THE Supreme Court has held in contempt members of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for excluding 2022 vice presidential candidate Eilson Amad from the official ballots of the May 9 elections.
The Comelec, in a December 2021 decision, upheld a division ruling declaring Amad as a nuisance candidate, but the latter elevated the case to the High Court and in January this year, managed to secure a temporary restraining order against the poll body.
Amad said the injunction should have prevented Comelec from removing his name in the official ballot.
However, the High Court’s intervention was not enough as the official ballot released by the poll body did not contain Amad’s name.
In its July 15 decision, but which was only made public on November 22, the High Court ruled against the poll body for non-compliance with its order.
“The Court finds it proper to cite the members of the Comelec in contempt for violation of the TRO, and to impose the penalty of severe reprimand,” the SC ruling penned by Associate Justice Samuel Gaerlan said.
But it did not specify who among poll commissioners at the time of the violation it was referring to.
This as the SC noted that the composition of the Comelec has changed since the issuance of the TRO and its consequent violation.
“As such, the Court clarifies that the resolution of this case only affects the Comelec and its membership who were the ones directly responsible for the TRO’s violation,” it added.
But based on the SC decision, the members of the Comelec en banc who issued the assailed January 2022 ruling were former chairman Sheriff Abas, who wrote the resolution, with Commissioners Ma. Rowena Amelia Guanzon, Socorro lnting, Marlon Casquejo, Antonio Kho Jr., and Aimee Ferolina, concurring.
Only Inting, Casquejo and Ferolina are still incumbent Comelec commissioners.
Abas has retired, while Guanzon is now a party-list representative and Kho has been appointed associate justice of the SC.
In its decision, the SC said under the Omnibus Election Code “the only grounds for which a candidate may be declared as a nuisance candidate are the following: the candidate only filed his or her certificate of candidacy to put the election process in mockery or to cause disrepute, that such candidate only filed his or her COC to cause confusion among the voters, and that there exists circumstances that clearly demonstrate that the candidate has no bona fide intention to run for office.
It said that the Comelec acted in grave abuse of discretion when it declared Amad a nuisance candidate without presenting evidence that he intended to put the election process in mockery or to cause confusion among the voters.
His being known only in Northern Mindanao is not enough evidence that he does not have the bona fide intention to run for the second highest government post in the land, the SC added.
The SC further said that while it understand the effort to avoid logistical nightmares and time constraints in the preparation of the 2022 election as its reason for the exclusion of Amad’s name in the official ballot, it is not a valid reason in the case as it said that as early as January 4, or a day after the Comelec en banc issued the order junking his motion for reconsideration, Amad availed of his statutory remedies before the Court to challenge the poll body’s decision.
“In other words, the Comelec knew from the onset, and even prior to the commencement of its pre-election activities, that Amad was challenging his being declared as a nuisance candidate; that the Court may resolve his case in his favor; and a TRO may be issued enjoining the Comelec from enforcing its Resolution dated December 13, 2021 and Order dated January 3, 2022,” the SC said.
“Acordingly, they are reprimanded for this disobedience,” the SC added.
In a statement, Comelec spokesman John Rex Laudiangco said the poll body welcomes the ruling of the High Court over the case and is accepting the decision to cite them in contempt.
“Even though there is contempt and reprimand in the decision of the Supreme Court, this ruling is wholeheartedly accepted by the Comelec, along with the reminder regarding the publication of all activities concerning the elections,” said Laudiangco.
The poll official said proof of this is the commitment of the Comelec to make the necessary reforms in its processes.
“The Comelec will immediately follow the decision of the High Court, including its subsequent decisions in other election cases,” said Laudiangco.
These, he said, include setting an early deadline for the filing of petitions for cancellation/denial of due course of certificates of candidacy, disqualification, nuisance candidates, and registration of political parties and party-list groups.
Laudiangco said they also plan to set an early deadline in resolving the said petitions filed at the Comelec.
He said they will also set a definitive date for the start of the printing of official ballots as well as other accountable and non-accountable election forms.
Lastly, Laudiangco said the Commission also commits to submit to the SC a copy of the Calendar of Activities of the Comelec relative to the conduct of the elections.
“All of these are included in the proposed reforms of Chairman George Garcia even before this decision came out,” said Laudiangco. — With Gerard Naval
