Supreme Court affirms ouster ruling vs Camarines Norte governor

MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court (SC) affirmed with finality the other day the decision of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) ousting Camarines Norte Gov. Jesus Typoco in favor of his rival, Edgardo Tallado. 

SC justices voted to dismiss with finality Typoco’s appeal assailing several Comelec resolutions that declared Tallado the real winner in the 2007 gubernatorial contest.

The SC reiterated its ruling earlier this month that Typoco was proclaimed based on a faulty tabulation of votes. 

It affirmed the April 30, 2008 resolution of the Comelec’s First Division that granted Tallado’s petition for correction of manifest error, as based on the copies in the custody of its Election Records and Statistics Division (ERSD) of the concerned Statement of Votes by Precinct (SOVP) and Certificate of Canvass of Votes (COC), the votes in the town of Labo, as recorded in these documents, did not correspond. 

It therefore directed the municipal board of canvassers of Labo to correct the manifest error in the COC to reflect the actual votes of the parties based on the ERSD’s SOVP and submit the corrected COC to a new provincial board of canvassers which in turn was directed to proclaim Tallado as the winning gubernatorial candidate with 79,969 votes against Typoco’s 79,904.

The Comelec, however, found no irregularity in the election documents pertaining to the municipality of Jose Panganiban. The Feb. 24, 2009 resolution issued by the Comelec denied Typoco’s motion for reconsideration.

“We find that the Comelec, in ordering the correction of manifest errors in the SOVP and COC, merely exercised its bounden duty to ascertain the true will of the electorate of the province,” the SC said in its decision penned by Justice Antonio Eduardo Nachura. 

The SC also junked Typoco’s contention that the Comelec committed grave abuse of discretion when it decided the controversy based on the ERSD’s copies of the SOVP when the National Bureau of Investigation had found these spurious.

It said the appreciation of election documents involves a question of fact best left to the determination of the poll body.

“The findings of fact of administrative bodies, when supported by substantial evidence, are final and non-reviewable by courts of justice,” it added. 

Typoco was proclaimed winner in 2007 with 80,830 votes against Tallado’s 78,287.