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Monday, February 19, 2007
SC junks ex-senator's election protest
MANILA -- The Supreme Court (SC) has turned down a petition filed by former senator Gregorio "Gringo" Honasan questioning poll resolutions that bumped him from the 12th slot in the May 14, 2001 senatorial elections.
The SC en banc said instead of filing an election protest before the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET), Honasan chose to file a petition for certiorari before the SC nullifying the assailed resolution of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) sitting as the National Board of Canvassers (NBC).
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"The remedy which petitioner Honasan seeks does not lie with this Court. Petitioner's proper recourse was to file a regular election protest, which under the Constitution and the Omnibus Election Code exclusively pertains to the SET. There is a proper remedy for petitioner Honasan, but he refused to avail of it," the SC said.
Assailed in Honasan's petition for certiorari was Comelec Resolution NBC 01-006, declaring the final ranking of the proclaimed 13 senators in the May 14, 2001 national and local elections.
Petitioner also asked that the third paragraph of Section 1 of Comelec Resolution 4343, which promulgated the procedures in the canvass of the votes and proclamation of the results of the election for senators and party-list, be declared unconstitutionally void and of no legal force and effect.
But the magistrates claimed that Honasan failed to show that the questioned resolutions were unconstitutional, thus they remain effective.
The High Court said the question of ranking of senators is not a matter that could be solved via a petition for certiorari but through an election protest to be entertained by the SET, as stated under Section 17, Article VI of the 1987 Constitution.
The provision states that the Senate and the House of Representatives shall each have an electoral tribunal that shall be the sole judge of all contests relating to the election returns and qualifications of their respective members.
"For the actual remedy he (Honasan) seeks, which is to question his ranking in the list of duly elected senators, his recourse is clearly not to this court. Even if he finds the process unsatisfactory or too difficult, he is not at liberty to simply disregard it and carve out a new procedure according to his liking," said the SC.
The SC further claimed there was no basis in the argument of Honasan that every matter brought before any of the constitutional commissions' lesser bodies should be decided by majority vote of all their members.
"This would unduly restrict the Commission (Comelec) in their work, and hinder them in the exercise of their function. The Comelec must be distinguished from the NBC, which it created," the SC ruled.
In filing his petition, Honasan questioned the constitutionality of the rules of procedure of the NBC, but the SC said the true purpose of petitioner's suit was hinted when he said that he is "greatly affected and prejudiced by the assailed resolution as it confirms his ranking as the 13th senator, which aside from its mythical and superstitious connotations, only grants him a tenure of three years as compared to six years for the other 12 senators."
Honasan further claimed the NBC resolutions were attended with grave abuse of discretion, amounting to a lack or in excess of its jurisdiction. He, likewise, asked the SC to order the NBC to convene anew and to properly render its decision on matters deliberated in the resolutions.
Court records show that the Comelec, after the May 14, 2001 elections, resolved to promulgate Resolution 4343, setting out the procedures of the elections for senators and party-list representatives.
Section 1 provided that "the chairman and members of the Commission sitting en banc shall constitute a quorum and all questions shall be decided by a majority vote of the members present."
On June 5, 2001, the NBC issued Resolution NBC 01-005 proclaiming 13 winners in the senatorial race with Honasan at the 13th slot after garnering 10,364,272 votes, after a vacancy in the Senate was created with the appointment of then senator Teofisto Guingona Jr. as vice president of the country in February 2001.
Guingona was elected as senator in 1998. In the May 14, 2001 elections, the elected senator who ranked 13th would get a full term of six years. (ECV/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Manila. (February 19, 2007 issue)
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