Will of the people

By Atty. Rolex T. Suplico

This case – ROGELIO M. TORAYNO, ET AL., Petitioners, versus COMELEC and VICENTE Y. EMANO, Respondents, (G. R. No. 137329; Aug. 9, 2000) –  involved one of the political giants of Cagayan de Oro (CDO) City, Vicente “Donkoy” Emano (1943-2019). This came about because Gov. Emano wanted to run for CDO Mayor during the last days of his third and final term as Governor of Misamis Oriental.  Justice Artemio Panganiban wrote the decision for the Court en banc.

In 1995, Emano ran and won his third and final term as Governor of Misamis Oriental. In 1997, while still Governor, he “executed a Voter Registration Record in Cagayan de Oro City (geographically located in the Province of Misamis Oriental), a highly urbanized city, in which he claimed 20 years of residence. On March 25, 1998, he filed his Certificate of Candidacy for mayor of the city, stating therein that his residence for the preceding two years and five months was at 1409 San Jose Street, Capistrano Subdivision, Gusa, Cagayan de Oro City.“

On May 15, 1998, the petitioners, “all residents of Cagayan de Oro City, filed a Petition before the Comelec, docketed as SPA No. 98-298, in which they sought the disqualification of Emano as mayoral candidate, on the ground that he had allegedly failed to meet the one-year residence requirement. Prior to the resolution of their Petition, the Comelec proclaimed private respondent as the duly elected city mayor.”

On May 29, 1998, they “filed another Petition before the Comelec, this time for quo warranto in which they sought (1) the annulment of the election of private respondent; and (2) the proclamation of Erasmo B. Damasing, who had garnered the next highest number of votes, as the duly elected mayor of the city.” 

On July 14, 1998, the Comelec First Division denied the Petition for Disqualification. After two cases were consolidated, the Comelec en banc upheld the findings of its First Division, which held that “[t]he records clearly show that the respondent is an actual resident of Cagayan de Oro City for such a period of time necessary to qualify him to run for mayor therein. This fact is clearly established by the respondent having a house in the city which has been existing therein since 1973 and where his family has been living since then.” 

Aggrieved, the petitioners filed this petition for certiorari under Rule 65 of the Rules of Court with the Supreme Court.

Petitioners sought answers to 2 questions: “(1) whether private respondent had duly established his residence in Cagayan de Oro City at least one year prior to the May 11, 1998 elections to qualify him to run for the mayorship thereof; and (2) if not, whether Erasmo Damasing, the candidate who had received the second highest number of votes, should be proclaimed mayor of the city.”

The Supreme Court stated that the petiton has no merit.

It said that the appicable provision is Section 39 of the Local Government Code (LGC) of 1991, which provides that:

“SEC. 39. Qualifications. – (a) An elective local official must be a citizen of the Philippines; a registered voter in the barangay, municipality, city, or province x x x where he intends to be elected; a resident therein for at least one (1) year immediately preceding the day of the election; and able to read and write Filipino or any other local language or dialect.” 

The purpose of the law, the Court said, is to prevent the possibility of a “stranger or newcomer unacquainted with the conditions and needs of a community and not identified with the latter from [seeking] an elective office to serve that community.”

The Court noted that “the Comelec found that private respondent and his family had actually been residing in Capistrano Subdivision, Gusa, Cagayan de Oro City, in a house he had bought in 1973. Furthermore, during the three terms (1988-1998) that he was governor of Misamis Oriental, he physically lived in that city, where the seat of the provincial government was located. In June 1997, he also registered as voter of the same city. Based on our ruling in Mamba-Perez (G. R. No. 133944; Oct. 28, 1999), these facts indubitably prove that Vicente Y. Emano was a resident of Cagayan de Oro City for a period of time sufficient to qualify him to run for public office therein. Moreover, the Comelec did not find any bad faith on the part of Emano in his choice of residence.”

It further noted that Emano “was actually and physically residing in Cagayan de Oro City while discharging his duties as governor of Misamis Oriental. He owned a house in the city and resided there together with his family. He even paid his 1998 community tax and registered as a voter therein. To all intents and purposes of the Constitution and the law, he is a resident of Cagayan de Oro City and eligible to run for mayor thereof. x x x. On the basis, however, of the facts proven before the Comelec, we hold that he has satisfied the residence qualification required by law for the mayorship of the city.”

It then concluded that “the the actual, physical and personal presence of herein private respondent in Cagayan de Oro City is substantial enough to show his intention to fulfill the duties of mayor and for the voters to evaluate his qualifications for the mayorship. Petitioners’ very legalistic, academic and technical approach to the residence requirement does not satisfy this simple, practical and common-sense rationale for the residence requirement.”

Before it dismissed the petition, the Court then stated that:

“There is no question that private respondent was the overwhelming choice of the people of Cagayan de Oro City. He won by a margin of about 30,000 votes. Thus, we find it apt to reiterate the principle that the manifest will of the people as expressed through the ballot must be given fullest effect. In case of doubt, political laws must be interpreted to give life and spirit to the popular mandate.”