TOPACIO V.

PAREDES

Facts:

A general election was held in the town of Imus,
Province of Cavite, to fill the office of municipal
president. The petitioner, Felipe Topacio, and the
respondent, Maximo Abad, were opposing candidates
for that office. Topacio received 430 votes, and Abad
281. Abad contested the election upon the sole ground
that Topacio was ineligible in that he was reelected the
second time to the office of the municipal president on
June 4, 1912, without the four years required by Act
No. 2045 having intervened.
induction into office of such person. This is clear from
The only question in this case which it necessary for us
to determine is whether or not the respondent judge
had jurisdiction, under the provisions of section 27 of
the Election Law, as amended by Act No. 2170, to
declare that no one was legally elected president of
Imus on June 4, 1912. In other words, have the Courts
of First Instance jurisdiction, under the above
provisions of law, to determine the eligibility of
candidates for office? It is admitted by all that the
contest under consideration was instituted in the Court
of First Instance of Cavite under those provisions and
that the only question raised or which could have been
raised by the pleadings in the proceedings in the court
Ruling:
This variation in the punctuation, however, is not
important, as any construction of a statute based upon
punctuation which is in conflict with the plain and
evident intent of the legislature cannot be sustained.
(Black, Int. of Laws, p. 185.) The Governor-General can
only exercise the power conferred upon him by this
paragraph in the internal between the election and the
the mere reading of the paragraph. Had it been
otherwise, the legislature would not have used the
words "governor-elect" and "third member elect." But
it is said that under the rule of strict construction as
above set forth, the word "ineligible" as used in the
paragraph under consideration, does not include those
disqualifications which are not derived from the
personal character of the individual, such as the one
mentioned in section 2 of Act No. 2045. That the
authority here conferred is special and statutory and
that its extent depends upon the terms of the grant,
there can be no question. That the power to declare
the office vacant has been granted cannot be doubted.
There is an express grant. It is restricted. The
paragraph is not ambiguous. Plain, ordinary language
is used.

below was whether or not Topacio was eligible to be

elected and to hold the office of municipal president.
Section 27 of Act No. 1582 as originally enacted reads:

Paragraph eight of section 12 of Act No. 1582 (as

amended) authorizes and empowers the Governor-
General, after an investigation as therein provided, to
declare the office of provincial governor or third
member vacant on account of the ineligibility of the
"governor-elect" or "third member elect."

It will be noted that "governor-elect" is a hyphenated

word, while "third member elect" is composed of three
independent word, and that the hypen is not used in
either of the above definitions.

Issue:

Whether or not the hyphenated word "governor-elect"

can be resorted to the construction