Pimentel v. Commission On Elections

JR., J.:

Before Us is a petition for certiorari under Rule 65 seeking the invalidation of the Resolutions, dated January 8, 19981 and March 10, 19982, issued by public respondent Commission on Elections (COMELEC) dismissing, for lack of probable cause, petitioner Aquilino Pimentel's complaint3 against private respondents Atty. Ligaya Salayon and Antonio Llorente, Chairman and Vice-Chairman, respectively, of the City Board of Canvassers for Pasig City, and Reynaldo San Juan, Campaign Manager of senatorial candidate Juan Ponce Enrile, for decreasing petitioner's votes in the Statement of Votes (SoVs) per precinct and in the City Certificate of Canvass (CoC)4 for Pasig City. The following facts are not in dispute: On May 8, 1995, petitioner ran in the national elections as a candidate for senator. Among others, Anna Dominique M. Coseteng, Juan Ponce Enrile, Marcelo B. Fernan, Gregorio Honasan, Ramon V. Mitra; and Rodolfo G. Biazon also ran as senatorial candidates.

Based on the election returns from all the precincts in Pasig City, the total votes5 garnered by petitioner and the other abovementioned candidates are as follows: Biazon 86,068 Coseteng 66,498 Enrile 54,396 Fernan 69,910 Honasan 60,974 Mitra 55,823 Pimentel 72,377 Said election returns were turned over to the City Board of Canvassers of Pasig City for canvassing. The Certificate of Canvass (CoC) for Pasig City showed the same aforementioned candidates to have each garnered a different number of votes, viz.: Biazon 83,731 Coseteng 54,126 Enrile 91,798 Fernan 69,712 Honasan 62,159 Mitra 56,097 Pimentel 68,040 Said CoC was certified as to the correctness of the entries made therein, by private respondents Salayon and Llorente who signed the same6 and affixed their thumbmarks7 thereto. The same private respondents, in their capacity as Chairman and Vice-Chairman of said board, prepared the Statement of Votes (SoVs) for every precinct in Pasig City.

Likewise, they certified as to the correctness of the entries made in the SoVs by signing the same and affixing their thumbmarks thereto. When totalled, the votes reflected in said SoVs as having been garnered by the same candidates above, add to a yet different result, viz.: Biazon 87,214 Coseteng 67,573 Enrile 90,161 Fernan 72,031 Honasan 62,077 Mitra 56,737 Pimentel 67,936 In sum, the total votes garnered by said candidates as recorded in the election returns, the CoC, and the SoVs for Pasig City, are as follows: Candidates Election Returns Certificate of Canvass Statement of Votes Biazon 86,068 83,731 87,214 Coseteng 66,498 54,126 67,573 Enrile 54,396 91,798 90,161 Fernan 69,910 69,712 72,031 Honasan 60,974 62,159 62,077 Mitra 55,823 56,097 56,737 Pimentel 72,377 68,040 67,936 Based on the election returns, the following increase or decrease in the total number of votes garnered by said candidates is evident: Candidates Election Returns Certificate of Canvass Increase/Decrease Statement of Votes Increase/Decrease Biazon 86,068 83,731 -2,337 87,214 +1,146 Coseteng 66,498 54,126 -12,372 67,573 +1,075 Enrile 54,396 91,798 +37,402 90,161 +35,765 Fernan 69,910 69,712 -198 72,031 +2,121 Honasan 60,974 62,159 +1,185 62,077 +1,103 Mitra 55,823 56,097 +274 56,737 +914 Pimentel 72,377 68,040 -4,337 67,936 -4,441 Significantly, the total number of votes for senatorial candidate Enrile showed a substantial increase of 35,765 while that for petitioner showed a substantial decrease of 4,337 in the CoC and 4,441 in the SoVs.

The same pattern was revealed in the way the number of Enrile votes per precinct in some 101 precincts in Pasig City exceeded the total number of voters who actually voted in the May 8, 1995 elections.

Only 9,031 voters actually voted, as recorded in the SoVs of said precincts, but the Enrile votes totalled 11,255, broken down as follows: SOV Number Precinct Number No. of Voters Who Voted Enrile votes appearing in SOV 14336 401 100 115 14336 403-A 74 90 14336 402-A 81 90 14336 400 87 98 14338 273-A 11 15 14338 268-B-1 7 15 14340 56 114 120 14340 46 136 150 14340 503-A-1 70 96 14340 391-B 80 101 14342 311-A 105 140 14342 299 107 122 14342 296 107 170 14342 294-B 115 183 14342 339-A 59 142 14342 351-A 82 142 14384 290-A-1 33 40 14384 495-A 82 98 14384 290-D-1 84 95 14384 385-A-1 86 92 14384 293 98 99 14424 324-A 116 147 14424 323-A 121 140 14424 326-A 90 91 14426 114 104 127 14426 130 107 145 14426 125 108 149 14426 442-B 108 151 14426 129-A 115 155 14426 131-A 120 139 14426 440-A 122 138 14426 101-A 141 144 14426 137 144 145 14426 123 146 152 14428 46-A-D-1 28 88 14428 493-A 103 119 14428 457 121 125 14428 384-A 65 76 14428 286 68 71 14428 378-A 72 79 14428 288-A-D-1 92 105 14428 291-B 97 190 14430 191-A-1 27 91 14430 273-B-1 103 110 14430 223 105 111 14430 270 108 110 14430 267 11 20 14430 264-A 119 120 14430 263 67 70 14430 221-A 84 95 14430 224-A 89 94 14430 273-A-D-1 94 102 14430 271 96 100 22793 432-A 67 84 22831 495-A-1 113 125 22833 50-A 121 124 22835 465-B 105 125 22835 465 109 132 22835 452-B 115 121 22835 382-B 84 101 22835 471-A-1 91 99 22841 397-A 165 180 22841 350-A 97 125 22841 466-A 160 165 22843 290-A 62 80 22845 379-A-D-1 42 120 22845 380-A-1 110 118 22845 292-A-1 120 128 22845 384 43 55 22845 288-D-1 45 90 22845 287-B 64 69 22845 381-D-1 69 92 22845 382-A 75 85 22845 492-A 77 134 22845 286-B 78 90 22845 378-A 84 140 22845 382-A-1 90 98 22845 377 93 98 22911 63-A-D-1 160 165 22911 367 67 111 22911 372 70 101 22911 356-A 84 98 22911 499 88 120 22948 161-A 50 89 22948 155 51 95 22948 158 59 89 22948 522 76 125 22948 167 91 127 22949 21-A-1 80 95 22949 5 96 105 5685 300 114 12 5685 320-A 69 126 5685 372-A-D-1 72 115 5685 373-A 77 99 5693 327 114 156 5693 325 114 127 5694 357 69 123 5694 360 75 133 5694 294-A 82 83 5694 341-A 89 129 5694 330-A 96 142 Total