PHILIP G. ROMUALDEZ, vs. REGIONAL TRIAL COURT, BRANCH 7, TACLOBAN CITY, DONATO ADVINCULA, BOARD OF ELECTION INSPECTORS, PRECINCT No. 9, MALBOG, TOLOSA, LEYTE, and the MUNICIPAL REGISTRAR COMELEC, TOLOSA, LEYTE.
- G.R. Number: G.R. No. 104960
- Promulgated: 1993-09-14
- Ponente: Vitug, J.
Doctrine
The Court gives primacy to resolving whether a voter voluntarily abandoned residence when voter‑status is at issue, treating that as a primordial consideration in exclusion cases.
Absence from the country and activities abroad do not, by themselves, sufficiently prove abandonment of domicile for purposes of disqualifying a voter; the Court found the record inadequate to show actual abandonment.
The right to vote is a precious political right and must be safeguarded; challenges to suffrage must be carefully examined and not lightly adjudged to abridge the franchise.
Facts
Petitioner Philip G. Romualdez left the Philippines after February 1986 and obtained asylum in the United States; while abroad he pursued studies (Leyte‑Samar development and international business finance).
Advincula filed a petition for exclusion of Romualdez from the voter list of Precinct No. 9, Malbog, Tolosa, Leyte; the MTC initially ruled Romualdez resident and denied the petition.
The respondent RTC reversed the MTC on 03 April 1992, finding Romualdez disqualified and ordering deletion of his name from the voters' list.
Romualdez appealed to the Supreme Court contesting (1) jurisdiction of MTC and RTC given petitioner Advincula's alleged lack of status as a registered voter, and (2) the finding that Romualdez voluntarily left and abandoned his residence.
Issues
Whether or not the MTC and RTC acquired jurisdiction over Case No. 01‑S. 1992 and Case No. 92‑03‑42, the petition having been filed by one who did not allege to be himself a registered voter of the municipality concerned.
Whether or not the respondent court erred in finding the petitioner to have voluntarily left the country and abandoned his residence in Malbog, Tolosa, Leyte.
Ruling
The Supreme Court found the petition meritorious and decided the central issue in favor of petitioner Romualdez, holding he did not abandon his residence; the RTC decision of 03 April 1992 is reversed and set aside, and the MTC decision of 28 February 1992 is reinstated with the TRO made permanent.
Keywords
G.R. No. 104960, EDSA People's Power Revolution of 1986, special civil action for certiorari, natural born citizen of the Philippines, Barangay Captain, Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL), asylum, U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, deportation, Commission on Election ("COMELEC"), Synchronized National and Local Election, voter registration, exclusion from the list of voters, BP 881, RA 7166, one-year residence in the Philippines, six-month residence in Tolosa, Omnibus Election Code, lack of jurisdiction, estoppel