G. R. No. 41537. April 10, 1934
JOSE ALTAVAS ET AL., PETITIONERS AND APPELLANTS, VS. MUNICIPAL COUNCIL OP CAPIZ ET AL., RESPONDENTS AND APPELLEES.
MALCOLM, J.:
election inspectors for the twenty-seven municipalities of the Province
of Capiz. The rights of five political parties or political groups—the
Partido Nacionalista Consolidado, the Partido Nacionalista Pro
Independencia, the Democrata Pros, the Democrata Antis, and the Partido
Nacionslista Guerra Patriotica,—are involved. On the motion of Jose Y.
Torres, attorney for the Democrata Antis and Jose A]tavas in his own
behalf, deriving his authority from the central organization of the
Partido Nacionalista Consolidado, the submission of the cases was
expedited, although curiously enough this move has met with the
opposition of an attorney for this party. In this connection, we may
say in passing that the court will continue to give preferential
attention to election cases of this character in order that, through
becoming involved in complicated procedural processes, their decision
may not be delayed until after the general elections have been held.
The decision of the trial judge, Honorable Gervasio Diaz, is a
seventy-eight-page document, well organized, making findings of fact on
all the questions presented, fearlessly meeting the legal issues, and
indicating a conscientious desire to do exact justice. If we had been
sitting in first instance, we would have been inclined to take a
short-cut, and in those municipalities where the so-called Pros had a
monopoly of election inspectors would have assigned one of them to the
opposition, and in those municipalities where the so-called Antis had a
monopoly of election inspectors would have assigned one of them to the
opposition, but this was not done, and the Partido Nacionalista Pro
Independencia, which was most affected by the failure to follow this
process, appears content with one inspector in each municipality and
with challenging the right of the Partido Nacionalista Guerra
Patriotica to be represented at all. In truth, the more elaborate
method followed by the trial judge reaches a quite similar goal. While
we do not necessarily have to concur with all the pronouncements of the
trial judge, and while in particular municipalities, as for instance
Balete, we might have ruled differently, surely considerable discretion
in these matters must be lodged with the trial judge, and so after full
and fair study and reflection we have unanimously voted to sustain the
judgments without change.
The principles which have guided us in these cases and which will continue to guide us in analogous cases are these:
- The whole purpose of the Australian Ballot System as found
in the Philippine Election Law is to provide for clean elections, and
the courts will assist in accomplishing that purpose just in so far as
they make themselves the instruments of the public welfare. -
Section 417 of the Election Law was provided as a precautionary measure
for securing honesty in the conduct of elections, the officers from one
party being counted upon to prevent fraud being committed by the
officers from another party, and this primordial intent will be
effectuated whenever possible by giving to the leading political
parties or political groups representation on election boards. -
A liberal and practical construction of section 417 of the Election Law
will be adopted so as to provide as complete a method as possible to
obtain a clean election. - As it is most
often a minority party which suffers (this case being an example, for
in seventeen municipalities what are known as the Antis were left
without representation and in five municipalities what are known as the
Pros were left without representation), the courts will, wherever the
facts justify, permit of a minority party having one election inspector. -
Everything else being equal, political parties and political groups of
a permanent nature and national in character will be preferred to
sporadic local bloques formed for transitory election purposes.
In relation with the above principles, only one authority need be
noticed, namely, the decision of this court in the case of Ysip vs.
Municipal Council of Cabiao ([1922], 43 Phil., 352). The general
elections of 1922 made it incumbent on the court to interpret section
11 of Act No. 3030, now incorporated in section 417 of the Election
Law. In the preceding general elections in 1919, two parties, the
Partido Nacionalista and the Partido Democrata, contested for
supremacy. Thereafter the Partido Nacionalista divided into two
branches, the Partido Nacionalista, commonly known as Unipersonalista,
and the Partido Nacionalista Colectivista. The question was, if the new
Partido Nacionalista Colectivista should be recognized by the courts
and should be permitted to have representation on election boards. The
Supreme Court, adopting a liberal construction of the Election Law,
answered the question affirmatively. In succeeding elections that rule
has been generally accepted. It is as pertinently applicable now as
then.
The foregoing should be enough to indicate our point of view and to
dispose of the appeals properly before us and which we have
jurisdiction to decide. But for the satisfaction of the parties, we
will pass in quick review the various questions raised by the
respective appeals.
- Appeal of Antonio Belo.—A dispute arose between
Jose Altavas and Antonio Belo as to which of them was the official
representative of the Partido Nacionalista Consolidado in the Province
of Capiz. Each pressed his case vigorously, and much could be said on
both sides. However, one fact is decisive. The general secretary of the
Partido Nacionalista Consolidado, Felipe Buencamino, jr., in
communications addressed to Jose Altavas, indicated in unmistakable
terms that the central organization of the party considered his as the
only true organization of the party in the Province of Capiz.
Obviously, where there is a conflict of this character, the best judge
is the parent committee or board of the party. We must rule against the
first two errors assigned by Mr. Belo, and as to the third error having
to do with the rights of the Partido Nacionalista Guerra Patriotica, we
will discuss this subject in another connection. - Appeal of Jose Altavas.—The
trial judge recognized Jose Altavas as the chief of the Partido
Nacionalista Consolidado in Capiz and gave to that party one election
inspector in all but one municipality. Not satisfied with this ruling,
the appellant challenges the right of the new Partido Nacionalista Pro
Independencia to have an election inspector. The uniform holding of
this court as hereinbefore indicated has been that where a political
party which polled the largest number of votes at the next preceding
general elections has divided into two branches, each of the two
branches is entitled to have one election inspector. There is just as
much reason to follow this rule in Capiz in the 1934 elections as there
was to follow it in Nueva Ecija in the 1922 elections when the split of
the Nacionalista party occurred. Appellant further objects to the
finding of the trial court that a coalition existed between the Partido
Nacionalista Consolidado, the Partido Nacionalista Guerra Patriotica,
and the Democrata Antis, and although the observation is not exactly
necessary to a decision, our surmise is that the trial court was right
in so holding. Finally appellant finds fault with the taxation of costs
which were divided pro rata among the petitioners and
respondents, but this impresses us as an equitable arrangement. We must
rule against the errors assigned by this appellant. - Appeal of Comelio T. Villareal.—This
appellant is the president of the provincial committee of the Democrata
Party Pros in the Province of Capiz. The trial judge after an elaborate
dissertation on the status of the Democrata party and its vicissitudes,
gave to the branch of the party headed by Mr. Villareal one election
inspector in nine municipalities of Capiz. Appellant insists that error
was committed in awarding inspectors in the municipalities of Kalibo
and Ibajay to the Democrata Antis. In this respect the trial judge may
have been a title inconsistent, but his intentions were of the best,
and we are not prepared to say that he was wrong. Appellant also
attacks the right of the Partido Nacionalista Guerra Patriotica to be
considered a political party or political group, and we will
subsequently discuss this question. We must rule against this appellant
on his second and third assigned errors. - Appeal of Josefino Tirol.—Out
of extreme consideration for the rights of the Anti branch of the
Democrata party represented by this appellant, the trial judge allowed
the party one inspector in the municipality of Ibajay and one inspector
in the municipality of Kalibo. This appellant, through his errors
assigned and his arguments, goes into the affairs of the Democrata
party in detail. But as we are satisfied that the result was correct,
since the Democrata party was an opposition party of quite some
strength in the 1931 elections and appears to have continued to exist
in the province, we prefer to abide by the conclusions reached by the
trial judge. We must rule against this appellant on all the errors
assigned by him. - Appeal of Rafael Tumbokon.—This
appellant is the chief of the Partido Nacionalista Guerra Patriotica.
This party, group, or bloque, as variously denominated, was allocated
one election inspector in twenty of the twenty-seven municipalities of
Capiz. Appellant sow lays claim to an additional election inspector in
the municipalities of Balete, Kalibo, and Numancia, and to one election
inspector in the municipalities of Dao, Dumalag, Dumarao, Ivisan,
Marabusao, and Sigma. We can see the force of appellant’s arguments,
but nevertheless are not persuaded that the court on appeal should
modify the decision in this respect. From one point of view the Partido
Nacionalista Guerra Patriotica should consider itself fortunate in
being allowed any inspectors at all. We must rule against this
appellant on his various assigned errors. - Position of Rafael Aruna.—This
appellant represents the Partido Nacionalista Pro Independencia. The
new party was allowed one inspector in the various boards of election
inspectors in the province, except in the municipalities of BaJete and
Kalibo. The party states that it is content with this arrangement, but
joins the Nacionalista Consolidado Belo faction and the Democrata Pro
Villareal faction in vigorously protesting against the right of the
Partido Nacionalista Guerra Patriotica to be granted election
inspectors. This brings us to a discussion of the status of the
organization which is referred to.
Just before the last general elections in 1931, Jose Altavas for
the bloque Guerra Patriotica instituted an action in this court against
the municipal council of Pansy, Capiz, to obtain recognition for his
bloque (G. R. No. 35166, promulgated March 26, 1931, not reported). In
a well written decision prepared by Mr. Justice Villaraor, Mr. Altavas’
petition was denied. If the views expressed therein now hold good, the
Partido Nacionalista Guerra Patriotica, as the successor of the bloque
Guerra Patriotica, must meet a similar fate. On the other hand, if, as
found by the trial judge, conditions have changed, the party has rights
which the courts1 should protect. A correct solution of this problem,
we have to admit, has bothered us more than any other question involved
in these proceedings.
Our final determination has been to follow along the same line of
liberal thought, which has influenced our views in other connections.
Conditions in 1934 with reference to this bloque or party are different
than they were in 1931. The bloque or party has been reorganized. The
statistics show that it received respectable support in the last
general elections in all the municipalities of Capiz, and in one
municipality at least was in the majority. It may well be that Jose
Altavas, the organizer of the bloque or party and now in control of the
organization of the Partido Nacionalista Consolidado has been guilty of
perpetrating an election trick so that through two parties he can
obtain control of the election machinery, but we have Mr. Altavas’
denial of this accusation, and even if true we have to respect the
votes given by the electorate for the Partido Nacionalista Guerra
Patriotica. With some hesitation we have decided to adhere to the views
expressed by the trial judge and to accord recognition to the Partido
Nacionalista Guerra Patriotica.
Wherefore, the third error assigned by Antonio Belo and the first
error assigned by Cornelio T. Villareal and the opposition interposed
by Rafael Acunia must be overruled.
As is readily apparent, the correct decision of these cases
presented difficulties to the trial judge and similar perplexities to
this court. Nevertheless this can be said of the decision of the trial
court and of the result: The absolute control of the election machinery
attempted to be obtained by the so-called Pros in seventeen
municipalities of Capiz will be broken, and the monopoly attempted to
be secured by the so-called Antis in five municipalities of Capiz will
be thwarted, and both the groups which are currently referred to as
Antis and Pros will have election inspectors in all the municipalities
in Capiz, the Antis being in the majority in twenty-one municipalities,
and the Pros in six municipalities. In these days of trial when the
destinies of a people are at stake, if the election inspectors,
irrespective of party affiliation are imbued with the sole purpose of
performing their lawful duties efficiently and fairly, we may all
entertain the expectation that a clean election will be held and that
the will of the majority will be given expression.
Judgments affirmed, the costs of this instance to be paid proportionately by the appellants.
Villa-Real, Hull, Imperial, and Goddard, JJ., concur.