DIGEST/ LINALYN BATION/ LORD ALLAN JAY Q. VELASCO vs HON. SPEAKER FELICIANO R. BELMONTE, JR., SECRETARY GENERAL MARILYN B. BARUA-YAP AND REGINA ONGSIAKO REYES

 

G.R. No. 211140

LORD ALLAN JAY Q. VELASCO, Petitioner,
vs.
HON. SPEAKER FELICIANO R. BELMONTE, JR., SECRETARY GENERAL MARILYN B. BARUA-YAP AND REGINA ONGSIAKO REYES, Respondents.

 

FACTS:

          Petitioner, Velasco filed a petition for mandamus under Rule 65 of the Rules of Court against Hon. Feliciano R. Belmonte, Jr. (Speaker Belmonte, Jr.), Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Marilyn B. Barua-Yap (Sec. Gen. Barua-Yap), Secretary General, House of Representatives, and Hon. Regina Ongsiako Reyes (Reyes), Representative, Lone District of the Province of Marinduque.

          Petitioner principally alleges that he is the "legal and rightful winner during the May 13, 2013 elections in accordance with final and executory resolutions of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) and thus he seeks the following reliefs:

(1) WRIT OF MANDAMUS against Hon. Speaker Belmonte, Jr be issued ordering said respondent to administer the proper OATH in favor of petitioner and allow petitioner to assume the position of representative for Marinduque and exercise the powers and prerogatives of said position of Marinduque representative; 

(2) WRIT OF MANDAMUS against Secretary-general Barua-Yap, be issued ordering said respondent to remove the name of Regina 0. Reyes in the Roll of Members of the House of Representatives and to register the name of petitioner in her stead;

(3) that a TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER be issued to restrain, prevent and prohibit respondent Regina Ongsiako Reyes from usurping the position of Member of the House of Representatives for the Lone District of Marinduque and from further exercising the prerogatives of said position and performing the duties pertaining thereto, and directing her to immediately vacate said position.

      

    Tan, a registered voter and resident of the Municipality of Torrijos, Marinduque, filed with the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) a petition to deny due course or cancel the Certificate of Candidacy (COC) of Reyes as candidate for the position of Representative of the Lone District of the Province of Marinduque. In his petition, Tan alleged that Reyes made several material misrepresentations in her COC, i.e., "(i) that she is a resident of Brgy. Lupac, Boac, Marinduque; (ii) that she is a natural-born Filipino citizen; (iii) that she is not a permanent resident of, or an immigrant to, a foreign country; (iv) that her date of birth is July 3, 1964; (v) that her civil status is single; and finally (vi) that she is eligible for the office she seeks to be elected to."

           The COMELEC First Division resolved to grant the petition; hence, Reyes's COC was accordingly cancelled.

 

ISSUE:

          Whether or not a writ of mandamus to compel Speaker Belmonte, Jr. and Sec. Gen. Barua-Yap to perform specific acts is proper

 

RULING:

          Yes. The petition has merit. After a painstaking evaluation of the allegations in this petition, it is readily apparent that this special civil action is really one for mandamus and not a quo warranto case, contrary to the asseverations of the respondents.

          A petition for quo warranto is a proceeding to determine the right of a person to the use or exercise of a franchise or office and to oust the holder from its enjoyment, if his claim is not well-founded, or if he has forfeited his right to enjoy the privilege. Where the action is filed by a private person, he must prove that he is entitled to the controverted position; otherwise, respondent has a right to the undisturbed possession of the office.

          Section 3, Rule 65 of the Rules of Court, as amended, provides that any person may file a verified petition for mandamus "when any tribunal, corporation, board, officer or person unlawfully neglects the performance of an act which the law specifically enjoins as a duty resulting from an office, trust, or station, or unlawfully excludes another from the use and enjoyment of a right or office to which such other is entitled, and there is no other plain, speedy and adequate remedy in the ordinary course of law." A petition for mandamus will prosper if it is shown that the subject thereof is a ministerial act or duty, and not purely discretionary on the part of the board, officer or person, and that the petitioner has a well-defined, clear and certain right to warrant the grant thereof.