Tuesday, October 30, 2007 RTCs told to stay open during yesterday’s polls
SELECTED Regional Trial Courts (RTC) in Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu Cities were ordered to remain open yesterday to accept election-related complaints.
RTC Branches 11, 18 and 19 of Cebu City, presided over by Judges Ramon Daomilas Jr., Gilbert Moises and Ramon Codilla, together with Branch 27 of Lapu-Lapu City and Branch 55 of Mandaue City, headed by Judges Toribio Quiwag and Marilyn Yap, respectively, were previously designated as Special Election Courts under Administrative Order 54-2007 signed by Chief Justice Reynato Puno.
The courts, based on the administrative order, has “exclusive original jurisdiction to try and decide election protests and petitions” in accordance with Administrative Matter 07-4-15-SC or the Supreme Court’s new Rules of Procedure in Election Contests.
Preference
Under the rules, judges have 30 days to issue a ruling as election related cases have preference over all other proceedings except for petitions for habeas corpus.
Election-related cases include election protests, which may include a revision of ballots and petitions for quo warranto.
An election protest is any complaint that is grounded on fraud or irregularity in the conduct of the elections, the casting and counting of the ballots and the preparation and canvassing of the results. It attempts to determine who actually won.
A revision of ballots, meanwhile, seeks a recount of the ballots and involves the physical counting and segregation for the ballots of the protestant, the protestee and other candidates.
The petition for quo warranto, in turn, is a pleading submitted in line with the Omnibus Election Code that asks the court to determine if the proclaimed winning candidate is qualified for a post being occupied.
Registered voter
Based on the rules, any offended party in the same poll may file an election case directly with the proper court.
The petition for quo warranto, for its part, may be filed by any registered voter who voted in the election concerned.
Both must be filed within 10 days from the date of proclamation.
According to the rules, a Commission on Elections (Comelec) ruling, either in division or en banc, in a disqualification case will not bar the filing of a quo warranto petition unless the ruling has already been affirmed by the High Tribunal.
The designated election court may summarily dismiss any election protest, counter-protest or quo warranto petition if it determines that it has no jurisdiction over the subject matter, if the petition is insufficient in form or substance, if it was filed outside the given period or if docket fees haven’t been settled. (KNR)
