vice-Governor and the Members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan representing the
Second District of the Province of Iloilo.

Section 462 of the Local Government Code, providing for the
conversion of the then existing sub-provinces into regular provinces, reads:

“Sec. 462. Existing
Sub-provinces. – Existing sub-provinces are hereby converted into regular provinces
upon approval by a majority of the votes cast in a plebiscite to be held in the
said sub-provinces and the original provinces directly affected. The plebiscite shall be conducted by the
Comelec simultaneously with the national elections following the effectivity of
this Code.

The new legislative districts created as a result of such
conversion shall continue to be represented in Congress by the duly-elected
representatives of the original districts out of which said new provinces or
districts were created until their own representatives shall have been elected
in the next regular congressional elections and qualified.

The incumbent elected officials of the said sub-provinces converted
into regular provinces shall continue to hold office until June 30, 1992. Any vacancy occurring in the offices
occupied by said incumbent elected officials, or resulting from expiration of
their terms of office in case of a negative vote in the plebiscite results,
shall be filled by appointment by the President. The appointees shall hold office until their successors shall
have been elected in the regular local elections following the plebiscite
mentioned herein and qualified. After
effectivity of such conversion, the President shall fill up the position of
governor of the newly-created province through appointment if none has yet been
appointed to the same as herein before provided, and shall also appoint a
vice-governor and the other members of the sangguniang panlalawigan, all of
whom shall likewise hold office until their successors shall have been elected
in the next regular local elections and qualified.

All qualified appointive officials and employees in the career
service of the said sub-provinces at the time of their conversion into regular
provinces shall continue in office in accordance with civil service law, rules
and regulations.”

On April 15, 1992, the COMELEC promulgated Resolution No. 2410,
providing the rules and regulations to govern the conduct of the plebiscite in
the Province of the Iloilo and Sub-province of Guimaras.

Pursuant to Section 4 of the said Resolution, the official
ballots used in the elections in the Province of Iloilo and Sub-province of
Guimaras included at the bottom thereof the following question:

“DO YOU VOTE FOR THE
APPROVAL OF THE CONVERSION OF THE SUB-PROVINCE OF GUIMARAS INTO A
REGULAR PROVINCE, PURSUANT TO SECTION 462, REPUBLIC OF THE ACT NO. 7160?”

The official ballots also provided an appropriate space for the
voter’s response to the question.

The Provincial Board of Canvassers of Iloilo issued a certificate
dated May 22, 1992, proclaiming that the conversion of the Sub-province of
Guimaras to a regular province was ratified and approved by the voters in a
plebiscite held in the Province of Iloilo and the Sub-province of Guimaras on
May 11, 1992 by a vote of 283,224 against 42,524.

In Grino v. Commision on Elections, 213 SCRA 672, we held
that the COMELEC had no authority to exclude the voters of the Sub-province of
Guimaras from voting for the positions of the Governor, Vice-Governor, and
Members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan representing the Second District of the
Province of Iloilo because under Section 462 of the Local Government Code, it
was only in the case where the voters ratified the conversion of the
Sub-province of Guimaras to a regular province that the President was empowered
to appoint the officials of the newly created province. The Court noted that the lawmakers failed to
foresee that in the event the negative vote in the plebiscite prevailed, the
Sub-province of Guimaras would continue to be a part of the Province of Iloilo
and be represented by the officials of the province elected in the May 11, 1992
elections. However, considering that
the “Yes” votes in the plebiscite prevailed, we ruled that it would
serve no useful purpose to undo what the COMELEC had done and that there would
be no legal basis to call special elections to give a chance to the voters of
the Sub-province of Guimaras to vote for the provincial officials of the
Province of Iloilo.

Petitioners have not shown the basis of their claim that about
one-third of the voters in the Sub-province of Guimaras were not able to vote
for a Congressman.

The official ballots used in the Sub-province of Guimaras
contained a space for the voting of a Congressman for the Second Congressional
District of Iloilo. That was a clear
indication that the Guimaras voters could vote for said official.

In allowing the voters in the Sub-province of Guimaras to vote
for a Congressman for the Second Congressional District of Iloilo, the COMELEC
merely followed to the letter the provisions of Section 462 of R.A. 7160 that:

“The new legislative districts created as a result of such
conversion shall continue to be represented in congress by the duly-elected
representatives of the original districts out of which said new provinces or
districts were created until their own representatives shall have been elected
in the next regular congressional elections and qualified.”

There was no evidence to show that one-third of the voters of the
Sub-province of Guimaras were not able to vote for a Congressman for the Second
Congressional District of Iloilo due to the lack of dissemination of
information that they could do so. In
the absence of such evidence, the only conclusion that can be deduced was that
those who did not vote for the position of congressman, merely abstained from
voting for the said position. The right
to abstain from voting for a position deserves the same respect as the exercise
of the right to vote. To compel the COMELEC
to conduct a special election for the position of congressman as demanded by
petitioners would be to nullify the decision of the voters who cast their votes
in the May 1992 elections and who, according to petitioner constituted
two-thirds of the voters in the sub-province.

WHEREFORE, the petition is DISMISSED, with costs against
petitioner.

SO ORDERED.

Narvasa, C.J., Cruz, Feliciano, Padilla, Bidin, Griño-Aquino,
Regalado, Davide, Jr., Romero, Nocon, Bellosillo, Melo, Puno, and Vitug, JJ., concur.