347 Phil. 797
VITUG, J.:
"No spurious ballot was found in this case. For a ballot to be rejected for being spurious, the ballot must not have any of the following authenticating marks: a) the COMELEC watermark; b) the signatures or initial of the BEI Chairman at the back of the ballot; and c) red and blue fibers. In the present case, all the ballots examined by the Tribunal had COMELEC watermarks."'In every case before delivering an official ballot to the voter, the Chairman of the Board of Election Inspectors shall, in the presence of the voter, affix his signature at the back thereof. Failure to so authenticate shall be noted in the minutes of the board of election inspectors and shall constitute an election offense punishable under Section 263 and 264 of the Omnibus Election Code.'
"The Tribunal did not adopt protestant's submission in his Memorandum that the absence of thumbmark or BEI Chairman's signature at the back of the ballot rendered the ballot spurious. The applicable law on this issue is Sec. 24, R.A. 7166. It reads:
"As may be gleaned above, unlike the provision of Section 210 of the Omnibus Election Code where the BEI Chairman was required to affix his right thumbmark at the back of the ballot immediately after it was counted, the present law no longer requires the same.
"Anent the BEI Chairman's signature, while Section 24 of R.A. 7166 provides that failure to authenticate the ballot shall constitute an election offense, there is nothing in the said law which provides that ballots not so authenticated shall be considered invalid. In fact, the members of the Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms agreed during their deliberation on the subject that the absence of the BEI Chairman's signature at the back of the ballot will not per se make a ballot spurious.
"Moreover, while Rep. Palacol, then Chairman of the Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms, mentioned during his sponsorship speech that one of the salient features of the bill filed was 'to require the chairman of the Board of Election Inspectors to authenticate a ballot given to a voter by affixing his signature on (sic) the back thereof and to consider any ballot as spurious,' R.A. 7166, as approved, does not contain any provision to that effect. Clearly, therefore, the Congress as a whole (House of Representatives and Senate) failed to adopt the proposal of Rep. Palacol that ballots without the BEI Chairman's signature at the back will be declared spurious. What is clearly provided under the said law is the sanction imposable upon an erring Chairman of the BEI, and not the disenfranchisement of the voter." [3]
"WHEREFORE, in light of the foregoing, the Tribunal Resolved to DISMISS the instant election protest, including the parties' mutual claims for damages and attorney's fee; AFFIRM the proclamation of Protestee Jose Tan Ramirez; and DECLARE him to be the duly elected Representative of the Lone District of Eastern Samar, for having obtained a plurality of 143 votes over second placer Protestant Marcelino Libanan." [4]Petitioner Libanan moved for a reconsideration of the decision of the HRET arguing, among other grounds, [5] that the absence of the BEI Chairman's signature at the back of the ballots could not but indicate that the ballots were not those issued to the voters during the elections. He averred that the law would require the Chairman of the BEI to authenticate or sign the ballot before issuing it to the voter. Acting on petitioner's motion for reconsideration, the HRET credited petitioner Libanan with thirty (30) votes because of the error in the computation of the base figure and rejected twelve (12) ballots for respondent Ramirez. Respondent Ramirez, nevertheless, remained to be the winner with a lead of ninety-nine (99) votes in his favor. As regards the absence of BEI Chairman's signature at the back of the ballots, the HRET stressed:
"Fraud is not presumed. It must be sufficiently established. Moreover, Section 211 of the Omnibus Election Code provides in part that 'in the reading and appreciation of ballots, every ballot shall be presumed to be valid unless there is clear and good reason to justify its rejection.' In the instant case, there is no evidence to support protestant's allegation that the ballots he enumerated in his Motion for Reconsideration are substitute ballots. The absence of the BEI Chairman's signature at the back of the ballot cannot be an indication of ballot switching or substitution. At best, such absence of BEI Chairman's signature is a prima facie evidence that the BEI Chairmen concerned were derelict in their duty of authenticating the ballots. Such omission, as stated in the Decision, is not fatal to the validity of the ballots." [6]Thus, the present recourse.
"The use of the word 'sole' emphasizes the exclusive character of the jurisdiction conferred. The exercise of the power by the Electoral Commission under the 1935 Constitution has been described as 'intended to be as complete and unimpaired as if it had remained originally in the legislature.' Earlier this grant of power to the legislature was characterized by Justice Malcolm as ''full, clear and complete.' Under the amended 1935 Constitution, the power was unqualifiedly reposed upon the Electoral Tribunal and it remained as full, clear and complete as that previously granted the Legislature and the Electoral Commission. The same may be said with regard to the jurisdiction of the Electoral Tribunals under the 1987 Constitution." [9]The Court has stressed that ". . . so long as the Constitution grants the HRET the power to be the sole judge of all contests relating to the election, returns and qualifications of members of the House of Representatives, any final action taken by the HRET on a matter within its jurisdiction shall, as a rule, not be reviewed by this Court . . . . . the power granted to the Electoral Tribunal x x x excludes the exercise of any authority on the part of this Court that would in any wise restrict it or curtail it or even affect the same."
"xxx xxx xxx
"Anent the BEI Chairman's signature, while Section 24 of R.A. 7166 provides that failure to authenticate the ballot shall constitute an election offense, there is nothing in the said law which provides that ballots not so authenticated shall be considered invalid. In fact, the members of the Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms agreed during their deliberation on the subject that the absence of the BEI Chairman's signature at the back of the ballot will not per se make a ballot spurious.
"Moreover, while Rep. Palacol, then Chairman of the Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms, mentioned during his sponsorship speech that one of the salient features of the bill filed was 'to require the chairman of the Board of Election Inspectors to authenticate a ballot given to a voter by affixing his signature on (sic) the back thereof and to consider any ballot as spurious,' R.A. 7166, as approved, does not contain any provision to that effect. Clearly, therefore, the Congress as a whole (House of Representatives and Senate) failed to adopt the proposal of Rep. Palacol that ballots without the BEI Chairman's signature at the back will be declared spurious. What is clearly provided under the said law is the sanction imposable upon an erring Chairman of the BEI, and not the disenfranchisement of the voter." [15]
"SEC. 24. Signature of Chairman at the back of Every Ballot. - In every case before delivering an official ballot to the voter, the Chairman of the Board of Election Inspectors shall, in the presence of the voter, affix his signature at the back thereof. Failure to authenticate shall be noted in the minutes of the Board of Election Inspectors and shall constitute an election offense punishable under Section 263 and 264 of the Omnibus Election Code."There is really nothing in the above law to the effect that a ballot which is not so authenticated shall thereby be deemed spurious. The law merely renders the BEI Chairman accountable for such failure. The courts may not, in the guise of interpretation, enlarge the scope of a statute and embrace situations neither provided nor intended by the lawmakers. Where the words and phrases of a statute are not obscure and ambiguous, the meaning and intention of the legislature should be determined from the language employed, and where there is no ambiguity in the words, there should be no room for construction. [16]
"In every case before delivering an official ballot to the voter, the chairman of the Board of Election Inspectors shall, in the presence of the voter, affix his signature at the back thereof. Any ballot which is not so authenticated shall be deemed spurious. Failure to so authenticate shall constitute an election offense." [17]During the deliberation of the Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms, held on 08 August 1991, the members agreed to delete the phrase "Any ballot which is not so authenticated shall be deemed spurious." Pertinent portions of the transcript of stenographic notes ("TSN") taken during the Meeting of the Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms read:
"THE CHAIRMAN. Yes, Congressman Mercado.The TSN of the proceedings of the Bicameral conference Committee on Election Law, held on 29 October 1991, in turn, would show these exchanges:
"HON. MERCADO. I think, Section 22, we go to the intent of the provision. I think the intent here is to sanction the inspector so I would propose a compromise. The ballot should not be deemed as spurious. However, it would rather be failure of the inspector to, or the chairman to affix his signature would rather be a circumstance which would aggravate the crime, which would aggravate the election offense, on the part of the inspector, but not to disenfranchise the voter. Because the intention here is to punish the election inspector for not affixing the signature. Why should we punish the voter? So I think the compromise here . . .
"THE CHAIRMAN. A serious election offense.
"HON. MERCADO. Yes, it should be a serious election offense on the part of the chairman for not affixing the signature, but not to make the ballot spurious.
"HON. RONO. Mr. Chairman.
"THE CHAIRMAN. Yes, Congressman Rono.
"HON. RONO. One thing that we have to guard against is when we deal with the ballot and the right to suffrage, we should not really make law that would prevent the flexibility of the Commission on Elections, and the Supreme Court from getting other extraneous efforts to confirm authenticity or the spuriousness of the ballot, by making a provision that by that single mistake or inadvertence of the chairman we make the ballot automatically spurious is dangerous. It should be ... what I'm saying is that the Commission or the proper bodies by which this matter will be taken up may consider it as one of the evidences of spuriousness but not per se or ipso facto it becomes; it should look for other extraneous evidence. So what I am suggesting is let us give them this kind of flexibility before we determine or before we say that this ballot is spurious, we give the COMELEC some flexibility in the determination of other extraneous evidence.
"HON. GARCIA. May I offer a suggestion?
"THE CHAIRMAN. Yes, Congressman Garcia.
"HON. GARCIA. That the fact that a ballot does not contain the signature, I think, initial will not be sufficient, the signature of the Chairman should be noted in the minutes. Noted in the minutes. So that in case of protest, there is basis.
"HON. RONO. Oo, may basis na. Iyon lang. I think that would solve our problem.
"THE CHAIRMAN. Yes, Mr. Chairman.
"MR. MONSOD. Your honor, we're willing to accept that amendment. Take out that sentence spurious, with the introduction of the proposed measure x x x." [18]
"CHAIRMAN GONZALEZ: Are there anything more ?Thus, the final draft, which was later to become R.A. No. 7166, no longer included the provision "Any ballot not so authenticated shall be deemed spurious." The intention of the legislature even then was quite evident.
"HON. ROCO. There is a section in the Senate version about the ballot being signed at the back.
"CHAIRMAN GONZALEZ. Counter side.
"HON. ROCO. If it is not signed then it is being spurious which is a very dangerous, I (think) (it) is a very dangerous provision and so...
"MR. MONSOD. We agree with the House version that anyway when chairman of BEI doesn't sign subject to an election offense. But it should not be a basis for disenfranchisement of the voter. So, we believe we set this in the hearings in the House that we should strike out that sentence that says that this ballot is automatically spurious." [19]
"Sec. 73. Signature of chairman at the back of every ballot. -- In every case, the chairman of the board shall, in the presence of the voter, authenticate every ballot by affixing his signature at the back thereof before delivering it to the voter. FAILURE TO SO AUTHENTICATE SHALL BE NOTED IN THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD AND SHALL CONSTITUTE AN ELECTION OFFENSE."Again, in Resolution No. 2738, [23] promulgated by the COMELEC on 03 January 1995, [24] which implemented, among other election laws, R.A. No. 7166 (that governed the election for Members of the House of Representatives held on 08 May 1995), the relevant provision is in Section 13 which itself has only stated:
"Sec. 13. Authentication of the ballot.-- Before delivering a ballot to the voter, the chairman of the board shall, in the presence of the voter, affix his signature at the back thereof."It would appear evident that the ruling in Bautista vs. Castro was prompted because of the express declaration in Section 36(f) of COMELEC Resolution No. 1539, implementing Section 14 of B.P. Blg. 222, that: "Any ballot returned to the chairman . . . which does not bear the signature of the chairman . . . shall be considered as spoiled . . . and shall not be counted." This Court thus stated in Bautista:
"The law (Sec 14 of B.P. Blg. 222) and the rules implementing it (Sec. 36 of Comelec Res. No. 1539) leave no room for interpretation. The absence of the signature of the Chairman of the Board of Election Tellers in the ballot given to a voter as required by law and the rules as proof of the authenticity of said ballot is fatal. This requirement is mandatory for the validity of the said ballot."It should be noteworthy that in an unsigned 3rd April 1990 resolution, in "Jolly Fernandez vs. COMELEC," [25] the Court en banc had the opportunity to debunk the argument that all ballots not signed at the back thereof by the Chairman and the Poll Clerk were to be considered spurious for non-compliance with Section 15 of R.A. No. 6646, [26] i.e., "The Electoral Reforms Law of 1987," reading as follows:
"Sec. 15. - Signature of Chairman and Poll Clerk at the Back of Every Ballot. - In addition to the preliminary acts before the voting as enumerated in Section 191 of Batas Pambansa Blg. 881, the chairman and the poll clerk of the board of election inspectors shall affix their signatures at the back of each and every official ballot to be used during the voting. A certification to that effect must be entered in the minutes of the voting."The Court declared:
"The cardinal objective in the appreciation of the ballots is to discover and give effect to the intention of the voter. That intention would be nullified by the strict interpretation of the said section as suggested by the petitioner for it would result in the invalidation of the ballot even if duly accomplished by the voter, and simply because of an omission not imputable to him but to the election officials. The citizen cannot be deprived of his constitutional right of suffrage on the specious ground that other persons were negligent in performing their own duty, which in the case at bar was purely ministerial and technical, by no means mandatory but a mere antecedent measure intended to authenticate the ballot. A contrary ruling would place a premium on official ineptness and make it possible for a small group of functionaries, by their negligence - or, worse, their deliberate inaction - to frustrate the will of the electorate." [27]Petitioner Libanan suggests that the Court might apply the "ruling" of respondent HRET in the case of Yap vs. Calalay (HRET Case No. 95-026). He states that "it is the HRET itself, ironically, that deals the coup de grace to its ruling in HRET Case No. 95-020." The "ruling" cited by petitioner is actually a "Confidential Memorandum," [28] dated 28 April 1997, from a certain Atty. Emmanuel Mapili addressed to "PA Committees in HRET Case No. 95-026 (Yap vs. Calalay)" which has for its subject "(n)ew rulings to be followed in the appreciation of ballots in HRET Case No. 95-026 (Yap vs. Calalay) and other concerns." Petitioner Libanan quotes the pertinent portion of the said Memorandum, viz:
"WHEREFORE, the Tribunal Resolved that the following rules and guidelines on the appreciation of ballots shall be given effect in the resolution of this case and shall be applied prospectively to other pending cases:
"x x x Mulling over this, we experience no qualmish feelings about the coincidence. Their designation to the electoral tribunals deducted not a whit from their functions as members of this Supreme Court, and did not disqualify them in this litigation. Nor will their deliverances hereat on a given question operate to prevent them from voting in the electoral forum on identical questions; because the Constitution, establishing no incompatibility between the two roles, naturally did not contemplate, nor want, justices opining one way here, and thereafter holding otherwise, pari materia, in the electoral tribunal, or vice-versa." [32]