The House of Representatives
Electoral Tribunal rejected the Supreme Court’s encroachment into its sole and
exclusive prerogative and upheld its jurisdiction over the disqualification cases
against Representative Regina O. Reyes of the lone Congressional District of
Marinduque Province. In a Resolution dated September 11, 2014, the HRET dismissed
the petition-in-intervention of Victor Vela Sioco insofar as it sought to
dismiss the disqualification cases against Rep. Reyes and for the HRET to
recognize the ruling of the Supreme Court in Reyes vs. COMELEC issued last June
25, 2013.
Echoing Section 17, Article VI of
the 1987 Philippine Constitution which it deems “clear and requires no further
statutory construction,” the HRET said that the “power to decide over cases
involving the election, returns and qualifications of Members of the House of
Representatives solely belongs to this Tribunal.” It said that the petitioners
in the quo warranto cases against Rep. Reyes questioning her eligibility
recognized the jurisdiction of the Tribunal when they filed the petitions with
the HRET.
The Tribunal branded as “highly
illogical” and “absurd” the ruling in Reyes vs. COMELEC requiring Rep. Reyes to
file a quo warranto petition with the HRET against herself such that she could
not have included in her Petition with the Supreme Court against the COMELEC
the issue of the validity of her proclamation and the Supreme Court could not therefore
have validly ruled on said issue. The HRET observed that the “Supreme Court was
only tasked if the COMELEC committed grave abuse of discretion when it issued
the aforementioned resolutions,” “it was never obligated, empowered or
petitioned to decide on the eligibility of Respondent (Reyes),” it “never acquired jurisdiction over the eligibility of
the Respondent” and “any resolution issued by the High Court involving the
eligibility of the Respondent could not overrule or undermine the exclusive and
original jurisdiction of this Tribunal.”
It declared that the “proclamation
of the candidate is the operative fact that serves as the demarcation line
separating the jurisdiction of the Comelec and the HRET” and it is the
proclamation that “vests exclusive and original jurisdiction to the HRET, to
exclusion of judicial and quasi-judicial entities including the Supreme Court.”
Such exclusive and original jurisdiction includes the determination of the
validity or invalidity of the proclamation of a candidate for the position of
Member of the House of Representatives.
The Tribunal observed that it is
undisputed that the May 14, 2013 Resolution of the Comelec was issued one (1)
days after the election and Rep. Reyes was proclaimed on May 18, 2013 before
the May 14, 2013 became final and executory. Citing the case of Gonzales vs.
Comelec, the Tribunal said that such proclamation of “the winning candidate
disvests the COMELEC of its jurisdiction over matters pending before it at the
time of the proclamation. The party questioning his qualification should now
present his case in a proper proceeding before the HRET, the constitutionally
mandated tribunal to hear and decide a case involving a Member of the House of
Representatives with respect to the latter’s election, returns and qualifications.”
The HRET also added that due process
demands that Rep. Reyes who garnered the highest number of the votes cast
during the election should be given the full opportunity to present her
evidence in a court of competent jurisdiction which is the HRET. It observed
that due process demands a “greater onus” on the part of the accuser to produce
“competent evidence,” not merely blog entries or photocopies of documents,
before she is disqualified. Neither is it satisfied by a Supreme Court ruling that
extends beyond the scope of the Petition filed by Rep. Reyes, especially one
that was “issued with abject haste merely 15 days from the filing of her
petition for certiorari.” The Tribunal concluded that both the petitioners and
the respondent are entitled to have a “final resolution” on the issue of the
eligibility of Rep. Reyes by the HRET which will not be obtained by a dismissal
of the petitions for quo warranto as prayed for by the intervenor.
To do otherwise would also result in
the disenfranchisement of the majority of the electorate. The Tribunal
concluded that “Rather than hastily dismissing the protests and abdicate the
authority, awesome responsibility and the exclusive and original jurisdiction
of this Tribunal to resolve the quo warranto petitions, it is prudent, legal
and just to proceed with the hearing of the petitions filed against the
respondent, especially since it would be unwise for this Tribunal to be callous
and lackadaisical in its determination of the merits of the petitions, considering
that the results of the elections in the Lone District of Marinduque reflect
the sovereign will of the people.”
Rep. Reyes won by almost four
thousand (4,000) votes in the May 2013 Congressional elections for the lone
district of Marinduque Province over her closest rival, Lord Allan Jay Q.
Velasco, the son of Supreme Court Justice Presbitero J. Velasco, Jr..
