G.R. No. 145802 - DOMINADOR T. BELAC, VS. COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS AND ROMMEL DIASEN.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

Wherefore, premises considered, the appeal is hereby dismissed for lack of merit. The rulings of the Provincial Board of Canvassers on the petition for exclusion of Certificate of Canvass and Statement of Votes are hereby affirmed. The Provincial Board of Canvassers for Kalinga is hereby directed to reconvene and continue with the canvassing with reasonable dispatch and proclaim the winning candidate if the votes from the four precincts of Tinglayan, Kalinga where there was failure of elections would not materially affect the results of the election. "Considering that the records of the case show that additions in the COCs and SOVs of Pinukpuk for the votes of gubernatorial candidate Dominador Belac were made, the Law Department is directed to conduct a preliminary investigation for the commission of an election offense against the members of the Municipal Board of Canvassers of Pinukpuk, Kalinga. "The Law Department is similarly directed to conduct an immediate investigation on the possible commission of electoral fraud as alluded to in the ultimate paragraph before the herein dispositive portion. The Election Officer of Pinukpuk is directed immediately to cause the transfer of the Book of Voters for the 69 precincts of Pinukpuk to the Comelec Main Office [c/o Law Department] for this purpose." On June 19, 1998, Diasen filed a motion for reconsideration of the above Resolution which was elevated to the COMELEC en banc . While the said motion was pending resolution in the COMELEC en banc , the Chairman of the Provincial Board of Canvassers, Atty. Nicasio Aliping, convened the Board by calling the two other members in order to proclaim Belac as the new governor. But the two members declined, so only Atty. Aliping proceeded with Belac's proclamation. On June 28, 1998, Diasen filed with the COMELEC a separate petition (SPC No. 98-291) to dispute the proclamation of Belac. Meanwhile, on February 22, 2000, or almost two years after the filing of Diasen's motion for reconsideration on June 19, 1998, the COMELEC en banc promulgated the first assailed Resolution modifying the ruling of the First Division, thus: "WHEREFORE, premises considered, the resolution of the Commission (First Division) subject of the instant Motion for Reconsideration is hereby modified as follows: "1) The Provincial Board of Canvassers for Kalinga is hereby directed to proceed with the canvassing of votes for the office of the provincial governor deducting from the Certificates of Canvass of the Municipalities of Tinglayan and Pinukpuk the votes reflected on the election returns from the above-excluded precincts and thereafter proclaim the winning candidate for governor; "2) The directive to the Law Department to conduct appropriate investigations is affirmed with the modification, however, that the Board of Election Inspectors concerned for the municipalities of Pinukpuk and Tinglayan, as well as John Does, be likewise investigated for possible collusion in the commission of the