RIVERA III versus COMELEC (G.R. No.

167591)
Facts:
A petition for cancellation of the COC of Marino Morales as mayoralty candidate in Mabalacat, Pampanga for the May
2004 mayoralty was filed on the ground that he had already served three consecutive terms in the office that he
seeks to run for.
However, Morales argues that this is not so because although he really served in 1995 1998 in his first term and
2004 2007 for his third term, he was merely a caretaker or de facto mayor in the year 1998 2001 for his said to be
second term that is because his election was declared void by the RTC due to an election protest.
COMELEC ruled that Morales already served his third term and after an MR was filed, declared it final and executory
on May 14, 2004.
Issue:
Whether or not Morales had already served his three consecutive terms and if so, who should take his position.
Held:
For the three term limit for elective government officials to apply, two conditions must concur to wit: 1.) that the official
concerned has been elected for three consecutive terms in the same local government post and 2.) that he has fully
served three consecutive terms.
As the issue whether a caretaker or de facto officer, he exercises the powers and enjoys the prerequisites of the
office which enables him to stay on indefinitely.
With regard to the person who will replace Morales, it is a rule that the ineligibility of a candidate receiving majority
votes does not entitle the eligible candidate receiving the next highest number of votes to be declared elected. A
minority or defeated candidate cannot be deemed elected to the office.
Since his disqualification became final and executory after the elections, the candidate having the second highest
number of votes cannot assume the position. Hence, it is the petitioner, the elected Vice Mayor Anthony Dee who
should be declared as the mayor.

AQUILINO Q. PIMENTEL, JR.

versus
JOINT COMMITTEE OF CONGRESS TO CANVASS THE VOTES FOR PRESIDENT & VICE PRESIDENT IN THE
MAY 10 2004 ELECTIONS
Facts:
By a petition for prohibition, Senator Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr. seeks a judgment declaring null and void the continued
existence of the Joint Committee of Congress to determine the authenticity and due execution of the certificates of

canvass and preliminarily canvass the votes cast for Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates in the May 10
2004 elections following the adjournment of Congress on June 11 2004.
The petition corollarily prays for the issuance of a writ of prohibition directing the Joint Committee to cease and desist
from conducting any further proceedings pursuant to the Rules of the Joint Public Session of Congress on
Canvassing.
Issue:
Whether or not legislative procedure, precedent or practice as borne out by the rules of both Houses of Congress
supports Pimentels arguments against the existence and proceedings of the Joint Committee of Congress after the
adjournment of Congress.
Held:
NO. Pimentels claim that his arguments are buttressed by legislative procedure, precedent or practice as borne out
by the rules of both Houses of Congress is directly contradicted by Section 42 of Rule XIV of the Rules adopted by
the Senate, of which he is an incumbent member.
Moreover, the precedents set by the 1992 and 1998 Presidential Elections do not support the move to stop the
ongoing canvassing by the Joint Committee. Thus, during the 1992 Presidential elections, both Houses of Congress
adjourned on 25 May 1992. Thereafter, on 22 June 1992, the Eight Congress convened in joint public session as the
National Board of Canvassers, and on even date proclaimed Fidel V. Ramos and Joseph Ejercito Estrada as
President and Vice President, respectively.

MITRA versus COMELEC (G.R. No. 191938)

Facts:
When his COC for the position of Governor of Palawan was declared cancelled, Mitra was the incumbent
Representative of the Second District of Palawan. This district then included, among other territories,
the Municipality of Aborlan and Puerto Princesa City.

He

was

elected

Representative

as

domiciliary

of Puerto Princesa City, and represented the legislative district for three (3) terms immediately before the elections of
2010.
On March 26, 2007 (or before the end of Mitras second term as Representative), Puerto PrincesaCity was
reclassified as a "highly urbanized city" and thus ceased to be a component city of theProvince of Palawan. The
direct legal consequence of this new status was the ineligibility of PuertoPrincesa City residents from voting for
candidates for elective provincial officials.
On March 20, 2009, with the intention of running for the position of Governor, Mitra applied for the transfer of his
Voters Registration Record from Precinct No. 03720 of Brgy. Sta. Monica, PuertoPrincesa City, to Sitio
Maligaya,Brgy. Isaub, Municipality of Aborlan, Province of Palawan. He subsequently filed his COC for the position of
Governor of Palawan as a resident of Aborlan.
Soon thereafter, respondents Antonio V. Gonzales and Orlando R. Balbon, Jr. (the respondents) filed a petition to
deny due course or to cancel Mitras COC.

Issue:
Whether or not Mitra is qualified to run for Governor of Palawan.
Held:
YES. Mitra is qualified to rum for the position as Governor of Palawan. The Supreme Court ruled that Mitra did not
misrepresent himself and that he met the residency requirement as mandated by the Constitution.
The election of Abraham Kahlil Mitra as governor of Palawan in the May 10, 2010 elections was upheld in a vote of
11-3. The respondents were not able to present a convincing case sufficient to overcome Mitras evidence of effective
transfer to and residence in Aborlan and the validity of his representation on this point in his COC. Likewise, the
"COMELEC could not present any legally acceptable basis to conclude that Mitras statement in his COC regarding
his residence was a misrepresentation."

SOCRATES versus COMELEC

Facts:
Edward Hagedorn has already served for three consecutive terms as mayor from 1992 to 2001. He did not run in the
immediately following regular elections. One July 2, 2002, the incumbent mayor, Socrates, faced a recall proceeding
and was asked to step down from office.
On August 23 of the same year, Hagedorn filed his COC for mayor in recall election. A petition for his disqualification
was filed by Socrates on the ground that he cannot run for the said post for his 4th consecutive term.
Issue:
Whether or not Hagedorn was qualified to run for the 2003 recall election.
Held:
YES. The court ruled that the rationale behind the three term rule was to prevent consecutiveness in holding office. In
the case of Edward Hagedorn, there was a break after the end of his third term and before the recall election.

FORNIER versus COMELEC

Facts:
Victorino X. Fornier, petitioner initiated a petition before the COMELEC to disqualify FPJ and to deny due course or to
cancel his certificate of candidacy upon the thesis that FPJ made a material misrepresentation in his certificate of
candidacy by claiming to be a natural-born Filipino citizen when in truth, according to Fornier, his parents were
foreigners; his mother, Bessie Kelley Poe, was an American, and his father, Allan Poe, was a Spanish national, being
the son of Lorenzo Pou, a Spanish subject. Granting, petitioner asseverated, that Allan F. Poe was a Filipino citizen,
he could not have transmitted his Filipino citizenship to FPJ, the latter being an illegitimate child of an alien mother.

Petitioner based the allegation of the illegitimate birth of respondent on two assertions - first, Allan F. Poe contracted
a prior marriage to a certain Paulita Gomez before his marriage to Bessie Kelley and, second, even if no such prior
marriage had existed, Allan F. Poe, married Bessie Kelly only a year after the birth of the respondent.

Issue:
Whether or Not FPJ is a natural born Filipino citizen.

Held:
It is necessary to take on the matter of whether or not respondent FPJ is a natural-born citizen, which, in turn,
depended on whether or not the father of respondent, Allan F. Poe, would have himself been a Filipino citizen and, in
the affirmative, whether or not the alleged illegitimacy of respondent prevents him from taking after the Filipino
citizenship of his putative father. Any conclusion on the Filipino citizenship of Lorenzo Pou could only be drawn from
the presumption that having died in 1954 at 84 years old, Lorenzo would have been born sometime in the year 1870,
when the Philippines was under Spanish rule, and that San Carlos, Pangasinan, his place of residence upon his
death in 1954, in the absence of any other evidence, could have well been his place of residence before death, such
that Lorenzo Pou would have benefited from the "en masse Filipinization" that the Philippine Bill had effected in 1902.
That citizenship (of Lorenzo Pou), if acquired, would thereby extend to his son, Allan F. Poe, father of respondent
FPJ. The 1935 Constitution, during which regime respondent FPJ has seen first light, confers citizenship to all
persons whose fathers are Filipino citizens regardless of whether such children are legitimate or illegitimate.
But while the totality of the evidence may not establish conclusively that respondent FPJ is a natural-born citizen of
the Philippines, the evidence on hand still would preponderate in his favor enough to hold that he cannot be held
guilty of having made a material misrepresentation in his certificate of candidacy in violation of Section 78, in relation
to Section 74, of the Omnibus Election Code.