SC annuls proclamation of Romeo Jalosjos Jr as Zamboanga del Norte 1st district rep

The Supreme Court has annulled the proclamation of reelectionist Romeo Jalosjos Jr. and directed the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to proclaim Roberto “Pinpin” Uy Jr. as representative of the first district of Zamboanga del Norte in Congress.

According to a statement by the SC Public Information Office (PIO), the high court, during its En Banc deliberations on Tuesday, set aside the Comelec En Banc’s order dated May 2022 and resolution dated June 2022 for being issued with grave abuse of discretion.

Jalosjos, who was proclaimed by the Comelec as the winning congressional candidate in June last year, originally placed second behind Uy with 69,109 votes, but the Comelec decided to “legally pass” 5,424 votes obtained by Frederico Jalosjos (F. Jalosjos), who was earlier declared a nuisance candidate.

Due to this, Jalosjos got a total of 74,533 votes, winning over Uy by 4,942 votes.

Sought for comment, Comelec chairman George Garcia said he took no part in the resolution but that the Comelec "will always abide by the SC decision."

"That is why it is our commitment that from now on, all nuisance cases will be resolved before the election in manual elections or before the printing of the ballots in automated elections to avoid this situation," he told reporters.

Timeline

In November 2021, Jalosjos filed a petition to declare F. Jalosjos as a nuisance candidate and to cancel his certificate of candidacy.

The Comelec declared F. Jalosjos a nuisance candidate in April 2022, which F. Jalosjos challenged through a motion for reconsideration.

Following this, Uy won the May 9, 2022 elections with 69,591 votes.

However, Jalosjos filed a motion the following day to suspend Uy’s proclamation, claiming that he won since F. Jalosjos’ votes must be credited to him since F. Jalosjos has been declared a nuisance candidate.

On May 12, 2022, the Provincial Board of Canvassers (PBOC) resolved to suspend Uy’s proclamation after receipt of an advance copy of a Comelec En Banc order directing the suspension.

Due to this, Uy filed a petition and argued before the SC that the PBOC has the ministerial duty to proclaim the candidate with the highest vote.

F. Jalosjos also filed a petition before the SC after his motion for reconsideration was denied by the Comelec for being filed out of time.

The case

In granting the petitions, the Supreme Court said that public policy dictates that candidates receiving the highest votes should be proclaimed without unnecessary delay.

The court also said that the proclamation of a winning candidate is not a matter in which the Comelec can dispose of moto propio.

“In Uy’s case, the COMELEC, motu proprio, ordered the suspension of his proclamation even though the PBOC had clear basis to proclaim Uy as the winning candidate, having garnered the highest number of votes,” the SC PIO said in a statement.

“The Court also noted there were several irregularities in the COMELEC En Banc’s suspension order, with the copy sent by electronic mail to the PBOC in advance, undated, and lacking the complete signatures of the COMELEC members as well as a certification and a notice signed by the COMELEC’s Clerk of Court,” it added.

The Supreme Court further said it found it irregular that the Comelec chairperson intervened in the proclamation by calling directly the chairperson of the Provincial Board of Canvassers to confirm the authenticity of the suspension order.

According to the court, the suspension order issued by the Comelec was based on the “bare allegations” of Jalosjos.

Meanwhile, the Court also ruled in favor of Frederico Jalosjos on whether he is a nuisance candidate.

It said that despite similarities, the striking difference in the names of “Jalosjos, Kuya Jan (NUP)” and “Jalosjos, Jr., Romeo (NP)” on the ballots is more than enough to distinguish the entries.

The court further said that Comelec should not have denied F. Jalosjos’ motion for reconsideration for being filed an hour and a half past the deadline.

“The Court said that the circumstances of F. Jalosjos’ case merit the liberal application of the rules in the interest of substantial justice, since the issue of whether F. Jalosjos is a nuisance candidate is determinative not only of the proper treatment of his votes but also as to the outcome of the elections,” the SC PIO said. —KBK, GMA Integrated News