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Election Lawyer explains

decision on Duterte COC
validity
TOPICS: 2016 Elections

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Duterte

Legal Issues

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POSTED BY: THINKING PINOY DECEMBER 17, 2015
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What exactly happened this morning? Isthe decision

on Dutertes COC final? Is the case dismissed or what? Unfortunately, webhosting
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An election lawyer gives his legal opinion on the
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Is this decision consistent

with law and established
jurisprudence?
Yes, this recent COMELEC decision is in accord
with law and jurisprudence.
First, there was a valid notice of withdrawal by
Martin Dio and a valid COC filed by Duterte, who
are both members/nominees of PDP-Laban.

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The law and COMELEC Rules allows an official

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candidate of a duly registered political party or
coalition to withdraw his candidacy and be
substituted by a candidate belonging to and
nominated by the same political party/coalition,
as long as the process is done before December 10,
2015. (Section 77 of the Omnibus Election Code,
LOOKING FOR SOMETHING?
COMELEC Resolution No. (COM. Res.) 9984).
Second, there is no express prohibition for a
substituted candidate (Duterte being substituted
by Sara for Davao Mayor) to file a COC as
substitute for someone else (i.e., for Duterte to
substitute for Dio as candidate for President).

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Relevant Provision:
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Discourse
Candidates in case of death, disqualification or
withdrawal of another.

2 Friends discuss Rody Duterte

and Mar Roxas

If after the last day for the filing of certificates of

candidacy, an official candidate of a registered
or accredited political party dies, withdraws or is
disqualified for any cause, only a person
belonging to, and certified by, the same political
party may file a certificate of candidacy to
replace the candidate who died, withdrew or was
disqualified. The substitute candidate
nominated by the political party concerned may
file his certificate of candidacy for the office
affected in accordance with the preceding
sections not later than mid-day of the day of the

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election.
If the death, withdrawal or disqualification
should occur between the day before the

RECENT COMMENTS

election and mid-day of election day, said

certificate may be filed with any board of

Never trust a person who

election inspectors in the political subdivision

doesn't have a dark side. Sa

where he is a candidate, or, in the case of

ngayon kasi puro ...More

candidates to be voted for by the entire

Dina Langon 2 Friends on

electorate of the country, with the Commission.

Claudine, Rico Yan,

Napoles, and Freedom of

What happens next? How

will the COMELEC 1 Division
verify intrinsic validity?
st

The next step is for COMELEC to dismiss the

disqualification case against Duterte .
Per todays announcement, Martin Dios COC is

Information - January 2,
2016
The law is part of the
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not void, legally inexistent, and without legal

effect as alleged by broadcast journalistRuben
Castor.

yAN ANG PROBLEMA NG

SISTEMA NATIN KAYA
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CONGRESS AT ...More
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ano kaya ang masasabe ng
friend mo na pro Mar??

First, the clerical error in Dinos COC is a simple

innocuous mistake. It does not amount to
material misrepresentation, which is the exclusive
ground for a valid petition to deny due course to
or to cancel a COC under Section 78 of the
Omnibus Election Code.
Second, material misrepresentation means there
should be a deliberate attempt to mislead,
misinform, or hide a fact that would otherwise
render a candidate ineligible. (Mitra v. COMELEC,
GR No. 191938, July 2, 2010) 3. The question of
eligibility centers only on the qualifications to be
a President: natural-born citizen, registered voter,
able to read and write, at least 40 years of age on
the day of the election, and 10-year residency.

Relevant Provisions:
Omnibus Election Code, Section 78

Pero ang galing mo talaga!

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Business Islands,

Omnibus Election Code, Section 78

Industrialization,
Food Security,
Education

Petition to deny due course to or cancel a

certificate of candidacy. A verified
petition seeking to deny due course or to
cancel a certificate of candidacy may be
filed by the person exclusively on the
ground that any material representation
contained therein as required under Section
74 hereof is false.
The petition may be filed at any time not
later than twenty-five days from the time of
the filing of the certificate of candidacy and
shall be decided, after due notice and
hearing, not later than fifteen days before
the election.

Mitra v. COMELEC, GR NO. 191938, JULY

2, 2010

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Discuss2016

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zationCorruptionDavao

CityDebateDutertards

DuterteDZMMDZMM

Ikaw na baEconomic

EconomyExtrajudicia

The false representation under Section 78

Policy

must likewise be a deliberate attempt to

l KillingsFilipino

mislead, misinform, or hide a fact that

would otherwise render a candidate

PrideFoIGrace

ineligible. Given the purpose of the

PoeInclusive

requirement, it must be made with the

GrowthInvestigative

intention to deceive the electorate as to the

would-be candidates qualifications for

ReportsJejomar

public office. Thus, the misrepresentation

BinayLegal

that Section 78 addresses cannot be the

IssuesLiberal

result of a mere innocuous mistake, and

cannot exist in a situation where the intent
to deceive is patently absent, or where no

PartyMar

deception on the electorate results. The

RoxasMiriam

deliberate character of the

Defensor-

misrepresentation necessarily follows from

SantiagoNapolesOplan

a consideration of the consequences of any

material falsity: a candidate who falsifies a
material fact cannot run; if he runs and is
elected, he cannot serve; in both cases, he
can be prosecuted for violation of the
election laws.

Lambat-SibatPeace

and

OrderPlatformPolitical
Political

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Presidentia

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The Actual Announcement

l
Candidates

Put*ng
Earlier today, it was reported that COMELEC, voting
In* MoQuestion and
6-1 decided to accept the certificate of candidacy
(COC) of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Rody Duterte
AnswerTerritorial
for the presidency, without prejudice to the pending
DisputesWhartonWharton MBA
disqualification case against Duterte based on an error
in the COC of Martin Dino, whom Duterte is
substituting for.
ARCHIVES

The decision states:

December 2015(37)
November 2015(5)

The Commission, voting 6 to 1, resolved to

acknowledge and accept the Certificate of

DISCLAIMER:

Candidacy for President of Rodrigo R. Duterte,

being a ministerial function of the commission,
but this is entirely without prejudice to the
pending disqualification case in SPA No. 15-194
entitled Ruben H. Castor versus Martin Dino,
Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte, and Partido ng
Demokratikong Pilipino LABAN, or any other
case that may be filed against him. Let the law
department implement this resolution. So
ordered,

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opinions expressed in this
ThinkingPinoy.com and its

After the announcement, members of the media who

were in the conference hall barraged COMELEC
Chairman Andres Bautista as to what the
announcement means.
The COMELEC 1st Division, headed byCommissioner
Christian Robert Lim, will decide on the intrinsic
validity of the case.
Bautista gave a very cautious and still enigmatic
explanation, as it essentially used the same words as
the formal announcement.
COMELEC 1st Division presiding Commissioner
Christian Robert Lim joined the discussion to help
clarify the decision.
But when you go to the intrinsic issues, whether
totoo ba yung sinasabi niya sa COC, yon ang nasa
kaso. Hanggang doon lang ang limitation as to the

associated social media

accounts are TP's own and
do not necessarily reflect
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administrative aspect of the COMELEC. There was a

compliance with matters of form. But in terms of the
intrinsic validity of the COC, thats the subject of the
(Castor) case, Lim said.
The said division will decide on the intrinsic validity
of the case.
For the public to have a better understanding of what
happened, I consulted an election lawyer who has
been monitoring this case from the onset. The said
election lawyer wishes not to be identified for lack of
official authority to discuss the case (sub judice rule).
The said division will meet at 10 AM tomorrow,
December 18th, to decide on the Castor case.
Aside from Duterte, presidential aspirant Senator
Grace Poe is also facing disqualification cases.
A video recording of the said conference is embedded
below: