Tolentino vs.

COMELEC
- kring zamora group 3Jan 21 2004
Parties
: - Petitioners: Arturo Tolentino, Arturo Mojica- Respondents: COMELEC, Ralph Recto, Gregorio
Honasan- Ponente: Carpio
Background
:This is a petition for prohibition to set aside the COMELECs Resolutions which proclaimed official and
final the 13candidates elected as Senators in the May 14 2001 elections.
Facts of the Case
In Feb 2001, a Senate seat f or a term e xp iring on June 30 2004 was vacated w/ the
appo intmen t of then Sen. Guingona as VP of the PI.The Senat e then adopted Re solut ion #84
wc:
1) certif ied the e xist ence of a vacancy in the Senate &
2) called the COMELEC to fill up the said vacancy through a special election to be held simultaneously
w/ the regular election onMay 14 2001, and 3) declared the senatorial candidate garnering the 13
thhighest number of votes shall serve only for t h e u n e x p i r e d t e r m o f f o r m e r
Sen. Guingona. Accdg to the Senate, this Resolutn is for
t h e g u i d a n c e & implementatn of the COMELEC, &that it had NO discretion to alter the said
procedure.Nobod y f ile d a certif icate of cand idacy to f ill the position of sena tor to serve
the une xp ired 3yr te rm in the sp ecial electn. All the senatorial candidates filed the certificates of
candidacy for the 12 regular Senate seats w/ a 6yr termeach. COMELEC distributed nationwide official
documents (eg Voter Info Sheet, List of Candidates, Sample Ballot).The List of Candidates DID NOT
provide 2 different categories of Senate seats to be voted, namely the 12 regular 6-year term seats & the
single 3-year term seat. Nor did the ballots provide a separate space for the candidate to bevoted in the
special election & instead provided 13 spaces for 13 senatorial seats.Without any COMELEC
resolution/notice on the time, place & manner of the special election, the special election washeld on the
scheduled May 14 2001 regular elections.A single canvassing of votes for a single list of senatorial
candidates was also done.Petitioners assailed the manner by which the special election was conducted
for violating the precedents set by the1951 & 1955 special elections, both of wc were held simultaneously
& yet distinctly w/ the regular general elections.Thus, they pray that the Court declare that 1) NO special
elections were held & that 2) Comelecs Resolutions thatproclaim the Senatorial candidate who obtained
the 13th highest # of votes as a duly elected be declared NULL&VOID
Issue/s
Procedural Issues
: 1) WON the Court has no jurisdiction over the matter bec respondents say it is a
quowarranto proceeding
(a proceeding wc determines the right of a public officer in the exercise of his office & to ousthim from it if
his claim is not well-founded), where only the Senate Electoral Tribunal can serve as judge.2) WON the
petition is MOOT3) WON the petitioner have locus standi
Substantive Issue
: WON a special election to fill a vacant 3-yr term Senate seat was validly held on May14 2001, despite
the lack of a call for such an election & for lack of notice from COMELEC
Ratio Decidendi
The petition HAS NO MERIT.
Procedural Issues
: 1) YES, the Cou rt can properly exercise ju risd iction bec wh at the pet it ione rs a re
que stioning here is the validity of the special election in wc Honasan was elected, NOT his right in the
exercise of his office asSenator. His election is merely incidental to the petitioners case of action.2)
A lthou gh the petition ma y be moot, it is no bar for the Cou rt to decide on it s re solution
bec the qu est ion of the validity of a special election is likely to be repeated3 ) YE S, the Court
sha ll be libe ra l in applying its rule of lo cus stand i bec the issues raised are of

t ran scenden tal significance & paramount importance to the people, for it involves the peoples right
for suffrage.