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EN BANC [G.R. No. 136587. August 30, 1999] ERNESTO BIBOT A. DOMINGO, JR., petitioner, vs. COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS and BENJAMIN BENHUR D. ABALOS, JR., respondents. DECISION GONZAGA-REYES, J.: Assailed in this special civil action for certiorari are the En Banc Resolution of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), dated December 1, 1998,[1] and the Resolution of the COMELEC FirstDivision, dated July 2, 1998,[2] in SPA No. 98-361, which dismissed, for lack of merit, the petition for disqualification filed against herein private respondent, the incumbent mayor of Mandaluyong City. In the May 11, 1998 elections, petitioner Ernesto Domingo, Jr. and private respondent Benjamin Abalos, Jr. were both mayoralty candidates of Mandaluyong City. After private respondents proclamation on May 17, 1998, petitioner filed the instant petition for disqualification, on the ground that, during the campaign period, private respondent prodded his father, then incumbent Mandaluyong City Mayor Benjamin Abalos, Sr., to give substantial allowances to public school teachers appointed as chairpersons and members of the Boards of Election Inspectors (BEIs) for Mandaluyong City. Petitioners allegations obtain from an incident on April 14, 1998, wherein, in a Pasyal-Aral outing for Mandaluyong City public school teachers in Sariaya, Quezon, then Mayor Benjamin Abalos, Sr. announced that the teachers appointed to the BEIs will each be given a hazard pay of P1,000.00 and food allowance of P500.00, in addition to the allowance of P1,500.00.[3] In the petition for disqualification filed before the COMELEC First Division, petitioner charged that private

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Domingo v. Commission on Elections

Judgment

Question Presented: Whether there was sufficient evidence to conclude that the incumbent mayor prodded potential Board of Election Inspectors for the City?

Alleged Acts: The petitioner, Ernesto Domingo, Jr. and Benjamin Abalos, Jr. served a mayoral candidates for Mandaluyong City. The petitioner filed this action because Abalos, Jr. allegedly prodded the incumbent mayor Abalos, Sr. to give substantial allowances to public school teachers that were appointed as chairpersons to the Board of Election Inspectors for the City. Specifically, the incumbent mayor would provide the school teachers with hazard pay, food allowances, and additional allowances. The petitioner alleged that these payments clearly demonstrated Abalos, Jr.’s influence over his father. The petitioner submitted a video tape of a speech from the incumbent mayor, three public school teacher affidavits, and a steamer.

Procedural history: The petitioner alleges that Abalos, Jr. violated Section 68 of the Omnibus Election Code. The Election Comission (COMELEC) dismissed these claims and admonished the petitioner for making false claims. On reconsideration, these findings were again affirmed. The petitioner alleges that the complaint was improperly dismissed because it was dismissed for lack of evidence where there was no hearing on the merits of the case.

Summary: The court determined that there was no violation of the right to due process because, precedent indicated that this merely meant the right to be heard through verbal arguments, pleadings, or similar nature. Further, the court looked to the evidence presented by the petitioner and stated that the affidavits failed to provide any evidence of knowledge on the part of Abalos, Jr., the streamer indicated a co-sponsored event was common, and that the video tape modified the nature of the speech to as to cut out the incumbent’s mayor mentioning on of another individual, not Abalos, Jr.

Conclusion: The court dismissed the petition for insufficient evidence and lack of merit. This decision affirmed the election the mayor of Mandaluyong City.

Legal Issue(s)

Civil Procedure
Electoral Integrity
EMB Independence
EMB Operation

Region: Asia-Pacific

Country: Phillippines

Language of Decision

English

Court: Trial Court

Election Type: Local

Date of decision: Dec 1, 1998

Geolocation

Latitude: 14.58001497

Longitude: 120.865012

: Geolocation

Primary Documents

Domingo v. Commission on Elections.pdf
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