By Tetch Torres, Dona Pazzibugan
INQUIRER.net, Philippine Daily Inquirer
MANILA, Philippines – (UPDATE 2) The Supreme Court ruled that Joselito Mendoza remains as Bulacan Governor.
During its full court session Tuesday morning, the high court voted 9-4 with two abstentions to overrule the Commission on Elections en banc's March 5 decision declaring Roberto Pagdanganan as the official winner in the 2007 Bulacan gubernatorial elections.
In a decision penned by Associate Justice Jose Perez, the high court said the Comelec committed “grave abuse of discretion,” according to high court spokesman Jose Midas Marquez, who announced the court’s vote ahead of the release of the actual resolution.
At the same time, Marquez said, “We just want to avert any violence because based on reports, violence might erupt anytime in Bulacan”.
All 15 justices cast their vote, including Chief Justice Reynato Puno, who is on a two-week leave, said Marquez.
Marquez said the aggrieved party has 15 days to file an appeal.
The high court prioritized the Bulacan case after it issued a “status quo ante” order last March 11 to allow Mendoza to stay in his post pending the resolution of his petition to set aside the Comelec's order.
Mendoza asked the high court to issue a temporary restraining order or a status quo order and stop the Comelec from officially declaring Pagdanganan as Bulacan governor.
In its resolution, the Comelec Second Division, voting 3-3-1, granted Pagdanganan’s motion for immediate execution and directed the Department of the Interior and Local Government to implement its decision.
The Comelec declared that Pagdanganan got 342,295 votes as against Mendoza’s 337,974 for a vote margin of 4,321 votes.
Mendoza said that his petition was also meant to prevent bloodshed in the provincial capitol where there was rising tension between his and Pagdanganan’s supporters.
"There is something terribly wrong in the adjudication of the above case – both in the division level and in the en banc for which the honorable court should not allow to bear any further illicit consequences through the immediate issuance of a temporary restraining order/status quo ante order," Mendoza said, in his pleading.
Mendoza said under Rule 18, Section 6 of the Comelec's rules of procedure, as pointed out in Commissioner Rene Sarmiento's dissent, since no majority was reached, the election protest filed against him by Pagdanganan "should have been dismissed after no majority vote was obtained by the respondent after rehearing".
Mendoza filed the supplemental petition after the Comelec en banc issued an order March 5, denying his motion for reconsideration and affirming its order granting Pagdanganan’s motion for immediate execution of its decision to have him installed as Bulacan governor and for the incumbent to cease and desist from performing the functions of the office.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
