The House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET) did not abuse its discretion when it ruled that it has no jurisdiction to declare as nuisance congressional candidate a certain Alvin John S. Tañada.
“The Court found that respondent HRET did not gravely abuse its discretion in declaring that it had no jurisdiction to determine whether respondent Alvin John Tañada was a nuisance candidate,” the high court said in a decision written by Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio made public Tuesday.
Liberal Party (LP) stalwart Wigberto “Toby” Tañada Jr. believed that Alvin John ran for the 2013 congressional elections and stole the votes from him.
The high court said the Commission on Elections (Comelec) decision canceling Alvin John’s certificate of candidacy (COC) has become final and executory.
The young Tañada lost to Angeline “Helen” Tan during the 2013 elections.
Tañada Jr., said “Alvin John Tañada was fielded to cause confusion among the voters, make a mockery of the electoral process and thwart the will of the people.”
READ: LP’s Tañada Jr. files protest in Quezon congressional race
With the cancellation of his COC, the votes for Alvin John will only be declared as stray vote.
The high court said Tañada should have moved that Alvin John be declared nuisance so that the votes casts for “Tanada” will be counted under his name.
However, the high court said the petition before the HRET to declare Alvin John as a nuisance candidate “was an afterthought, made only after respondent Tan had been proclaimed the winter.”
Alvin Tañada received a total of 7,038 votes. Once credited, Toby Tañada will end up with a total of 87,736 votes, overtaking Tan’s 84,782.
READ: Comelec annuls election of Quezon lawmaker
Comelec cancelled Alvin Tañada’s COC for lying about his residency qualifications. He claimed he had been a resident of the town of Gumaca for 24 years, however, Comelec later found he had not even resided in Quezon for a year.
By that time, however, Alvin Tañada’s name had already been printed on the ballot. RAM