eLlLlonConsolldaLed peLlLlons for cerLlorarl1

seeklng Lhe reversal of Lhe resoluLlons lssued by Lhe

Commlsslon on LlecLlons (eLlLlonConsolldaLed
peLlLlons for cerLlorarl1 seeklng Lhe reversal of Lhe
resoluLlons lssued by Lhe Commlsslon on LlecLlons
(CCMLLLC)for brevlLy) ln relaLlon Lo Lhe recall
elecLlon for mayor of uerLo rlncesa ClLy alawan
ku||ng 1he peLlLlons ln C8 nos 134312 134683
and 13308384 are ulSMlSSLu1he Lemporary
resLralnlng order lssued by Lhls CourL on SepLember
24 2002 en[olnlng Lhe proclamaLlon of Lhe wlnnlng
candldaLe for mayor of uerLo rlncesa ln Lhe recall
elecLlon of SepLember 24 2002 ls llfLed
IAC1S
C8 no 134312eLlLloner SocraLes seeks Lo nulllfy
Lhe CCMLLLC en banc resoluLlon daLed AugusL14
2002 ln LM no 02010 (8C) whlch gave due course
Lo Lhe 8ecall 8esoluLlonand scheduled Lhe recall
elecLlon on SepLember 7 2002SocraLes alleges LhaL
Lhe CCMLLLC gravely abused lLs dlscreLlon ln
upholdlng Lhe8ecall 8esoluLlon SocraLes clLes Lhe
followlng clrcumsLances as legal lnflrmlLles aLLendlng
Lhe convenlng of Lhe 8A and lLs lssuance of Lhe
8ecall 8esoluLlon (1) noL all members of Lhe 8A
were noLlfled of Lhe meeLlng Lo adopL Lhe
resoluLlon (2) Lhe proof of servlce of noLlce was
palpably and legally deflclenL(3) Lhe members of Lhe
8A were Lhemselves seeklng a new elecLoral
mandaLe fromLhelr respecLlve consLlLuenLs (4) Lhe
adopLlon of Lhe resoluLlon was exerclsedwlLh grave
abuse of auLhorlLy and (3) Lhe 8A proceedlngs
were conducLed ln a manner LhaL vlolaLed hls and
Lhe publlc's consLlLuLlonal rlghL Lo lnformaLlon
C8 no 134683eLlLloner vlcenLe S Sandoval !r
seeks Lo annul CCMLLLC 8esoluLlon no 3673 daLed
AugusL 21 2002 lnsofar as lL flxed Lhe recall elecLlon
on SepLember 7 2002 glvlng Lhe candldaLes only
a Lenday campalgn perlod Pe prayed LhaL
Lhe CCMLLLC be en[olned from holdlng Lhe recall
elecLlon on SepLember 7 2002 and LhaLa new daLe
be flxed glvlng Lhe candldaLes aL leasL an addlLlonal
13 days Lo campalgnln a resoluLlon daLed
SepLember 3 2002 Lhe CourL en banc en[olned Lhe
CCMLLLCfrom lmplemenLlng 8esoluLlon no 3673
lnsofar as lL flxed Lhe daLe of Lhe recallelecLlon
on SepLember 7 2002 1he CourL dlrecLed Lhe
CCMLLLC Lo glve Lhe candldaLes an addlLlonal
flfLeen 13 days from SepLember 7 2002 wlLhln whlch
Lo campalgnAccordlngly on SepLember 9 2002 Lhe
CCMLLLC en banc lssued 8esoluLlon no 3708 glvlng
Lhe candldaLes an addlLlonal 13 days from
SepLember 7 2002 wlLhln whlch Lo campalgn 1hus
Lhe CCMLLLC reseL Lhe recall elecLlon Lo
SepLember 24 2002
C8 nos 13308384eLlLloners Adovo Cllo and
Cllave assall Lhe CCMLLLC
s resoluLlons daLed SepLember 20 2002 and
SepLember 23 2002 ln SA nos 02492 and 02339
declarlng Pagedorn qua||f|ed to run for mayor |n
the reca|| e|ect|on 1hey llkewlse prayed forLhe
lssuance of a Lemporary resLralnlng order Lo en[oln
Lhe proclamaLlon of Lhewlnnlng candldaLe ln Lhe
recall elecLloneLlLloners argue LhaL Lhe CCMLLLC
grave|y abused |ts d|scret|on |n upho|d|ng
nagedorn's qua||f|cat|on to run for mayor |n the
reca|| e|ect|on desplLe Lhe consLlLuLlonal and
sLaLuLory prohlblLlons agalnsL a fourth consecut|ve
Lerm for elecLlve local offlclalsln a resoluLlon daLed
SepLember 24 2002 Lhe CourL ordered Lhe
CCMLLLC Lo deslsL from proclalmlng any wlnnlng
candldaLe ln Lhe recall elecLlon unLll furLher orders
from Lhe CourL eLlLloners were requlred Lo posL
a 20000 bondCn SepLember 27 2002 Socrates
f||ed a mot|on for |eave to f||e an attached pet|t|on
for |ntervent|on seek|ng the same re||efs as those
sought by Adovo G||o and C||aveIn Lhe meanLlme
Pagedorn garnered Lhe hlghesL number of voLes ln
Lhe recall elecLlon wlLh 20238 voLes 8lval
candldaLes SocraLes and Sandoval
obLalned 17220voLes and 13241 voLes
respecLlvelyPagedorn flled moLlons Lo llfL Lhe order
resLralnlng Lhe CCMLLLC from proclalmlng Lhe
wlnnlng candldaLe and Lo allow hlm Lo assume offlce
Lo glve effecL Lo Lhewlll of Lhe elecLoraLeCn CcLober
1 2002 Lhe CourL granLed SocraLes
moLlon for leave Lo flle a peLlLlon for lnLervenLlon
ISSULS 1 ln C8 no 134312 whether the
CCMLLLC commlLLed grave abuse of dlscreLlon ln
glvlng due course Lo Lhe 8ecall 8esoluLlon and
schedullng Lhe recall elecLlon for mayor of uerLo
rlncesa2 ln C8 nos13308384 whether
nagedorn ls quallfled Lo run for mayor ln Lherecall
elecLlon of uerLo rlncesa on SepLember 24
2002ln C8 no 134683 Lhe lssue of wheLher Lhe
CCMLLLC commlLLed grave abuse of dlscreLlon ln
flxlng a campalgn perlod of only 10 days has become
mooL Cur 8esoluLlon of SepLember 3 2002 and
CCMLLLC 8esoluLlon no 3708 granLed an
addlLlonal13 days for Lhe campalgn perlod as prayed
for by peLlLloner
nLLD
I|rst Issue valldlLy of Lhe 8ecall
8esoluLloneLlLloner SocraLes argues LhaL Lhe
CCMLLLC commlLLed grave abuse of dlscreLlonln
upholdlng Lhe 8ecall 8esoluLlon desplLe Lhe absence
of noLlce Lo 130 8A members and Lhe
defecLlve servlce of noLlce Lo oLher 8A
members 1he CCMLLLC however found LhaL
Cn varlous daLes ln Lhe monLh of !une 2002 Lhe
proponenLs for Lhe 8ecall of lncumbenL ClLy Mayor
vlcLorlno uennls M SocraLes senL noLlces of Lhe
convenlng ofLhe 8A Lo Lhe members Lhereof
pursuanL Lo SecLlon 70 of Lhe Local CovernmenL
Code Coples of Lhe sald noLlce are ln volumes l and
ll enLlLled noLlces Lo 8A Llkewlse roof of Servlce
for each of Lhe sald noLlces were aLLached Lo Lhe
eLlLlon and marked as Annex g
of volumes ll and lll of Lhe eLlLlonnoLlces were
||kew|se posted |n consp|cuous p|aces part|cu|ar|y
at the 8arangayna|| noLlces of Lhe convenlng of Lhe
uerLo rlncesa 8A were also senL Lo Lhefollowlng
a llsL of 23 names of provlnclal elecLlve offlclals
prlnL and broadcasL medla pracLlLloners n
offlclals CCMLLLC clLy reglonal and naLlonal
offlclals and ulLC offlclals1hls CourL ls bound by
Lhe flndlngs of facL of Lhe CCMLLLC on maLLers
wlLhln LhecompeLence and experLlse of Lhe
CCMLLLC unless Lhe flndlngs are paLenLly
erroneous hus we rule LhaL Lhe CCMLLLC d|d not
comm|t grave abuse of dlscreLlon lnupholdlng Lhe
valldlLy of Lhe 8ecall 8esoluLlon and ln schedullng
Lhe recall elecLlon on SepLember 24 2002Second
Issue Pagedorn's quallflcaLlon Lo run for mayorln
summary we hold LhaL Pagedorn ls quallfled Lo run
ln Lhe SepLember 24 2002recall elecLlon for mayor
of uerLo rlncesa because

1 Pagedorn ls not runn|ng for |mmed|ate ree|ect|on
followlng hls Lhree consecuLlve Lerms as mayor
whlch ended on !une 30 20012 Pagedorn' s
conLlnulLy of servlce as mayor was |nvo|untar||y
|nterrupted from !une 30 2001 Lo SepLember 24
2002 durlng whlch Llme he was a prlvaLe clLlzen3
Pagedorn's recall Lerm from SepLember 24 2002 Lo
!une 30 2004 cannoL be madeLo reLroacL Lo !une 30
2001 Lo make a fourLh consecuLlve Lerm because
facLuallyLhe recall Lerm ls noL a fourLh consecuLlve
Lerm and4 1erm llmlLs should be consLrued sLrlcLly
Lo glve Lhe fullesL posslble effecLLo Lhe rlghL of Lhe
elecLoraLe Lo choose Lhelr leaders