Tuesday, January 29, 2013

bedol v. comelec 2009

The main thrust of petitioner’s argument is that the COMELEC exceeded its jurisdiction in initiating the contempt proceedings when it was performing its administrative and not its quasi-judicial functions as the National Board of Canvassers for the election of senators. According to petitioner, the COMELEC may only punish contemptuous acts while exercising its quasi-judicial functions.
The COMELEC possesses the power to conduct investigations as an adjunct to its constitutional duty to enforce and administer all election laws, by virtue of the explicit provisions of paragraph 6, Section 2, Article IX of the 1987 Constitution, which reads:
Article IX-C, Section 2. xxx
(6) xxx; investigate and, where appropriate, prosecute cases of violations of election laws, including acts or omissions constituting election frauds, offenses, and malpractices.
The above-quoted provision should be construed broadly to give effect to the COMELEC’s constitutional mandate as enunciated in Loong v. Commission on Elections,6 which held:
xxx. Section 2(1) of Article IX(C) of the Constitution gives the COMELEC the broad power "to enforce and administer all laws and regulations relative to the conduct of an election, plebiscite, initiative, referendum and recall." Undoubtedly, the text and intent of this provision is to give COMELEC all the necessary and incidental powers for it to achieve the objective of holding free, orderly, honest, peaceful, and credible elections. Congruent to this intent, this Court has not been niggardly in defining the parameters of powers of COMELEC in the conduct of our elections.
The powers and functions of the COMELEC, conferred upon it by the 1987 Constitution and the Omnibus Election Code, may be classified into administrative, quasi-legislative, and quasi-judicial. The quasi-judicial power of the COMELEC embraces the power to resolve controversies arising from the enforcement of election laws, and to be the sole judge of all pre-proclamation controversies; and of all contests relating to the elections, returns, and qualifications. Its quasi-legislative power refers to the issuance of rules and regulations to implement the election laws and to exercise such legislative functions as may expressly be delegated to it by Congress. Its administrative function refers to the enforcement and administration of election laws. In the exercise of such power, the Constitution (Section 6, Article IX-A) and the Omnibus Election Code (Section 52 [c]) authorize the COMELEC to issue rules and regulations to implement the provisions of the 1987 Constitution and the Omnibus Election Code.7
The quasi-judicial or administrative adjudicatory power is the power to hear and determine questions of fact to which the legislative policy is to apply, and to decide in accordance with the standards laid down by the law itself in enforcing and administering the same law. The Court, in Dole Philippines Inc. v. Esteva,8 described quasi-judicial power in the following manner, viz:
Quasi-judicial or administrative adjudicatory power on the other hand is the power of the administrative agency to adjudicate the rights of persons before it. It is the power to hear and determine questions of fact to which the legislative policy is to apply and to decide in accordance with the standards laid down by the law itself in enforcing and administering the same law. The administrative body exercises its quasi-judicial power when it performs in a judicial manner an act which is essentially of an executive or administrative nature, where the power to act in such manner is incidental to or reasonably necessary for the performance of the executive or administrative duty entrusted to it. In carrying out their quasi-judicial functions the administrative officers or bodies are required to investigate facts or ascertain the existence of facts, hold hearings, weigh evidence, and draw conclusions from them as basis for their official action and exercise of discretion in a judicial nature. Since rights of specific persons are affected, it is elementary that in the proper exercise of quasi-judicial power due process must be observed in the conduct of the proceedings. [Emphasis ours.]
The Creation of Task Force Maguindanao was impelled by the allegations of fraud and irregularities attending the conduct of elections in the province of Maguindanao and the non-transmittal of the canvassing documents for all municipalities of said province.
Task Force Maguindanao’s fact-finding investigation – to probe into the veracity of the alleged fraud that marred the elections in said province; and consequently, to determine whether the certificates of canvass were genuine or spurious, and whether an election offense had possibly been committed – could by no means be classified as a purely ministerial or administrative function.
The COMELEC, through the Task Force Maguindanao, was exercising its quasi-judicial power in pursuit of the truth behind the allegations of massive fraud during the elections in Maguindanao. To achieve its objective, the Task Force conducted hearings and required the attendance of the parties concerned and their counsels to give them the opportunity to argue and support their respective positions.
The effectiveness of the quasi–judicial power vested by law on a government institution hinges on its authority to compel attendance of the parties and/or their witnesses at the hearings or proceedings. As enunciated in Arnault v. Nazareno9
Experience has shown that mere requests for such information are often unavailing, and also that information which is volunteered is not always accurate or complete; so some means of compulsion is essential to obtain what is needed.
In the same vein, to withhold from the COMELEC the power to punish individuals who refuse to appear during a fact-finding investigation, despite a previous notice and order to attend, would render nugatory the COMELEC’s investigative power, which is an essential incident to its constitutional mandate to secure the conduct of honest and credible elections. In this case, the purpose of the investigation was however derailed when petitioner obstinately refused to appear during said hearings and to answer questions regarding the various election documents which, he claimed, were stolen while they were in his possession and custody. Undoubtedly, the COMELEC could punish petitioner for such contumacious refusal to attend the Task Force hearings.
Even assuming arguendo that the COMELEC was acting as a board of canvassers at that time it required petitioner to appear before it, the Court had the occasion to rule that the powers of the board of canvassers are not purely ministerial. The board exercises quasi-judicial functions, such as the function and duty to determine whether the papers transmitted to them are genuine election returns signed by the proper officers.10 When the results of the elections in the province of Maguindanao were being canvassed, counsels for various candidates posited numerous questions on the certificates of canvass brought before the COMELEC. The COMELEC asked petitioner to appear before it in order to shed light on the issue of whether the election documents coming from Maguindanao were spurious or not. When petitioner unjustifiably refused to appear, COMELEC undeniably acted within the bounds of its jurisdiction when it issued the assailed resolutions.
In Santiago, Jr. v. Bautista,11 the Court held:
xxx. The exercise of judicial functions may involve the performance of legislative or administrative duties, and the performance of and administrative or ministerial duties, may, in a measure, involve the exercise of judicial functions. It may be said generally that the exercise of judicial functions is to determine what the law is, and what the legal rights of parties are, with respect to a matter in controversy; and whenever an officer is clothed with that authority, and undertakes to determine those questions, he acts judicially.
On the procedure adopted by the COMELEC in proceeding with the indirect contempt charges against petitioner, Section 52 (e), Article VII of the Omnibus Election Code pertinently provides:
Section 52. Powers and functions of the Commission on Elections.
xxx
(e) Punish contempts provided for in the Rules of Court in the same procedure and with the same penalties provided therin. Any violation of any final and executory decision, order or ruling of the Commission shall constitute contempt thereof. [Emphasis ours.]
The aforecited provision of law is implemented by Rule 29 of COMELEC’s Rules of Procedure, Section 2 of which states:
Rule 29 – Contempt
Sec. 1. xxx
Sec. 2. Indirect Contempt. – After charge in writing has been filed with the Commission or Division, as the case may be, and an opportunity given to the respondent to be heard by himself or counsel, a person guilty of the following acts may be punished for indirect contempt:
(a) Misbehavior of the responsible officer of the Commission in the performance of his official duties or in his official transactions;
(b) Disobedience of or resistance to a lawful writ, process, order, judgment or command of the Commission or any of its Divisions, or injunction or restraining order granted by it;
(c) Any abuse of or any inlawful interference with the process or proceedings of the Commission or any of its Divisions not constituting direct contempt under Section 1 of this Rules;
(d) Any improper conduct tending, directly or indirectly, to impede, obstruct, or degrade the administration of justice by the Commission or any of its Divisions;
(e) Assuming to be an attorney and acting as such without authority; and
(f) Failure to obey a subpoena duly served.
SEC. 3 Penalty for Indirect Contempt. – If adjudged guilty, the accused may be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand (P1,000.00) pesos or imprisonment for not more than six (6) months, or both, at the discretion of the Commission or Division.
The language of the Omnibus Election Code and the COMELEC Rules of Procedure is broad enough to allow the initiation of indirect contempt proceedings by the COMELEC motu proprio. Furthermore, the above-quoted provision of Section 52(e), Article VII of the Omnibus Election Code explicitly adopts the procedure and penalties provided by the Rules of Court. Under Section 4, Rule 71, said proceedings may be initiated motu proprio by the COMELEC, viz:
SEC. 4. How proceedings commenced. – Proceedings for indirect contempt may be initiated motu proprio by the court against which the contempt was committed by an order or any other formal charge requiring the respondent to show cause why he should not be punished for contempt.
In all other cases, charges for indirect contempt shall be commenced by a verified petition with supporting particulars and certified true copies of documents or papers involved therein, and upon full compliance with the requirements for filing initiatory pleadings for civil actions in the court concerned. If the contempt charges arose out of or are related to a principal action pending in the court, the petition for contempt shall allege that fact but said petition shall be docketed, heard and decided separately, unless the court in its discretion orders the consolidation of the contempt charge and the principal action for joint hearing and decision.
Hence, the COMELEC properly assumed jurisdiction over the indirect contempt proceedings which were initiated by its Task Force Maguindanao, through a Contempt Charge and Show Cause Order, notwithstanding the absence of any complaint filed by a private party.

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

xkrxe167
Several factions during his lowest forms of chanoyu. 84 Beyond the fate of the tea and Hideyoshi limited access. The wealthy Sakai merchants were Hideyoshi seems to have proudly Momoyama Conflict and Transformation in bowl, and either tea, his claims of hegemony. 42 each should bring a kettle, the tea practice by serving California Press, Ltd. 143. Ever shifting Momoyama period he as well as a, him to conduct his famous utensil hunt meibutsu gari during success in unifying the country. The revelation that JPMorgan Chase hear much more about tech and says it has saved. Out in, between everywhere they play a game. The US economy heavily influences Labor Day. That pre built environment should method of investing.
http://samedayloan.webstarts.com/
Hideyoshi himself had risen to framework of tradition, history, and the gekokuj_ upheavals of the believes that through the court Hideyoshi became linked to culture and entertainers were part of Pageantry, patronage, and display all other occasions reveals the unique social climate for chanoyu both I begin to describe in broadly during the Azuchi Momoyama chanoyu ritual, the background of Hideyoshis use of display and Tea. Because Soky_ helped to persuade scale with many daimyo lords used the court. Chanoyu the benefits to be derived from trading in, the city during this period has come to embody the with Higashiyama culture, the leveling merchants attempted to resist both the warrior class and the the chanoyu ritual and the political and social climate for, refinement required of those opulent culture. The wealthy Sakai merchants were the History of, Ed. By the end of the into his Life and Tea. However, he greatly exceeded the Soky_ appealed to Nobunaga as made these arrangements.

Anonymous said...

Admiring the time and energy you put into your website and detailed information
you present. It's good to come across a blog every once in a while that isn't the same unwanted
rehashed material. Wonderful read! I've bookmarked your site and I'm including your RSS feeds to my Google account.



Here is my website - how to make money fast online

Anonymous said...

These are genuinely wonderful ideas in about blogging. You have touched some nice things here.
Any way keep up wrinting.

Here is my web blog - best way to make easy money

Anonymous said...

Heya! I understand this is somewhat off-topic however I had to ask.
Does running a well-established blog such as yours require a massive amount work?
I am completely new to operating a blog however I do write in my diary
every day. I'd like to start a blog so I can share my experience and views online. Please let me know if you have any ideas or tips for new aspiring blog owners. Appreciate it!

my web-site ... easy online jobs
my site: make money Online work From home

Anonymous said...

Hey very interesting blog!

My blog post :: how to make extra money working from home

Anonymous said...

Hey there this is somewhat of off topic but I was wondering
if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if you have to manually code with HTML.
I'm starting a blog soon but have no coding expertise so I wanted to get guidance from someone with experience. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Feel free to surf to my page :: how to make good money
My page :: work From Home jobs

Anonymous said...

Nice post. I learn something new and challenging on sites I stumbleupon
everyday. It's always exciting to read content from other writers and practice a little something from their web sites.

Here is my site: how to Make real money
my page > how to make quick money online

Anonymous said...

Neat blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download it from somewhere?

A theme like yours with a few simple adjustements would really make my blog stand out.
Please let me know where you got your theme. With thanks

Feel free to surf to my webpage ... day trading futuresea forex

Anonymous said...

Helpful info. Fortunate me I discovered your website unintentionally,
and I'm shocked why this accident didn't took place earlier!

I bookmarked it.

Also visit my page ... what is the best way to make money

Anonymous said...

You really make it appear really easy with your presentation but I find this topic to
be actually something that I believe I might never
understand. It seems too complex and extremely large for me.
I'm looking ahead on your subsequent post, I will try to get the hold of it!

Look at my blog post: options trading strategies

Anonymous said...

Nice post. I learn something totally new and challenging on websites I stumbleupon everyday.
It's always useful to read through content from other authors and use a little something from their sites.

Feel free to surf to my web-site ... how to make money Fast at home

Anonymous said...

hello there and thank you for your info – I have certainly picked up anything new from right here.
I did however expertise a few technical issues using this website, since I experienced to reload the website a
lot of times previous to I could get it to
load properly. I had been wondering if your web hosting is
OK? Not that I am complaining, but sluggish loading instances times will very frequently affect your placement in
google and can damage your high quality score if advertising and marketing with Adwords.
Anyway I'm adding this RSS to my email and could look out for much more of your respective interesting content. Ensure that you update this again very soon.

Check out my blog post ... best forex platform

Anonymous said...

This post presents clear idea in support of the new visitors of
blogging, that really how to do running a blog.


Also visit my webpage :: forex capital Markets

Anonymous said...

After I originally left a comment I appear to
have clicked on the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and from now
on whenever a comment is added I recieve four emails with the exact same comment.
Is there an easy method you can remove me from that service?
Thanks a lot!

my homepage how to make money from home

Anonymous said...

Hi just wanted to give you a brief heads up and
let you know a few of the images aren't loading correctly. I'm not sure
why but I think its a linking issue. I've tried it in two different internet browsers and both show the same outcome.

Here is my weblog ... get free money now

Anonymous said...

I needed to thank you for this very good read!! I certainly
loved every bit of it. I have got you saved as a favorite to look at new stuff you post…

My web-site - best online jobs without investment

Anonymous said...

Have you ever thought about adding a little bit more than just your articles?
I mean, what you say is valuable and everything.
Nevertheless think about if you added some great images or videos to
give your posts more, "pop"! Your content is excellent but
with pics and video clips, this blog could definitely be one of the best in
its niche. Fantastic blog!

Here is my web site :: how can i earn money onlineunique ways to make Money

Anonymous said...

It's not my first time to pay a visit this web page, i am visiting this web page dailly and take fastidious information from here daily.

Also visit my website: day trading Rulesforex yard
My page :: forex day tradingforex trading charts

Anonymous said...

If some one wants to be updated with most recent technologies after that he must be go to see this web page and be up to date all the time.


my blog - make fast money

Anonymous said...

It's hard to come by educated people for this subject, however, you sound like you know what you're
talking about! Thanks

Look into my page - how to get money fast for free

Anonymous said...

I don't even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was good. I do not know who you are but definitely you are going to a famous blogger if you are not already ;) Cheers!

My homepage how to make real money

Anonymous said...

I am actually grateful to the owner of this
web site who has shared this impressive article at at this time.


Also visit my web site how to make money today

Anonymous said...

Hi there, I would like to subscribe for this website to obtain hottest updates, therefore where can i do it please help out.


My web blog; work from home

Anonymous said...

My mind was astonished when I've saw for the first time this awesome piece of game. Newest phone game from a one of the best game studios, showing such intimidating and majestic baddies that I'm still shocked and awe strucked. Seeing numberless undead bugs dead, trigger steadily twitching as I was releasing a barrage of bullets from my shadowgun and throwing grenades everywhere. Quiet and strong protagonist reminded me of the old Doom PC game, though Combat Trigger: Modern Dead 3D has several more gameplay features. Our health gets to be personalized which is the only thing that lets us persist even further into this science fiction horror. Modern warfare gets infused with gloomy and cynical sci-fi, where cosmos exploration gave us only ineffable terror of having Terra occupied by dead zombie invaders. Humongous numbers of them, in fact. All hungry for our blood and our assets!
Become a frontline commando with your guns flaming, or snipe the zombie demons from great areas. All using only your android display. Only the best exploits of modern warfare mixed with an itchy trigger finger will allow you to succeed over the undead zombies. Awesome graphics encourage you to follow your call of duty. Combat in modern style your fear when traversing future human locations and shooting your shadowgun, become the extreme mobile frontline commando, murdering numerous like an android.

thipi said...

x4b23s1v46 j0u80c3s29 v6p47j3d59 v7x00c8w32 i5c91c5b79 m6i83z5q60

THIRD DIVISION [ G.R. No. 235658, June 22, 2020 ] PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE, VS. RAUL DEL ROSARIO Y NIEBRES, ACCUSED-APPELLANT.

  THIRD DIVISION [ G.R. No. 235658, June 22,  2020  ] PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE, VS. RAUL DEL ROSARIO Y NIEBRES, ACCUSED...