April 2016 - Philippine Supreme Court Decisions/Resolutions
Philippine Supreme Court Jurisprudence
G.R. No. 210273, April 19, 2016 - BIBIANO C. RIVERA AND LUIS K. LOKIN, JR., Petitioners, v. COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS (COMELEC), THE SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SHERWIN N. TUGNA AND CINCHONA C. CRUZ-GONZALES, Respondents.; G.R. NO. 213069 - CITIZENS' BATTLE AGAINST CORRUPTION (CIBAC) FOUNDATION AS REPRESENTED BY JESUS EMMANUEL L. VARGAS, Petitioner, v. CIBAC NATIONAL COUNCIL AS REPRESENTED BY EMMANUEL JOEL VILLANUEVA, AND THE COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS (COMELEC), Respondents.
EN BANC
G.R. No. 210273, April 19, 2016
BIBIANO C. RIVERA AND LUIS K. LOKIN, JR., Petitioners, v. COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS (COMELEC), THE SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SHERWIN N. TUGNA AND CINCHONA C. CRUZ-GONZALES, Respondents.
G.R. NO. 213069
CITIZENS' BATTLE AGAINST CORRUPTION (CIBAC) FOUNDATION AS REPRESENTED BY JESUS EMMANUEL L. VARGAS, Petitioner, v. CIBAC NATIONAL COUNCIL AS REPRESENTED BY EMMANUEL JOEL VILLANUEVA, AND THE COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS (COMELEC), Respondents.
D E C I S I O N
REYES, J.:
Before the Court are two petitions assailing the legitimacy of Citizens' Battle Against Corruption (CIBAC) Party-List's representation. One is a petition for certiorari1 under Rule 64 in relation to Rule 65 of the Rules of Court, docketed as G.R. No. 210273, filed by Bibiano C. Rivera (Rivera) and Luis K. Lokin, Jr. (Luis), alleged lawful nominees of the CIBAC Party-List, against the Commission on Elections (COMELEC). The second is a petition for quo warranto2 under Rule 66 of the Rules of Court, docketed as G.R. No. 213069, filed by CIBAC Foundation, Inc. against the CIBAC National Council and COMELEC. Upon the recommendation of the Clerk of Court en banc in its Memorandum3 dated February 15, 2016, the Court in a Resolution dated February 23, 2016 resolved to consolidate4 the petitions.
On February 10, 2001, CIBAC was registered as a multi-sectoral party with the COMELEC under Republic Act (R.A.) No. 7941, otherwise known as the Party-List System Act.5
On April 18, 2012, Emmanuel Joel J. Villanueva (Villanueva), CIBAC National Council's Chairman and President, submitted to COMELEC a "Manifestation of Intent to Participate in the Party-List System of Representation in the May 13, 2013 Elections" as well as a "Certificate of Nomination" containing the following nominees to represent CIBAC in the House of Representatives:6
- Sherwin N. Tugna
- Cinchona C. Cruz-Gonzales
- Armi Jane R. Borje
- Virginia S. Jose, and
- Stanley Clyde C. Flores
On May 31, 2012, CIBAC Foundation, headed by Maria Blanca Kim Bernardo-Lokin (Maria Blanca), who claimed to be CIBAC's President, also submitted a "Manifestation of Intent to Participate in the Party-List System of Representation in the May 13, 2013 Elections"7 and a "Certificate of Nomination"8 of the following persons as CIBAC's nominees:
- Luis K. Lokin, Jr.
- Bibiano C. Rivera, Jr.
- Antonio P. Manahan, Jr.
- Teresita F. Planas, and
- Jesus Emmanuel L. Vargas
On September 3, 2012, the COMELEC conducted a summary hearing, pursuant to its Resolution No. 9513 dated August 2, 2012, to settle the issue of whose nominees should represent CIBAC in the 2013 elections.9 Villanueva's group filed a Motion for Clarificatory Judgment,10 dated April 30, 2013, claiming that Maria Blanca was neither CIBAC's President nor a member of its National Council; and that it was CIBAC National Council which, on March 28, 2012, resolved to authorize its President or Secretary-General to sign and submit all necessary documents to signify its participation in the May 2013 elections.11
Maria Blanca's group filed its Comment/Opposition12 on May 29, 2013, insisting that: (1) CIBAC National Council has been superseded by the Board of Trustees (BOT) of the CIBAC Foundation, following the latter's registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as a non-stock foundation in 2003; (2) since CIBAC National Council is now non-existent, CIBAC's true and legitimate President who has been duly authorized by its BOT to file its Certificate of Nomination for the May 2013 elections is Maria Blanca and not Villanueva; and (3) Pia B. Derla (Derla), CIBAC's Secretary-General, was duly authorized to file the Manifestation of Intent to Participate in the Party-List System of Representation in the May 2013 elections.
On June 5, 2013, CIBAC was proclaimed as one of the winning party-list groups in the May 2013 elections and was given two seats in the House of Representatives.13 Consequently, CIBAC National Council nominees Sherwin N. Tugna14 (Tugna) and Cinchona C. Cruz-Gonzales15 (Gonzales) were sworn in by House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, Jr. as party-list members of the House of Representatives representing CIBAC.
In the meantime, the COMELEC issued the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC) Resolution No. 0011-1316 dated June 5, 2013 recognizing as CIBAC's nominees those names listed in its Certificate of Nomination dated April 18, 2012, without expressly resolving Villanueva's clarificatory motion. Thereafter, the COMELEC issued, on July 10, 2013, the second assailed NBOC Resolution No. 0013-1317 ruling as moot the "Manifestation and Motion for Proclamation as First Nominee of CIBAC" filed by Luis.
On December 20, 2013, Rivera and Luis filed a petition for certiorari,18 docketed as G.R. No. 210273, seeking to nullify the assailed COMELEC resolutions. They claimed that they were served a certified copy of NBOC Resolution No. 0011-13 only on November 21, 2013, after they had requested the COMELEC for a copy thereof on November 14 2013.
Rivera and Luis argued that: (1) the registration of CIBAC with the SEC as CIBAC Foundation was precisely intended to forestall questions raised in the past as to its qualification to participate in the party-list election as a multi-sectoral party;19 (2) CIBAC National Council has become "defunct", having been replaced by the BOT of CIBAC Foundation since its registration with the SEC in 2003;20 (3) pursuant to Section 6(7) of R.A. No. 7941, CIBAC National Council has lost its authority to represent CIBAC in the COMELEC;21 and (4) it was, in fact, the SEC-registered CIBAC which had been participating in the 2004 and 2007 party-list elections, and not the CIBAC National Council.22
To support their petition, Rivera and Luis invoke the consolidated cases of Lokin, Jr. v. COMELEC, et al.23 (consolidated Lokin case), where the Court annulled the proclamation of Gonzales, nominated by Villanueva's group as a CIBAC party-list representative in the 15th Congress, and ordered the proclamation of Luis as its legitimate second nominee. They also cited the case of Amoves v. House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal, et al.,24 where the Court declared that Villanueva, CIBAC National Council's President, was ineligible to hold office as a member of the House of Representatives representing the CIBAC Party-list.
Thus, Rivera and Luis sought to nullify the following resolutions of the COMELEC en banc in connection with the May 2013 elections:
- NBOC Resolution No. 0011-1325 dated June 5, 2013, ordering the issuance of a Certificate of Canvass and Proclamation to the CIBAC Party-List, and recognizing its legitimate nominees as follows:
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