Jalover vs COMELEC G.R. No. 209286 September 23, 2014

Jalover vs COMELEC G.R. No. 209286 September 23, 2014

 

Factual Antecedents

On October 3, 2012, Osmeña filed his Certificate of Candidacy (COC) for the position of mayor, Toledo City, Cebu.¹⁰ In his COC, Osmeña indicated that he had been a resident of Toledo City for fifteen (15) years prior to the May 2013 elections. Before running for the mayoralty position, Osmeña also served as the representative of the 3rd Congressional District of the Province of Cebu from 1995-1998, which incidentally includes the City of Toledo.¹¹

Soon thereafter, the petitioners filed before the COMELEC a "Petition to Deny Due Course and to Cancel Certificate of Candidacy and to Disqualify a Candidate for Possessing Some Grounds for Disqualification,"¹² docketed as SPA No. 13-079.

The Parties’ Claims and Evidence

Citing Section 78¹³ in relation with Section 74¹⁴ of the Omnibus Election Code,the petitioners alleged beforethe COMELEC that Osmeña made material misrepresentations of fact in the latter’s COC and likewise failed to comply with the residency requirement under Section 39 of the Local Government Code.¹⁵ In particular, the petitioners claimed that Osmeña falsely declared under oath in his COC that he had already been a resident of Toledo City fifteen (15) years prior to the scheduled May 13, 2013 local elections.¹⁶

In support of their petition, the petitioners submitted the following: a) a certification from the Toledo City Assessor’s Office, dated October 5, 2012, showing that Osmeña does not own any real property in Toledo City;¹⁷ b) a tax declaration of Osmeña’s alleged residence at Ibo, Toledo City showing that it is owned by Osmeña’s son;¹⁸ c) photographs of Osmeña’s alleged dilapidated residence in BarangayIbo, Toledo City, which the petitioners claim is not in keeping with Osmeña’s prominence, wealth and stature in society;¹⁹ d) a certification from the Business Permit and Licensing Office, that Osmeña never applied nor has he been issued any business permit by Toledo City;²⁰ and e) several affidavits,²¹ including that of the barangaycaptain of Ibo, Toledo City,²² attesting that Osmeña was never a resident of Toledo City and that he has only been seenin the city in September 2012 to conduct political meetings.

Osmena won in the mayoralty race and was proclaimed.

The law does not require a person to be in his home twenty-four (24) hours a day, seven (7) days a week, tofulfill the residency requirement.⁷⁶ In Fernandez v. House Electoral Tribunal,⁷⁷ we ruled that the "fact that a few barangay health workers attested that they had failed to see petitioner whenever they allegedly made the rounds in Villa de Toledo is of no moment, especially considering thatthere were witnesses (including petitioner's neighbors in Villa de Toledo) that were in turn presented by petitioner to prove that he was actually a resident of Villa de Toledo, in the address he stated in his COC. x x x It may be that whenever these health workers do their rounds petitioner was out of the house to attend to his own employment or business."