EN
BANC
ALBERTO LAGAHIT,
Petitioner,
G.
R.
No. 4762
January
8, 1909
-versus-
SIMEON NENGASCA
AND ADOLPH WISLIZENUS,
JUDGE OF FIRST
INSTANCE,
Respondents.
D E C I S I
O N
ARELLANO,
C.J.:
The plaintiff has brought
certiorari proceedings before this Supreme Court, against the Decision
of the Court of First Instance of Cebu, praying that the judgment
rendered
by the said Court be held to be null and void, particularly with
respect
to the proclaiming of Simeon Nengasca as municipal president of
Aloguisan;
that the returns submitted by the board of election of the said town in
November, 1907, be confirmed; that they be so certified to the
Governor-General
of the Islands for such action as he may consider proper; that the
attachment
levied upon the property of the petitioner herein be set aside; that a
writ of final injunction be served upon Simeon Nengasca ordering him to
abstain from performing the duties of the office of municipal president
of Aloguisan, unless he be duly elected at an election properly
convened
and held, or unless he be so ordered by the Governor-General of the
Philippine
Islands. The petitioner alleges the following facts:
(1) That Alberto
Lagahit
and Simeon Nengasca were candidate for the office of municipal
president
of the municipality of Aloguisan, Province of Cebu; (2) that the result
of said election, according to the returns of the election board were,
Alberto Lagahit 33 votes, Simeon Nengasca 24, and Gregorio Yanong 11;
(3)
that on the 16th of November, 1907, Simeon Nengasca filed a protest
with
the Court of First Instance of Cebu against the above-mentioned
election
so far as the office of municipal president was concerned, alleging
that
the ballots of fifty- two qualified electors who voted for the said
Nengasca
had been abstracted and changed by the election inspectors, who
according
to the protest, in addition, when filling up the ballots of electors
who
were unable to write, did not comply with their request to name
Nengasca
for the office of president, but on the contrary, put down the name of
Alberto Lagahit; (4) that in the said protest the only remedy prayed
for
was, that the municipal elections in Aloguisan be annulled with respect
to the office of municipal president, and that the Court below certify
to the Governor-General of the Philippine Islands that no person had
been
duly elected for the said office in said municipality of Aloguisan at
the
elections held in the month of November, 1907; (5) that on the 27th of
December, 1907, the Judge below, exceeding his jurisdiction, granted
Simeon
Nengasca, the protesting party, remedies which he had not asked for in
his protest, and rendered judgment in the matter, holding that the said
Nengasca was the president elect, and so proclaimed him, and that by
virtue
of said decision and proclamation, the latter took possession of said
office
on the 6th of January, 1908; (6) that nothing has been alleged in the
protest,
nor any evidence offered at the trial to show the complicity of Alberto
Lagahit in the fraud supposed to have been committed by the election
inspectors,
nor even that the said Alberto had presented his candidacy or allowed
the
same to be presented for the office of municipal president of
Aloguisan,
but that notwithstanding, the judge below has sentenced the petitioner
herein to pay Simeon Nengasca the sum of P150 as costs, and has already
ordered the execution of said portion of the judgment and attached his
property in order to satisfy the same; and (7) that no appeal can be
taken
in the present case, and the only remedy left to the petitioner is that
of certiorari before the Supreme Court.
Under date of the 26th
of August of this [last] year this court ordered the Court of First
Instance
of Cebu to submit a certified copy of all the proceedings and the
action
taken in connection with the election of a municipal president held in
the municipality of Aloguisan in said province, for the purposes of
this
appeal. The same having been submitted and the appeal heard it now
appears
that the judgment rendered in the matter of the protest of Simeon
Nengasca
contains the following findings:
"(1) The Court
believes
that the majority of the electors at the past election voted in favor
of
the petitioner, Simeon Nengasca; (2) Simeon Nengasca is recognized by
the
Court as president elect at the elections held on the 5th day of
November,
1907, at the municipality of Aloguisan for the office of municipal
president;
(3) the court orders that judgment be entered in favor of the plaintiff
and against the defendant for the sum of P150, of which P20 shall be
for
compensation to the stenographer, P40 for compensation to the
commissioner,
and the balance for fees of the lawyer and other costs and expenses."
Inasmuch as the original
appeal now at issue is solely directed to inquire into the regularity
of
certain judicial proceedings in so far as they refer to the powers and
jurisdiction of the lower court acting thereon, the provision in the
election
law determining the jurisdiction of the Court of First Instance with
respect
to contested elections is here transcribed.
"Section 27.
Election
contests. - Contests in all elections for the determination of
which
provision has not been made otherwise shall be heard by the Court of
First
Instance having jurisdiction in the judicial district in which the
election
was held, upon motion by any candidate voted for at such election,
which
motion must be made within two weeks after the election, and such court
shall have exclusive and final jurisdiction and shall forthwith cause
the
registry lists and all ballots used at such election to be brought
before
it and examined, and to appoint the necessary officers therefor and to
fix their compensation, which shall be payable in the first instance
out
of the provincial treasury, and to issue its mandamus directed to the
boards
of canvassers to correct its canvass in accordance with the facts as
found.
If in any case the court shall determine that no person was lawfully
elected,
it shall forthwith so certify to the Governor-General, who shall order
a special election to fill the office or offices in question as
hereinbefore
provided."
In consequence of the protest
the Court below appointed a commissioner to hear and record the
necessary
evidence, and after the testimony of witnesses had been taken, the
court
rendered the findings above stated.
According to the
provision
of law cited and transcribed above, the second of these findings is not
within the jurisdiction of the lower court. The law does not authorize
the court to recognize any particular candidate as the president-elect.
Therefore, said finding should be reversed.
The third finding in
connection with the costs is based on the following provision of the
law:
"If the party paying
such expenses and costs shall be successful they shall be taxed by the
court and entered and be collectible as a judgment against the defeated
party."
Whether
or not the Court
below acted rightly in considering the other candidate as the "adverse
party" and the party defeated in the proceedings, is not a matter on
which
action may be taken by this Court in the exercise of its appellate
jurisdiction.
It is evident that it was a matter within the jurisdiction of the Court
below to tax the "adverse party" with the costs. The remedy of
certiorari
is, therefore, not available, as the purpose thereof is to prevent and
remedy extralimitations of jurisdiction and authority, not to correct
errors
in decisions or mistakes of law, which are proper subjects for appeal
and
cassation.
The first finding is
perfectly in accordance with the provision of the law. The Court below
in deciding upon the protest against the contested election for
president
of Aloguisan said: "The court believes that the majority of the
electors
at the past election voted in favor of the petitioner, Simeon
Nengasca."
Whether or not this opinion of the Court below is proper, can not be
the
subject of review by this court. It is a decision which is within the
jurisdiction
of the lower Court, as conferred by law.
As a result of this
opinion of the court below, and in compliance with the provision of the
law, the judgment should have been: "Let a writ of mandamus be issued
against
the board of canvassers requiring the board to correct its canvass in
accordance
with the fact as found.
For the reasons above
set forth, We decide that the order of the Court of First Instance of
Cebu
recognizing Nengasca as president-elect at the elections in the
municipality
of Aloguisan, in said province, should be, and is hereby annulled for
the
reason that it is not within the jurisdiction of the said court to
recognize
or proclaim a president in a contested election; that it is unnecessary
to make any ruling as to the costs; and that with respect to and as a
consequence
of the first finding of the court below, that court should issue a writ
of mandamus directed to the board of canvassers of the Municipality of
Aloguisan requiring the board to correct its canvass in accordance with
the facts as found by the said court. No special ruling as to costs is
made. So ordered.
Torres, Mapa, Johnson,
Carson, Willard and Tracey, JJ., concur. |