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Elec Chap 1

The document summarizes two election law cases from the Philippines: 1) Andres Garchitorena VS Manuel Crescini - The court ruled in favor of Garchitorena after finding fraud and irregularities in the election that defeated the will of the voters. 2) Leon Maquera VS Juan Borra and COMELEC - The court declared a law requiring candidates to post a bond equal to one year's salary as unconstitutional, as it imposed improper property qualifications on candidates and citizens' right to vote. The bond amount was deemed a substantial financial burden that would disqualify honest but less wealthy candidates.

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122 views

Elec Chap 1

The document summarizes two election law cases from the Philippines: 1) Andres Garchitorena VS Manuel Crescini - The court ruled in favor of Garchitorena after finding fraud and irregularities in the election that defeated the will of the voters. 2) Leon Maquera VS Juan Borra and COMELEC - The court declared a law requiring candidates to post a bond equal to one year's salary as unconstitutional, as it imposed improper property qualifications on candidates and citizens' right to vote. The bond amount was deemed a substantial financial burden that would disqualify honest but less wealthy candidates.

Uploaded by

dhadhagladys
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Election Law – Chapter 1

Case 1 : Andres Garchitorena VS Manuel Crescini and Engracio Imperial G.R. No. L- 14514 Dec. 18, 1918

Facts: Petitioner Andres Garchitorena - presented a protest against an election held in the province of
Ambos Camarines, where Manuel Crescini was proclaimed to be the elected Governor, alleging that
many frauds and irregularities had been committed in various municipalities of said province, and that
he had received a majority of all legal votes cast.

Respondents Manuel Crescini and Engracio Imperial – appealed after two trials were held and both
Judges Mina and Paredes ruled in favor of petitioner, ordering the provincial board of inspectors to
correct their report and canvass.

Issue: WON Petitioner shall be the winner of the said election

Held: Judges Mina and Paredes, after discussion of the various frauds committed in said municipalities,
arrived at the same conclusion, to wit: that said frauds and irregularities were such as to absolutely
defeat the honest expression of the desires of the voters of said municipalities.

The presumption is that an election is honestly conducted, and the burden of proof to show it otherwise
is on the party assailing the return. But when the return is clearly shown to be wilfully, and corruptly
false, the whole of it becomes worthless as proof. When the election has been conducted so irregularly
and fraudulently that the true result cannot be ascertained, the whole return must be rejected. It is
impossible to make a list of all the frauds which will invalidate an election. Each case must rest upon its
own evidence. The rule, however, is so well established that authorities need no longer be cited in its
support, that whenever the irregularities and frauds are sufficient to defeat the will of the people of the
particular municipality or precinct, the entire vote should be rejected, and those who are guilty of such
frauds and irregularities should be punished to the very limit of the law.
Case 2: Leon Maquera VS Juan Borra and COMELEC G.R. No. L-24761 Sep. 7, 1965
Facts: Petitioner Leon Maquera – questioned the constitutionality of RA No. 4421, alleging that said law impose
property qualifications in order that a person could run for a public office and that the people could validly vote for
him. That every candidate has to pay the premium charged by bonding companies, and, to offer thereto, either his
own properties, worth, at least, the amount of the surety bond, or properties of the same worth, belonging to
other persons willing to accommodate him, by way of counter-bond in favor of said bonding companies;

RA No. 4421 - requires "all candidates for national, provincial, city and municipal offices" to post a surety bond
equivalent to the one-year salary or emoluments of the position to which he is a candidate, which bond shall be
forfeited in favor of the national, provincial, city or municipal government concerned if the candidate, except when
declared winner, fails to obtain at least 10% of the votes cast for the office to which he has filed his certificate of
candidacy, there being not more than four (4) candidates for the same office;"

COMELEC – in compliance with said RA No. 4421, decided to require all candidates for President, Vice-President,
Senator and Member of the House of Representatives to file a surety bond, by a bonding company of good
reputation, acceptable to the Commission, in the sums of P60,000.00 and P40,000.00, for President and Vice-
President, respectively, and P32,000.00 for Senator and Member of the House of Representatives;

Issue: WON said law is unconstitutional

Held: The Court declared RA No. 4421 unconsitutional.

Bengzon, JP. J. Concurring opinion - A democratic form of government requires that political rights be enjoyed by
the citizens regardless of social or economic distinctions. Such is our government. "The Philippines is a republican
state. Sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them." (See. 1, Art. II).
Clearly and solemnly, therefore, our citizenry have thus been given the supreme guaranty of a democratic way of
life, with all its freedom and limitations, all its rights and duties.

Among the political rights of a Filipino citizen is the right to vote and be voted for a public office. The Constitution
has given the right of suffrage to "citizens of the Philippines not otherwise disqualified by law who are twenty-one
years of age or over and are able to read and write, and who shall have resided in the Philippines for one year and
in the municipality wherein they propose to vote for at least six months preceding the election." (Sec. 1, Art. V.)

It should be noted that in the foregoing the deposits or fees are based on or constitute a certain percentage of the
yearly salary. The amount of the bond required by RA 4421 is, as noted, equal to the one-year salary or emolument
of the office. It is quite evident, therefore, that several or a considerable number of deserving, honest and sincere
prospective candidates for that office would be prevented from running in the election solely due to their being
less endowed with the material things in life. It is worth remembering that Section 48 of the Revised Election Code
provides: "No candidate shall spend for his election campaign more than the total amount of the emoluments for
one year attached to the office for which he is a candidate." Thus, the amount of a one-year salary is considered by
the law itself to be substantial enough to finance the entire election campaign of the candidate. For Congress,
therefore, to require such amount to be posted in the form of surety bond, with the danger of forfeiting the same
in the event of failure to obtain the required percentage of votes, unless there are more than four candidates,
places a financial burden on honest candidates that will in effect disqualify some of them who would otherwise
have been qualified and bona fide candidates.

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