SC unseats Philip Pichay as Surigao del Sur rep. over ineligibility
Philip Pichay. SCREENGRAB from House of Representatives website
The Supreme Court has unseated Philip Pichay as Surigao del Sur 1st District Representative and declared Mary Elizabeth Ty-Delgado as the winner in the May 2013 elections.
In its ruling, the high court reversed the decision of the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET).
“We reverse and set aside the decision dated March 18, 2015 and resolution dated August 3, 2015 of the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal. Respondent Philip Pichay is ineligible to hold and serve the office of member of the House of Representatives for the First Legislative District of Surigao del Sur. Petitioner Mary Elizabth Ty-Delgado is declared the winner for the position of the member of the House of Representatives for the First Legislative District of Surigao del Sur in the May 13, 2013 elections,” the high court said in a decision written by Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said.
The case stemmed when Ty-Delgado sought the disqualification of Pichay under Section 12 of the Omnibus Election Code on the ground that the latter had been convicted of libel, a crime involving moral turpitude.
She argued that when respondent Pichay paid the fine last February 17, 2011, the five-year period barring him to be a candidate had yet to lapse.
Meanwhile, Pichay argued that while he was convicted of libel, it is not a crime involving moral turpitude and that he did not perform the acts that constituted libel and that his liability arose only out of his being publisher of a publishing company.
Pichay was earlier proclaimed as the winner in the congressional race after obtaining a total of 76,870 votes.
In its 2015 decision, the HRET concluded that Pichay had no hand in writing the libelous publication and thus the convictions were not for a crime involving moral turpitude.
However, the high court said Section 12, Paragraph 2 of the Omnibus Election Code provides a five-year period from service after which the disqualification is deemed removed.
The high court said Pichay had admitted the convictions for libel in Tulfo v. People, even as it also noted that another libelous article had been published after the filing of the complaint which indicates malice.
It added that the law provides that all those charged with libel shall be punished to the same extent, thus leaving no room for differentiation.
“Paragraph 2 of the Omnibus Election Code provides a five year period from service after which the disqualification is deemed removed. Respondent Pichay served his sentence when he paid the fine on February 17, 2011; the five year period ends only on February 16, 2016. Thus, as of the date of filing of candidacy and the election, he remained disqualified,” the high court said.
The en banc decision explained that Pichay made a false material representation as to his eligibility when he filed his certificate of candidacy, owing to his ineligibility due to his disqualification.
“On October 9, 2012, respondent Pichay was still ineligible to run and should have stated so in his Certificate of Candidacy. His representation that he was eligible to run despite his disqualification was a material representation as to his qualification or eligibility for the office,” the high court further said.
In reversing the HRET decision, the high court said it committed grave abuse of discretion when it failed to disqualify Pichay for his conviction for libel, a crime involving moral turpitude.
“Since Pichay’s ineligibility existed on the day he filed his certificate of candidacy, he was never a valid candidate for the position and his votes are considered stray votes. Thus, the qualified candidate for the position of Member of the House for the First Legislative District for Surigao del Sur who received the highest number of valid votes shall be declared the winner. Based on the Provincial Canvass Report, that person is petitioner Mary Elizabeth Ty-Delgado,” the high court said.
Associate Justices Presbitero Velasco, Diosdado Peralta and Lucas Bersamin did not take part in the voting as they were members of the HRET. RAM
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