Supreme Court voids Rowena Guanzon's party-list substitution

MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court has granted a petition challenging the substitution of former Commission on Elections (Comelec) commissioner Ma. Rowena Amelia Guanzon as the first nominee of the Komunidad ng Pamilya, Pasyente at Persons with Disabilities (P3PWD) party list.

In a 42-page decision promulgated on August 20, the high court declared null and void a Comelec resolution that allowed Guanzon's substitution to the party after its election victory in 2022.

The high court ruled that the poll body's resolution allowing the substitution was issued with grave abuse of discretion as it permitted substitution beyond the Comelec's deadline.

"The foregoing clearly shows a pattern of whimsicality and arbitrariness in the way the approving commissioners acted upon the substitution of P3PWD's nominees, from giving short shrift to the publication requirement, to the brushing aside of the Comelec's Rules in a matter involving a former commissioner whereas the same was not done in another instance, to the pre-approval of the new list of nominees pending compliance with the publication requirement, to the view of one commissioner that the Comelec may simply recall the approval in case of noncompliance," the court's decision read.

"All these, taken together with the undue haste in the approval of the substitution, leave no doubt in the Court's mind that the Comelec En Banc acted with grave abuse of discretion. Rather than promoting free, orderly, and honest elections, the Comelec En Banc shamelessly allowed itself to be used as a tool in perpetuating a scheme. This Court will not deign to legitimize its act," it added.

The court ordered P3PWD to submit a new list of nominees for the 19th Congress but barred them from including the individuals whose substitutions were declared invalid.

Besides Guanzon, the high court also declared null and void the nominations of Rosalie Garcia, Cherie Belmonte-Lim, Donnabel Tenorio, and Rodolfo Villar.

The court dismissed the indirect contempt charges filed by Guanzon and the DUTERTE Youth against each other, citing lack of merit and procedural defects.

As of writing, Guanzon has not commented on the Supreme Court's decision.

Background

The party list law stipulates that substitution for party list nominees is only allowed before elections.

In this case, the Supreme Court noted that when P3PWD won a seat in the House of Representatives, its former first nominee, Grace Yeneza, resigned from the position.

The party then filed for substitution of nominees, including Guanzon, who had just resigned from Comelec, as its first nominee.

The poll body granted the party's substitution request, resulting in the contested resolution.

The case was filed against the former poll body executive by Duty to Energize the Republic Through the Enlightenment of the Youth (DUTERTE Youth) party list, represented by its chairperson Ronald Cardema, along with lawyer Ferdinand Topacio.

Notably, in 2019, Cardema attempted a similar substitution for Duterte Youth, but it was blocked by Guanzon.