G.R. Nos. 155560-62 - ALEEM AMERODDIN SARANGANI, VS. COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS AND MAMINTAL ADIONG.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE, the newly constituted Provincial Board of Canvassers of Lanao del Sur is hereby directed to resolve with dispatch all pending incidents left unresolved by the old board, by completing the canvass and proclaiming the winning candidates of the Province of Lanao del Sur in accordance with law." [3] On 09 July 2001, the newly constituted PBC overturned the rulings of the old board on the COCs in the municipalities of Bubong and Wao. The new PBC observed that the rulings were signed by two members of the old board but not dated and merely submitted to the Office of the Secretary of the COMELEC for promulgation. The new PBC thus decided to include the COCs from the municipalities of Wao and Bubong in the canvass which, upon completion, resulted in the proclamation of Adiong as being the duly elected governor of Lanao del Sur. Feeling aggrieved by the new ruling, Sarangani and Pangarungan filed, on 14 July 2001, separate appeals to the COMELEC. The appeals, docketed SPC No. 369 and SPC No. 370, were eventually consolidated in the Second Division of the COMELEC together with the "Urgent Petition to Annul the Proclamation of Respondent Mamintal Adiong for the Elective Position of Governor of Lanao del Sur" filed by petitioner and docketed SPC No. 373. Sarangani and Pangarungan claimed that the COCs from Wao and Bubong were manufactured and falsified that should accordingly be excluded from the canvass. On 09 November 2001, the COMELEC Second Division rendered a resolution setting aside the 09 th July 2001 order of the new PBC and reinstating the 02 nd July 2001 ruling of the previous PBC which excluded the COCs from Wao and Bubong. On 15 November 2001, Adiong filed a motion for reconsideration before the COMELEC en banc contending that the resolution, dated 09 November 2001, of the Second Division was not supported by evidence, as well as contrary to law and existing jurisprudence, and arrived at without actual examination of the COCs from Wao and Bubong. On 10 October 2002, the COMELEC en banc rendered a resolution that, in turn, annulled and set aside the questioned resolution of the Second Division; the resolution concluded: "WHEREFORE, this Commission ( en banc ) Resolved, as it hereby Resolves to Grant the instant motion for reconsideration of movant Mamintal M. Adiong and Deny the Motion for Reconsideration filed by movant Saidamen B. Pangarungan. The 09 November 2001 Resolution of the Second Division (this Commission) is hereby Annulled and Set Aside and the 09 July 2001 Rulings of the New Provincial Board of Canvassers of Lanao del Sur, including the certificates of canvass from the municipalities of Wao and Bubong, Lanao del Sur in the canvass of the 14 May 2001 election results for the position of governor of Lanao del Sur, are hereby Revived and Reinstated. Accordingly, the proclamation of herein movant Mamintal M. Adiong as the duly elected governor of the province of Lanao del Sur in the concluded 14 May 2001 elections is hereby Af