The Supreme Court has declared null and void a Commission on Elections resolution allowing the substitution of retired Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon to be a nominee of P3PWD Partylist.

In a 41-page en banc decision written by Associate Justice Ricardo R. Rosario, the High Court upheld the petition of Duterte Youth Partylist to permanently enjoin the Comelec against proclaiming Guanzon as P3PWD’s representative to the Lower House.

The said partylist group of persons with disabilities won a single seat in he Lower House during the 2022 elections.

The Duterte Youth partylist, represented by lawyer Ferdinand Topacio, questioned the Comelec Minute Resolution No. 22-0774 in the petition filed before the High Tribunal.

The SC declared null and void the poll body’s en banc resolution that granted the petition of P3PWD to have Guanzon replace its top nominee. The former commissioner had just retired from the poll body then.

The magistrates declared that the Comelec committed grave abuse of discretion when it allowed the substitution of P3PWD nominees.

It pointed out that in deciding to grant the substitution, the Comelec showed a seeming pattern of “whimsically and arbitrariness” in the way the poll body made its ruling.

“Rather than promoting free, orderly and honest elections, the Comelec en banc shamelessly allowed itself to be used as a tool in perpetuating a scheme,” said the court.

Nevertheless the court allowed the winning partylist to submit additional nominees but are barred from renominating nominees whose substitutions have already been rejected by the court.

No longer allowed to represent the P3PWD in the Lower HOuse are Rosalie Garcia, Cherie “Belmonte-LIm, Donnabel Tenorio and Rodolfo Villar.

Of the 11 SC justices who took part in the deliberations and voting on the ruling, Associate Justices Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa and Jhosep Lopez dissented. Both submitted separate opinions on the legal issue.

On the other hand, Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen concurred with the ruling and filed a separate opinion to justify his decision.

In a statement, Topacio lauded the SC for having “proven itself to be the final bulwark against abuses committed by those who thumb their noses at the Constitution. “

“The Party List system was meant to give representation in the House of Representatives for marginalized sand oppressed sectors. It was never meant to be gamed by influential individuals who, under the guise of championing the causes of the weak and downtrodden, would seek public office for self-aggrandizement,” said the Duterte Youth counsel.

He claimed that Guanzon “wanted to make the House of Representatives her golden parachute after her retirement from the Comelec.”
“Let this wise ruling of the High Tribunal be a warning to those who would subvert the Constitution for their selfish ends that the courts will not countenance such brazen abuse,” said Topacio.