JULIAN G. GINETE, PETITIONER, VS. HON. UBALDO Y. ARCANGEL, AS JUDGE OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE OF SORSOGON AND LUIS G. DE CASTRO, RESPONDENTS.

Acting on the verified petition
in the above-en­titled case, an original special civil action for cer­tiorari,
praying:  (a) that the proceedings had before respondent Judge of the Court of First
Instance of Sor­sogon in its Election Case No. 2225
be annulled upon the ground of lack of jurisdiction; (b) that the order of
respondent Judge, dated November 27, 1967, in said election case, providing for
the recount of the votes cast for the candidates for mayor in Precinct No. 41
of Bulan, Sorsogon, be
declared null and void for having been issued without jurisdiction or with
grave abuse of discretion; and (c) that pending resolution by this Court of the
instant petition a writ of preliminary
injunction be issued to restrain the lower court from proceeding with
the recount of the votes in said Pre­cinct No. 41; and

IT APPEARING:  That
petitioner Julian G. Ginete and respondent Luis G. de
Castro were opposing candidates for the office of mayor in the municipality of Bulan, pro­vince of Sorsogon, in
the elections held on November 14, 1967; that during the canvass made by the
Municipal Board of Canvassers of Bulan, on November
19, 1967, it was shown that the copy of the election return for Precinct No. 41
in said municipality, which was delivered by the munici­pal treasurer of Bulan to the municipal board of canvas­sers, had been
tampered, in that in the entry of votes for the candidates for mayor there were
alterations and/or erasures such that it appeared that candidate Julian G. Ginete was credited with 116 votes while candidate Luis G. de Castro was credited with 64
votes, whereas in the duplicate copy of the election return furnished by the
Board of Inspectors of Precinct No. 41 to the representa­tive of the Nacionalista Party it appeared that Ginete
was credited with 106 votes and De Castro with 84 votes, thereby indicating a
difference in the entry of votes credited to those two candidates in those
copies of the election return for the same precinct; that on the basis of the
said discrepancy, herein respondent De Castro filed a petition in the Court of
First Instance of Sorsogon for the recount of votes cast for the candidates for
mayor in said Precinct No. 41, docketed as Election Case No. 2225, but in the
petition thus filed herein petitioner Ginete was not
made a party respondent; that although herein pe­titioner Ginete
was not included as respondent
in the petition for recount and was not notified of the date of the hearing of
the petition, when said petition was call­ed for hearing by respondent Judge on
November 25, 1967, petitioner Ginete appeared at the
hearing through his counsel, Atty. Jaime G. Fortes, who orally moved for the
dismissal of the petition upon the ground that the court has no jurisdiction to
hear the petition because the petition did not include candidate Ginete who would be af­fected
by the recount as party
respondent therein; and said counsel at the same time prayed the court to allow
candidate Ginete to intervene and for that purpose
that he be given a period of
five days to file an answer to the petition for recount; that respondent Judge
did not entertain the motion to dismiss and the motion to intervene and file an
answer, but proceeded to hear the evidence of candidate De Castro (petitioner
below) in support of his pe­tition for recount; that during the hearing,
counsel for herein petitioner Ginete cross-examined
the witnesses pre­sented by herein respondent De Castro and objected to the
exhibits that were presented as evidence; that at the hear­ing herein
respondent De Castro presented, besides testimo­nial and other documentary
evidence, the copy of the elect­ion return of Precinct No. 41 of Bulan, which had been deli­vered by the board of inspectors
of said precinct to the municipal treasurer, and which was the very same copy
which the municipal treasurer delivered to the municipal board of canvassers
for the purposes of the canvass of the result of the election for municipal
mayor of Bulan; that De Castro also presented the
certified photostatic copy of the copy of the
election return from said Precinct No. 41 which was sent to the Commission on
Elections, and it was shown by competent evidence that the copy of the election
return of Precinct No. 41 of Bulan in the possession
of the Commis­sion on Elections was photographed by authority of the Com­mission
on Elections and the photographic copy was duly certified by Atty. Emilio Aguila who is the
Executive Of­ficer of the Commission on Elections; that at the hearing it was
shown that the election return of Precinct No. 41 which came from the municipal
treasurer contained erasures and/or alterations in the entry of votes for the
candidates for municipal mayor, and in said copy as altered it appear­ed that candidate Ginete
obtained 116 votes while candidate De Castro obtained 64 votes; that, on the
other hand, in the certified photostatic copy of the
copy of the election return of said precinct in the possession of the
Commission on Elections, it appeared that candidate Ginete
obtained 106 votes while candidate De Castro obtained 84 votes; that it was
also shown at the hearing that according to the earlier tabulation in the
office of the municipal treasurer of the votes cast for the candidates for
mayor, candidate De Castro had obtained 12 votes more than candidate Ginete, but if the copy of the election return that came
from the municipal treasurer which appeared to have been tampered would be
considered, Ginete would obtain 18 votes more than De
Castro; that on the basis of the evidence presented at the hearing, respondent
Judge Urbano Y. Arcangel
issued the order of November 27, 1967, now in question, providing for a recount
of the votes cast for the candidates for mayor in Precinct No. 41 of Bulan, Sorsogon, and likewise
issued a writ of preliminary injunction enjoining the municipal board of
canvassers from proceeding with the canvass of the results of the election for
municipal mayor of Bulan until after the recount of
the votes in Precinct No. 41; and

CONSIDERING:  That while
the petition for recount filed in the court below by herein respondent De
Castro originally suffered from a defect which
would have ren­dered respondent Judge without jurisdiction to entertain
the same because of the failure to include therein candidate Ginete as party respondent, the fact that candidate Ginete appeared at the hearing of the petition, through
counsel who asked for the
dismissal of the petition and even cross-examined the witnesses, that
procedural or jurisdictional defect had been cured by the voluntary ap­pearance
of herein petitioner Ginete before the court; that
respondent Judge had issued the questioned order of November 27, 1967, after
considering the difference in the entry of votes accredited to the candidates
for mayor ap­pearing in the copy of the election return of Precinct No. 41 that
was furnished by the municipal
treasurer of Bulan to the municipal board of
canvassers, on the one hand, and in the duly certified photostatic
copy of the copy of said election return in the possession of the Commission on
Elections, on the other; that the order of November 27, 1967 of respondent
Judge in Election Case No. 2225 pro­viding for the recount of the votes cast
for candidates for mayor in Precinct No. 41 is, therefore, in consonance with
the provisions of Section 163 in relation to Section 168 of the Revised
Election Code, so that the implementa­tion of that order should immediately be
done, and in con­nection with the proceedings for the recount petitioner Julian
G. Ginete should be allowed to intervene; and it being the settled ruling of this Court
that laws govern­ing election cases must be liberally construed, and that
technical and procedural barriers should not be allowed to stand if they
constitute an obstacle to the determina­tion of the true will of the electorate
in the choice of their elective officials; the Court

RESOLVED:  To
dismiss the instant petition for cer­tiorari with preliminary injunction.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Concepcion, C.J., Reyes, JBL, Makalintal, Bengzon, Sanchez, Ruiz
Castro, Angeles, and Fernando, JJ., concur.

Dizon J., no part.