544 Phil. 743
CARPIO MORALES, J.:
As shown in the records and as admitted by the petitioners themselves, on May 14, 2004, they filed a written petition to exclude the COC from Palimbang. On May 15, 2004, the respondent PBOC denied the petition and included the same in the provincial canvass.Petitioners moved to reconsider the August 16, 2004 Resolution of the COMELEC First Division, arguing that, among other things, it was erroneous to dispose the petition on purely procedural grounds and not to treat it as an original petition for correction of manifest errors which deserves deeper scrutiny and decisive treatment. Petitioners also argued that it was erroneous to consider petitioner Montilla’s filing of an election protest as an abandonment of his petition for correction of manifest errors.
While the petitioners manifested their intent to appeal, no appeal was actually made and perfected. Because of this failure to appeal, the ruling of the board including the COC of Palimbang in the provincial canvass has become final.
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On the issue of correction of manifest error in the COC and SOV of Palimbang, the same cannot prosper. First, the errors to be corrected should pertain to tabulations of the entries. The cited errors by the petitioners were not relative to the tabulation but to the disparity between the number of precincts canvassed for the national and local positions; and the difference between the sequence of precincts listed in the local SOV and the national SOV.
Second, in the alleged errors of the entries in the election returns and the SOV by Precincts, the petitioners also questioned the integrity of the election returns, thereby, putting doubt whether there were indeed errors in said documents.
Third, the petition for correction of manifest error was already denied by the respondent board. The proper procedure under Section 7, Rule 27 of the Comelec Rules of Procedure should be to appeal said ruling. However, the petitioners failed to do so. The ruling, therefore, has already attained finality.
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As to the non-inclusion of the Lutayan COC in the petition [filed before the COMELEC], petitioners argued that it was mere oversight on the part of the petitioners. They asserted, moreover, that in the exercise of the broad and plenary powers of the Commission, the latter can take cognizance of the same.
We are not convinced. Granting that the [non-]inclusion of the Lutayan COC was just a mere oversight, still the Commission cannot pass upon the authenticity and genuineness of the same in the instant case. Per the aforementioned procedures, such ground should be raised before the appropriate board of canvassers. The Commission has only an appellate jurisdiction over the same.
Even if this case be considered as one for correction of manifest error of the COC/SOV of Lutayan the same must also fail. The petitioners failed to specify the errors that are supposed to be manifest and are to be corrected. What they alleged in their memorandum are grounds proper for election protest or exclusion of the COC and SOV, such as statistical improbability, abnormal turn out of voters, and other defects and abnormalities.
Furthermore, with respect to the herein case filed against respondent Datu Pax Mangudadatu, the same is deemed to have been abandoned by the filing of an election protest with the Commission by petitioner Montilla. The protest was docketed as EPC No. 2004-12. It has been held by the Supreme Court that the filing of an election protest or a petition for quo warranto precludes the subsequent filing of a pre-proclamation controversy or amounts to the abandonment of one already filed.
One of the exceptions to the above doctrine is when the protest was filed ad cautela. A scrutiny of the protest filed by Montilla, however, shows that EPC NO. 2004-12 was not filed ad cautela.
x x x x[11] (Emphasis and underscoring supplied)
. . . COMMITTED GRAVE ABUSE OF DISCRETION, AMOUNTING TO LACK OF JURISDICTION, IN CLOSING ITS EYES TO THE EVIDENCE ON RECORD AND IN FAULTING PETITIONERS FOR THEIR ALLEGED PROCEDURAL LAPSES.The petition fails.B.
. . . EVADED THE PERFORMANCE OF A POSITIVE DUTY SPECIFICALLY ENJOINED BY LAW AND THE CONSTITUTION WHEN IT DISMISSED THE PETITION FOR CORRECTION OF MANIFEST ERRORS, THEREBY GRAVELY ABUSING ITS DISCRETION, AMOUNTING TO LACK OF JURISDICTION.C.
. . . GRAVELY ABUSED ITS DISCRETION IN TOLERATING THE IRREGULAR PRACTICE OF ALLOWING, WITHOUT JUSTIFIABLE REASON, THE NON-PARTICIPATION OF A COMELEC COMMISSIONER IN THE ISSUANCE OF ITS RESOLUTION.D.
. . . GRAVELY ABUSED ITS DISCRETION IN FINDING THAT PETITIONERS CERBO AND MONTILLA ARE DEEMED TO HAVE ABANDONED THEIR PETITION FOR CORRECTION OF MANIFEST ERRORS.[13]
As a general rule, the filing of an election protest or a petition for quo warranto precludes the subsequent filing of a pre-proclamation controversy or amounts to the abandonment of one earlier filed, thus depriving the COMELEC of the authority to inquire into and pass upon the title of the protestee or the validity of his proclamation. The reason for this rule is that once the competent tribunal has acquired jurisdiction of an election protest or petition for quo warranto, all questions relative thereto will have to be decided in the case itself and not in another proceeding, so as to prevent confusion and conflict of authority.[16] (Underscoring supplied)While the filing of a protest ex abundante ad cautela[17] is not considered an abandonment of the petition for correction of manifest errors, this Court quotes with approval the following observations of the COMELEC in brushing aside as mere afterthought the claim of Montilla in a manifestation he subsequently filed that his election protest was filed ex abundante ad cautela and that he inadvertently omitted to indicate in its caption that it was one such:
In an effort perhaps to cure the defect, Montilla filed a manifestation stating that it was actually [ex abundante] ad cautela but that he inadvertently omitted to caption the protest as such. This however should not be given weight. A reading of the allegation in the protest reveals that there was no mention therein that it was only filed as a precautionary measure in case his petition for correction of manifest error is resolved adversely. There was even no mention therein that a case for correction of manifest error and annulment between the same parties is pending before the Commission. To top it all, petitioner Montilla even asked for an immediate relief in his protest, i.e. an order to direct the concerned Election Officers and Treasurers to bring all the ballot boxes and other election paraphernalia in the protested municipalities. Verily, the protest was not [ex abundante] ad cautela and the manifestation was a mere afterthought.[18] (Underscoring supplied)As for the case of petitioner Arzagon, indeed, he failed to comply with the COMELEC Rules of Procedure, the pertinent provision of which reads:
RULE 27 . . . .
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Sec. 5. Pre-proclamation Controversies Which May Be Filed Directly With the Commission. – (a) The following pre-proclamation controversies may be filed directly with the Commission:
x x x x
2) When the issue involves the correction of manifest errors in the tabulation or tallying of results during the canvassing as where (1) a copy of the election returns or certificate of canvass was tabulated more than once, (2) two or more copies of the election returns of one precinct, two or more copies of the election returns of one precinct, or two or more copies of certificate of canvass were tabulated separately, (3) there had been a mistake in the copying of figures into the statement of votes or into the certificate of canvass, or (4) so-called returns from non-existent precincts were included in the canvass, and such errors could not have been discovered during the canvassing despite the exercise of due diligence and proclamation of the winning candidates had already been made.