THE Supreme Court yesterday junked the petition filed by Pryde Henry Teves, whose proclamation as governor of Negros Oriental was annulled by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the Special Board of Canvassers, questioning the crediting of votes of nuisance bet Grego Gaudia Degamo, who used the name “Ruel Degamo” in the ballots, to his rival Roel Degamo.
The decision was reached by the magistrates during their regular en banc session Tuesday.
In its decision, the High Court said the Comelec did not commit grave abuse of discretion in issuing its resolution dated September 1, 2022 affirming the resolution of the poll body’s Second Division declaring “Ruel” Degamo as a nuisance candidate in the May 2022 elections.
Subsequently, the proclamation of Teves as the provincial governor was annulled and the votes obtained by “Ruel” Degamo was credited in favor of Roel Degamo.
The SC ruled that a close examination of the documents detailing the list of candidates for governor in the province of Negros Oriental showed the similarity between the names Roel and Ruel Degamo.
“From the Certified List of Voters and the Official Ballot, it can be observed that there is a noticeable likeness to the name of candidates ‘Roel Degamo’ and ‘Ruel Degamo.’ First, their names are only distinguishable by one vowel as the incumbent uses the letter “O” while the independent candidate uses the letter “U”,” it said.
Secondly, it added, that the name “Roel” and the nickname “Ruel” have similar pronunciation. Likewise, the two candidates used Degamo as their surnames.
Citing the similarity in the circumstance in the case of Zapanta vs Comelec, the SC held that the only way to distinguish “Roel” and “Ruel” is their number on the ballot and their political affiliations.
Further, as observed by the Comelec Second Division, it said, it was only for the 2022 elections that Grego Gaudia Degamo used “Ruel Degamo” as he was known as Grego and merely used the nickname “Ruel” recently.
The SC added that he also used the surname of those who has taken custody of him even though he was not legally adopted by them.
The Court further held that while Teves was the winning candidate for the gubernatorial position in Negros Oriental in the 2022 polls, his status in the petition filed by Roel Degamo before the poll body to declare Grego “Ruel” Degamo as a nuisance candidate, was that of an observer.
Hence, even if he was not impleaded in the petition filed by Roel against Ruel the “same will not amount to a violation of his right to due process.”
“Moreso, the number of votes he has garnered will remain the same, with the Comelec proceeding merely on the appreciation of the votes cast by the voters and determine whether all of the votes obtained by the declared nuisance candidate will have to be credited in favor of the declared real candidate,” the SC added.
Based on the official results, Roel Degamo got the highest number of votes in the gubernatorial race with 331,726, followed by Teves with 301,319, and Doc Mark Macias with 45,454. Ruel Degamo on the other hand got 49,039 votes.
