G.R. No. 174551 , March 7, 2007
MAYOR SALIP ALOY JAINAL, Petitioner, vs. COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS, JULHATAB J. TALIB, and HUSSIN AHAJAN, Respondents.

FACTS

Petitioner Salip Aloy Jainal and private respondent Julhatab J. Talib were candidates for Mayor of Indanan, Sulu in the 2004 elections. Jainal was proclaimed winner. Talib filed a pre-proclamation case (SPC No. 04-169) with the COMELEC, seeking the annulment of election returns from 21 precincts. Talib alleged these returns were manufactured, lacked signatures of the Board of Election Inspectors and watchers, and in two precincts, the votes cast exceeded the number of voters. The Municipal Board of Canvassers failed to file an answer. Talib presented an affidavit from two MBC members stating they were reassigned, found some returns materially incomplete, and others bore erasures.
The COMELEC 2nd Division annulled the returns from nine precincts and consequently annulled Jainal’s proclamation, ordering a recount or special election. Jainal’s motion for reconsideration was denied by the COMELEC en banc, which modified the ruling by validating one precinct’s return. Jainal filed this certiorari petition. Vice-Mayor Hussin Ahajan was included as a respondent, as he would assume the mayoralty vacancy, and he questioned a subsequent COMELEC order that directed him to cease from acting as Mayor.

ISSUE

The primary issue is whether the COMELEC committed grave abuse of discretion in annulling the election returns and Jainal’s proclamation in the pre-proclamation case.

RULING

The Supreme Court granted the petition, annulling the COMELEC resolutions. The Court ruled that the COMELEC committed grave abuse of discretion. The grounds raised by Talib—the alleged manufactured returns, absence of signatures, and excess votes—involved the authenticity and due execution of the returns, which are issues that require the examination of evidence aliunde (external evidence) and a determination of the validity of the ballots themselves. Under settled jurisprudence, such issues are properly adjudicated in a regular election protest, not in a pre-proclamation controversy. A pre-proclamation case is summary in nature and limited to challenges based on the face of the returns or the canvassing proceedings. By annulling the returns based on extrinsic evidence and allegations requiring a thorough examination of ballots, the COMELEC exceeded its jurisdiction in a pre-proclamation context. The proper recourse for Talib was to file an election protest. Consequently, the COMELEC’s orders for a recount or special election were void. The Court reinstated Jainal’s proclamation as the duly elected Mayor.