To cancel 278 new voters in Mandaue City: Petitions dismissed

CEBU, Philippines — All 28 petitions filed by an ally of former Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes seeking to nullify the registration of 278 new voters in the city have been dismissed.

“The petitioner, based on the evidence presented, failed to convince the Court private respondents should be excluded as voters of their respective barangays in Mandaue City,” stated Municipal Trial Court in Cities Branch 2 Presiding Judge Francis Ian Birondo in his ruling dated February 10, 2025.

When sought for comment, the petitioner, former Subangdaku Barangay Captain Ernie Manatad said they will appeal the decision.

The case stemmed from the filing of 28 separate petitions by Manatad, a candidate for city councilor under Team Mandaue headed by Cortes, to exclude the 278 private respondents as registered voters in the city.

This is in relation to the group's discovery in October 2024, when Manatad’s personnel obtained a copy of the Election Registration Board (ERB)-approved List of Newly Transferred Registrants as part of their data-gathering efforts.

Upon initial review of the list, they noted an unusually high number of unfamiliar names registered as voters in Mandaue City from different barangays.

Alarmed that these unknown persons might not be actual residents of Mandaue City, teams of verifiers were deployed to different barangays to ascertain the identities and whereabouts of the private respondents suspected to be flying or fictitious voters.

The verifiers reportedly scoured the barangays to locate the private respondents, even seeking assistance from purok leaders.

After a month-long search, the private respondents could not be located anywhere in their reported residences in the said barangays despite diligent efforts, nor were they known by the residents.

In their respective affidavits, the verifiers stated that they were tasked with conducting inspections to verify the addresses of individuals reported to have recently transferred to different barangays in Mandaue City from other cities or municipalities.

They aimed to confirm whether certain individuals allegedly residing within the barangay limits were actually living at the specified addresses.

They were also accompanied by purok leaders during their visits to the supposed addresses of these individuals.

They conducted thorough inquiries and verified occupancy by personally visiting the areas and checking for the names provided in the Commission on Elections (Comelec) list of newly transferred registrants.

Based on the inspection and gathered information, they discovered that some individuals were not residing in the stated barangays. Verification efforts indicated that these individuals were either residing in another locality or their whereabouts remained unclear.

As a result, Manatad sought to have the private respondents excluded from the voter list in Mandaue City, arguing that their absence from their supposed residences and the impossibility of locating them despite diligent efforts meant they were not residents of these barangays.

Manatad added that the private respondents also failed to meet the residency requirement to qualify as voters in Mandaue City.

A hearing also ensued on February 10, 2025, wherein Manatad stressed that the private respondents are fictitious and/or flying voters registered as transferee voters of Barangays Basak, Ibabao-Estancia, Pagsabungan, and Tabok, Mandaue City—where they are not residents—through clever machinations such as deliberate concealment of their actual residence, misdeclaration, and misrepresentation.

Since the private respondents’ actual residences were unknown, Manatad was constrained to notify them regarding the petitions through alternative means by posting copies on the Mandaue City Hall bulletin board and in the respective barangay halls and gyms.

However, Judge Birondo cited that the presence of six respondents during the hearing cast doubt on Manatad’s claim that the residences of the new voters could not be found.

During the hearing, Manatad and his counsels; ERB members Atty. Anna Fleur A. Gujilde, Thelma Crisologo, and Dr. Beanito Dagatan; and private respondents April Joy Doldolea Abel, Jennilyn Padasas Matias of Barangay Basak, and Dorothy Labnao Casas, Maricel Pino Comedia, Eduardo Saplad Tinpay, and Phebe Hagnaya Tinapay of Barangay Tabok were present.

Other private respondents, however, failed to appear.

The private respondents who appeared stressed that they currently reside in Mandaue City and provided information concerning their length of stay in their respective barangays, their previous residences, their previous voter registration locations, and the reasons for transferring their registration to the city.

According to the court’s decision, a petition for exclusion concerns determining whether an individual should be removed from the voter list based on legal qualifications and presented facts demonstrating their eligibility.

The qualifications outlined in Section 1, Article V of the 1987 Constitution state: “All citizens of the Philippines not otherwise disqualified by law, who are at least eighteen years of age, and who shall have resided in the Philippines for at least one year and in the place wherein they propose to vote for at least six months immediately preceding the election.”

The process is also governed by Sections 32 and 35 of Republic Act No. 8189, which states in part that a petition should be filed at any time except within 100 days before a regular election.

With the regular election set for May 12, 2025, the filing of these petitions on January 31, 2025, was not yet time-barred, the court said.

It added that Manatad’s assertions—and those of the verifiers—that the private respondents were not actual residents were debunked by the appearance of private respondents Abel, Matias, Casas, Comedia, Tinpay, and Tinapay.

“This circumstance cast doubt on the alleged verification conducted against all private respondents,” the court said, adding, “Clearly, the Petitioner, based on the evidence presented, failed to convince the Court private respondents should be excluded as voters of their respective barangays in Mandaue City.”

The court likewise directed the ERB of Mandaue City to maintain the private respondents’ Voter Registration Records in its active files.

“They remain registered voters in the voter list of their respective precincts and barangays in Mandaue City, Cebu,” the decision further reads.

Manatad told The Freeman last night that according to their lawyer, the judge’s basis for dismissing the case was the appearance of six respondents.

“The judge presumed that the others who did not appear were not notified. So, with this basis, we will appeal the decision. Because to us, failure to appear is prima facie evidence that they are not actually residents in the barangays of Mandaue, as we conducted the verification,” Manatad further said. ATO (CEBU NEWS)