FACTS: Pax Ali Mangudadatu (Pax Ali), who was then incumbent Mayor of the municipality of DAS, Maguindanao, filed his COC for Provincial Governor of Sultan Kudarat for the May 9, 2022 elections. In his COC, he indicated that his residence is Purok Garden, Tamnag, Lutayan, Sultan Kudarat.
Sharifa, another gubernatorial candidate, filed before the COMELEC, a Petition to Deny Due Course or Cancel the COC of Pax Ali claiming non-compliance with the residency requirement considering that he is the current mayor of DAS, Maguindanao. Pax Ali’s continued to perform his duties as Mayor contradicts his declaration that he is a resident of another municipality in another province. Azel and Bai Ali filed before the COMELEC a Petition to Deny Due Course or to Cancel the Certificate of Candidacy of Pax Ali, claiming Pax Ali’s misrepresentation in his COC that he had been residing in Sultan Kudarat for at least one year immediately preceding the elections.
Pax Ali, in his verified Answer to the the Sharifa Petition (and rehashed in Azel and Bai Ali Petition), claimed that (1) his domicile of origin is Purok Garden, Tamnag, Lutayan, Sultan Kudarat where he grew up in the family’s ancestral home together with family members; (2) while he temporarily transferred his residence to Barangay Talisawa, DAS, Maguindanao, in compliance with the residency requirement for the position of Mayor, he always had the inherent intention to return to his roots in Sultan Kudarat; and (3) he resigned as Mayor of DAS on November 15, 2012 as yet another evidence “ultimately showing his total abandonment of his house and occupation in Maguindanao.” Attached to the Answer were photos showing Pax Ali growing up in Sultan Kudarat and other activities thereat.
The COMELEC First Division cancelled Pax Ali Mangudadatu’s Certificate of Candidacy for Governor of Sultan Kudarat for the 09 May 2022 National and Local Elections; and held that (1) Pax Ali failed to comply with the necessary requisites for a valid transfer of residence back to his domicile of origin in Purok Garden, Barangay Tamnag, Lutayan, Sultan Kudarat; and (2) when Pax Ali filed his COC, he was the incumbent Mayor of DAS. As a continuing requirement or qualification, he must remain a resident there for the rest of his term. The fact that Pax Ali continued to faithfully discharge the functions of his office bolsters the claim that his actual residence in DAS remains. Pax Ali’s intent to remain permanently in Lutayan, Sultan Kudarat at the time he filed his COC, and to abandon his domicile in DAS, Maguindanao is negated by his constant presence in the latter.
Moreover, the COMELEC First Division found that Pax Ali deliberately committed material misrepresentation in his COC, in contravention of Secs. 74 (eligibility) and 78 (false representation on material fact) of the Omnibus Election Code (OEC). However, Commissioner Casquejo filed a dissent to the effect that Pax Ali did not lose his domicile of origin, which is Sultan Kudarat, even though the latter was elected and served as Mayor of DAS, Maguindanao. He claimed that Pax Ali presented numerous evidence proving his intention to remain in Sultan Kudarat.
The COMELEC En Banc found that Pax Ali committed false material representation under Section 78 of the OEC. Pax Ali signed his COC, and sworn to the veracity of his declarations therein, indicating that his false representations are deliberate; and will effectively mislead the electorate on his qualifications as Governor of Sultan Kudarat.
Pax Ali filed a Petition for Certiorari with Extremely Urgent Application for the Issuance of a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) or Status Quo Order arguing as it did before the COMELEC First Division; and for the Conduct of a Special Raffle of this Case. That the COMELEC En Banc (1) failed to apply prevailing jurisprudence on residency for election purposes; (2) disregarded his deep immersion in the communities in Sultan Kudarat which satisfies the rationale behind the one-year residency requirement.
The Court issued a TRO enjoining the COMELEC from enforcing its assailed Resolutions.
ISSUES:
- Whether the cancellation of Pax Ali’s COC based on false representation as to his residency qualification is proper;
- Whether Purok Garden, Tamnag, Lutayan, Sultan Kudarat remains the domicile of Pax Ali.
- Whether Pax Ali committed material representation.
- Whether the second placer in the gubernatorial election should be declared as winner.
RULING:
(1) Yes. Section 74 of the OEC requires a candidate to state under oath in his or her COC that he or she is eligible for the office he or she seeks election. If the candidate declares that he or she is eligible to run for public office when in truth he or she is not, such misrepresentation is a ground for a Section 78 petition.
In this case, Pax Ali made a false material representation in his COC when he declared that he would be a resident of Lutayan, Sultan Kudarat for one year and eight months immediately before the day of the elections. He deliberately misrepresented that he was eligible for Governor of Sultan Kudarat when in fact he was not. Thus, the COMELEC did not commit grave abuse of discretion in denying due course to or canceling Pax Ali’s COC.
(2) No. Well-settled is the rule that residence, for election purposes, is used synonymously with domicile. Domicile denotes a fixed permanent residence to which, when absent, one has the intention of returning. It could be classified into three, namely: (1) domicile of origin, which is acquired by every person at birth; (2) domicile of choice, which is acquired upon abandonment of the domicile of origin; and (3) domicile by operation of law, which the law attributes to a person independently of his residence or intention. Domicile of origin is usually the place where the child’s parents reside and continues until the same is abandoned by the acquisition of a new domicile.
Here, it is undisputed that Pax Ali’s domicile of origin is at Purok Garden, Tamnag, Lutayan, Sultan Kudarat where he was raised in his family’s ancestral home. It is also uncontroverted that Pax Ali effected a change of domicile when he ran as Municipal Mayor of DAS, Maguindanao, in 2018. Thus, per his Affidavit, Pax Ali narrated that:9. Sometime in 2018, I decided to run as Municipal Mayor of Datu Abdullah Sangki, Maguindanao, and to comply with the residency requirement set, I transferred my residence to Barangay Talisawa, Datu Abdullah Sangki, Maguindanao on (sic) April 2018.
(3) Yes. A material misrepresentation pertains to a candidate’s act done with the intention to gain an advantage by deceitfully claiming possession of all the qualifications and none of the disqualifications when, in fact, the contrary is true.
Here, Pax Ali knew at the time of the filing of his COC that he could not be a resident of Sultan Kudarat as he was the incumbent Mayor of DAS, Maguindanao. The LGC requires him to be a resident of DAS during his entire tenure. As Pax Ali stated in his Verified Answer before the COMELEC, he belongs to a long line of public servants. It is impossible for him not to know the requirements under the LGC as regards residency. To rectify the situation, he resigned as Mayor. However, this belated posturing could no longer cure his material misrepresentation.
(4) No. The rules on succession under the LGC shall apply in all cases where a permanent vacancy results from a local elective official’s disqualification from office regardless of the proceedings involved.
Section 44 of the LGC provides, “If a permanent vacancy occurs in the office of the governor or mayor, the vice-governor or vice-mayor concerned shall become the governor or mayor. If a permanent vacancy occurs in the offices of the governor, vice-governor, mayor, or vice-mayor, the highest ranking sanggunian member or, in case of his permanent inability, the second highest ranking sanggunian member, shall become the governor, vice-governor, mayor or vice-mayor, as the case may be. Subsequent vacancies in the said office shall be filled automatically by the other sanggunian members according to their ranking as defined herein. Therefore, the duly elected Vice-Governor of Sultan Kudarat in the May 9, 2022 elections is hereby declared the Governor thereof. He or she shall serve the remaining duration of the term July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2025.
The importance of the people’s choice must be the paramount consideration in every election, for the Constitution has vested in them the right to freely select, by secret-ballot in clean elections, the men and women who shall make laws for them or govern in their name and behalf. It would be extremely repugnant to the basic concept of the constitutionally guaranteed right to suffrage if a candidate who has not acquired the majority or plurality of votes is proclaimed a winner and imposed as the representative of a constituency, the majority of which have positively declared through their ballots that they do not choose him.
