G.R. No. 136191 - JESUS O. TYPOCO, JR., VS. COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS (COMELEC) EN BANC, AND JESUS EMMANUEL PIMENTEL.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE, the Commission hereby DISMISSES the petition in each of the above cases, for lack of merit." [3] Hence, the instant petition on the grounds that the COMELEC En Banc gravely abused its discretion as follows: 1. in holding that the grounds cited by TYPOCO do not fall under any of the instances enumerated in Section 6 of the Omnibus Election Code; 2. in refusing to annul the election or the election results or to declare a failure of election despite the fact that massive fraud and irregularities attended the preparation of the election returns; 3. in failing to proclaim TYPOCO as the winning candidate for Governor; 4. in failing to annul the proclamation of PIMENTEL which is null and void from the beginning; 5. in ruling that an election protest is the proper remedy and not an annulment of the election or election results and/or declaration of failure of elections. [4] Simply stated, did the COMELEC commit grave abuse of discretion in not declaring a failure of elections for the position of Governor in Camarines Norte in the May 11, 1998 elections? In a Manifestation and Motion (In Lieu of Comment) filed by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), the latter joins TYPOCO's prayer for affirmative relief. The OSG explains thus: "13. The petition a quo (SPA No. 98-413) specifically prayed for annulment of election returns and/or election results in the protested precincts where massive fraud and irregularities were allegedly committed in the preparation of the election returns which, upon technical examination of their authentic copies, were found to have been prepared in groups by one person (Petition, Annex A, p.2). 14. On this score, it should be stressed that election returns are prepared separately and independently by the Board of Election Inspectors assigned in each and every precinct. Hence, uniformity in the handwritten entries in the election returns emanating from different electoral precincts, as in this case speaks only of one thing --- THE ELECTION RETURNS WERE FABRICATED OR TAMPERED WITH. Here, the COMELEC itself, through its own Voters' Identification Department, certified that out of the 305 election returns in the 12 municipalities of Camarines Norte, 278 or 91.14% thereof were found to have been written by one person which fact lucidly speaks of "massive fraud" in the preparation of election returns. 15. Precisely, massive fraud committed after the voting and during the preparation of the election returns resulting in a failure to elect, is a ground for annulment of election under Section 6 of the Omnibus Election Code. As such therefore, the case at bar falls within the jurisdiction of COMELEC. x x x x x x x x x. 18. At any rate, there is merit to petitioner's claim that the votes in the subject election returns, if correctly appreciated, will materially affect the results of the election for Governor, i.e., TYPOCO PIMENTEL Votes per PBC Canvass 53,454 64,358 Less: Votes obtained from Fraudulent Returns 11,253 27,060 D