Mayor Gamal Hayudini vs COMELEC and Mustapha Omar G.R. No.

207900 April 22, 2014

FACTS:

Hayudini filed his Certificate of Candidacy (CoC) for the position of Municipal Mayor of South Ubian,
Tawi-Tawi in the May 13, 2013 elections. Ten days after, Omar filed a Petition to Deny Due Course or
Cancel Hayudini’s CoC asserting that Hayudini should be disqualified for making false representation
regarding his residence, that Hayudini is not a resident of the Municipality of South Ubian but of
Zamboanga City. Thereafter, Hayudini filed a Petition for Inclusion in the Permanent List of Voters in
Barangay Bintawlan, South Ubian before the MCTC which granted his petition despite the opposition of
Ignacio Aguilar Baki. On same day, the COMELEC’s First Division dismissed Omar’s earlier petition to
cancel Hayudini’s CoC for lack of substantial evidence. Oppositor Baki, elevated the case to the RTC
which reversed MCTC’s ruling and ordered the deletion of Hayudini’s name in the permanent list of
voters. In view of said decision, Omar filed before the COMELEC a Petition to Cancel the CoC of
Hayudini. Hayudini won the mayoralty race in South Ubian, Tawi-Tawi, and was proclaimed and took his
oath of office. Later on, the COMELEC Second Division granted Omar’s second petition to cancel
Hayudini’s CoC. Hayudini, filed a Motion for Reconsideration with the COMELEC En Banc but was denied
for lack of merit.

ISSUE: Whether Public Respondent committed grave abuse of discretion when it resolved to cancel
Petitioner’s CoC and declare his proclamation as null and void.

RULING: NO. The COMELEC was accurate in cancelling Hayudini’s CoC. Under Section 74 of the OEC, it is
required that a candidate must certify under oath that he is eligible for the public office he seeks
election. When petitioner stated in his CoC that he is a resident of Barangay Bintawlan, South Ubian,
Tawi Tawi and eligible for a public office, but it turned out that he was declared to be a non-resident
thereof in a petition for his inclusion in the list of registered voters, he therefore committed a false
representation in his CoC which pertained to a material fact which is a ground for the cancellation of his
CoC under Section 78 of the OEC. As held in Aratea v. COMELEC, a cancelled CoC void ab initio cannot
give rise to a valid candidacy, and much less to valid votes. Whether a CoC is cancelled before or after
the elections is immaterial, because the cancellation on such ground means he was never a candidate
from the very beginning, his CoC being void ab initio. Since the winning mayoralty candidate's CoC was
void ab initio, he was never a candidate at all and all his votes were considered stray votes, and thus,
proclaimed the second placer, the only qualified candidate, who actually garnered the highest number
of votes, for the position of Mayor. Since Hayudini was never a valid candidate for the position of the
Municipal Mayor of South Ubian, Tawi-Tawi, the votes cast for him should be considered stray votes.
Consequently, the COMELEC properly proclaimed Salma Omar, who garnered the highest number of
votes in the remaining qualified candidates for the mayoralty post, as the duly-elected Mayor of South
Ubian, Tawi Tawi.