With 4 days to E-Day, SC ousts Mabalacat mayor

With just four days before the May 14 national and local polls and more than a month before his term expires, the Supreme Court Thursday voided the proclamation of Marino "Boking" Morales as mayor of Mabalacat, Pampanga for having already served three previous consecutive terms. In a 15-page en banc decision penned by Associate Justice Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez, the Court unanimously canceled Morales' certificate of candidacy (COC) dated December 30, 2003, and directed the vice mayor-elect of the municipality to serve the remaining term of the ousted mayor until June 30, 2007. The high court's granted the separate petitions filed by a group of lawyers led by Venancio Rivera, Normandick de Guzman and Anthony Dee seeking to nullify a resolution of the Commission on Elections that allowed Morales to run for mayor despite having served three consecutive terms. "Respondent Morales should promptly be ousted from the position of mayor of Mabalacat. (He) cannot be considered a candidate in the May 2004 elections. Not being a candidate, the votes cast for him should not be counted and must be considered stray votes," the Supreme Court ruled. Proclamation voided The high tribunal junked respondent's arguments that his July 1, 2003 to June 30, 2007 term is not his fourth because his second term, July 1, 1998 to June 30, 2001 to which he was elected and which he served, may not be counted since his proclamation was declared void by the Angeles City regional trial court branch 57. Morales further claimed his term of office was interrupted by the six-month preventive suspension imposed upon him by the Ombudsman, during which Dee was proclaimed duly elected mayor and assumed the top municipal post. "To reiterate, respondent Morales was validly elected for the term July 1, 1998 to June 30, 2001. He assumed the position," the Court said. “He served as mayor until June 30, 2001. He was mayor for the entire period notwithstanding the decision of the RTC in the electoral protest case filed by petitioner Dee ousting him as mayor." The Court said “such circumstance does not constitute an interruption in serving the full term." Morales defense disputed The high tribunal noted that even as "caretaker" or "de facto" officer, Morales exercised the powers and enjoyed the prerequisites of the office that enabled him to stay on indefinitely. It said that allowing Morales to continue with his term would violate Section 8, Article 10 of the Constitution, which explicitly ruled that the term of office of elected local officials shall be three years and shall not serve more than three consecutive terms. "Morales is now serving his fourth term. He has been mayor of Mabalacat continuously without any break since July 1, 1995. In just over a month, by June 30, 2007, he will have been mayor for 12 continuous years," the Supreme Court said. Court records showed that in the May 2004 synchronized polls, Morales ran as candidate for mayor for the term starting July 1, 2004 to June 30, 2007. He filed his certificate of candidacy on January 5, 2004. On January 10, 2004, petitioners Rivera and de Guzman filed with the Second Division of the Comelec a petition to cancel Morales' COC on the ground that he was elected and had served three previous consecutive terms as mayor of Mabalacat, in violation of the Constitution and Local Government Code, which states that no local official shall serve for more than three consecutive terms in the same position. In his answer to the petition, Morales admitted that he was elected mayor of Mabalacat for the term July 1, 1995 to June 30, 1998 (first term) and July 1, 2001 to June 30, 2004 (third term), but he served the second term from July 1, 1998 to June 30, 2001 only as a "caretaker of the office." Morales claimed that he was not validly elected for the second term from 1998 to 2001 since his proclamation as mayor was declared void by the Angeles City RTC in an election protest case that became final and executory on August 6, 2001. He further said that the Ombudsman in an anti-graft case from January 16, 1999 to July 15, 1999 preventively suspended him. Comelec ruling On May 6, 2004, the Comelec's Second Division rendered its resolution finding Morales disqualified to run for the position and subsequently canceled his COC. However, the Comelec en banc granted Morales' motion for reconsideration, holding that since the decision in the protest case of the Angeles City RTC declared his proclamation void, his discharge of the duties in the Office of the Mayor is that of a "de facto" officer or mayor, thus his continuous service for three consecutive terms has been severed. The poll body's decision prompted petitioners to raise the matter before the Supreme Court. - GMANews.TV