THE Supreme Court has granted the plea of the Duterte Youth party list against the substitution of former Commission on Elections commissioner Rowena Guanzon as the first nominee of the P3PWD party list that won a seat in the 2022 elections.
In a decision promulgated last August 20, the High Court, through Associate Justice Ricardo Rosario, declared as “null and void” Comelec Resolution No.22-0774 which allowed the substitution of Guanzon.
In its ruling, the poll body ruled that the resolution was issued with grave abuse of discretion, saying it was carried out beyond the deadline set by the Comelec for the substitution of nominees for party lists.
As a result, the temporary restraining order issued by the SC on June 29, 2022 has been made permanent.
“Respondent P3PWD Party-list is directed to submit additional nominees pursuant to Section 16 of Republic Act No. 7941 but is strictly enjoined from renominating for the duration of the Nineteenth Congress the nominees whose substitutions were declared null and void by this Decision, namely Ma. Rowena Amelia V. Guanzon, Rosalie J. Garcia, Cherrie B. Belmonte-Lim, Donnabel C. Tenorio, and Rodolfo B. Villar, Jr.,” the SC ruling held.
“The decision is immediately executory,” it added.
The SC also noted the pattern of arbitrariness and whimsicality in the way the Comelec commissioners approved the substitution of the nominees of the P3PWD party list.
“Rather than promoting free, orderly, and honest elections, the Comelec en banc shamelessly allowed itself to be used as a tool in perpetuating a scheme,” the ruling added.
In the same ruling, the SC junked for lack of merit and for being procedurally defective the exchange of indirect contempt cases between Guanzon and Duterte youth.
“The power to punish for contempt serves to preserve the integrity and dignity of the Court and ensure the effectiveness of the administration of justice. However, as declared by Justice Malcolm, this power ‘should be exercised on the preservative and not on the vindictive principle,’” the SC explained.
