G.R. No. 182084 - LIBRADO M. CABRERA, VS. THE COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS AND MICHAEL D. MONTENEGRO.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

Accordingly, petitioner concludes, the omission of these items from his preliminary conference brief is of no moment. The Court, however, observes that these proffered excuses are contradicted by the petitioner's preliminary conference brief [17] itself, which contains the following assertions: (1) protestant is to present 22 witnesses to testify on alleged irregularities in the voting and counting in 22 precincts; [18] (2) the witnesses will further testify that votes for the protestant were not entered in the election returns; [19] and (3) protestant shall also present as documentary evidence the election returns. [20] The petitioner's commitment that he does not seek the examination, verification or re-tabulation of election returns is belied by the preliminary conference brief's statement that the protestant shall present the election returns as documentary evidence, and that he will present witnesses who will testify that the entries thereon are erroneous. Clearly, the testimonies of these witnesses will entail the examination or verification of the election returns. Likewise, the petitioner's undertaking that he does not intend to withdraw any of the protested precincts appears inconsistent with the allegation in the preliminary conference brief that protestant will present 22 witnesses (who served as watchers) to give evidence on alleged irregularities in the voting and counting in 22 precincts. Considering that there is a total of 142 [21] precincts in the locality, and in fact, the ballots in 88 precincts had already been revised by the trial court, [22] the probability is great that petitioner may have to withdraw some precincts from his protest. The Rules should not be taken lightly. The Court has painstakingly crafted A.M. No. 07-4-15-SC precisely to curb the pernicious practice of prolonging election protests, a sizable number of which, in the past, were finally resolved only when the term of office was about to expire, or worse, had already expired. These Rules were purposely adopted to provide an expeditious and inexpensive procedure for the just determination of election cases before the courts. [23] Thus, we emphasize that the preliminary conference and its governing rules are not mere technicalities which the parties may blithely ignore or trifle with. [24] They are tools meant to expedite the disposition of election cases and must, perforce, be obeyed. WHEREFORE ,premises considered, the petition for certiorari is DISMISSED . The November 20, 2007 Resolution of the Commission on Elections First Division and the March 12, 2008 Resolution of the COMELEC en banc in SPR No. 18-2007 are AFFIRMED . SO ORDERED.