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JIMMY S. DE CASTRO v. COMELEC

FACTS:

The case involves an election protest filed by Nicolas M. Jamilla against the petitioner, who was proclaimed Mayor of Gloria, Oriental Mindoro in the May 8, 1995 elections. The protest was filed on May 19, 1995, but Jamilla died during the pendency of the case. The trial court subsequently dismissed the protest on the grounds that it was personal to Jamilla and that his death extinguished the case. The private respondent, who was proclaimed Vice-Mayor of the same municipality, learned about the dismissal from Jamilla's counsel and filed an Omnibus Petition/Motion for intervention and substitution. However, the trial court denied the petition and held that an election protest is terminated by the death of the protestor. The private respondent filed a petition for certiorari and mandamus before the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), which granted the petition and ruled that an election contest survives the death of either party. The petitioner filed a petition for certiorari before the Supreme Court, but it was dismissed. The Court held that an election protest involves both private interests and public interest and that the death of a party does not extinguish the case. The Court also ruled that the private respondent's filing of the Omnibus Petition/Motion was timely, in compliance with the thirty-day period from the date of Jamilla's death.

ISSUES:

  1. Is an election protest extinguished upon the death of the real party in interest?

  2. What is the mandatory period within which to effectuate the substitution of parties?

RULING:

  1. An election protest is not extinguished upon the death of the real party in interest. The death of either the protestant or the protestee does not oust the court of its authority to continue the protest proceedings. An election contest involves both the private interests of the rival candidates and the public interest in the final determination of the real choice of the electorate, and for this reason, an election contest necessarily survives the death of the protestant or the protestee.

  2. The mandatory period within which to effectuate the substitution of parties is thirty days from the date when the counsel of the deceased party informed the trial court of the death. In this case, the filing of the Omnibus Petition/Motion by the private respondent on January 15, 1996, which was within thirty days from December 19, 1995 when the counsel informed the trial court of the death, was in compliance with the mandatory period.

PRINCIPLES:

  • An election contest involves conflicting private aspirations but is imbued with paramount public interests, and therefore survives the death of the protestant or the protestee.

  • The death of the protestant or the protestee does not extinguish an election protest nor oust the court of its jurisdiction to decide the election contest.

  • The real party in interest, such as the Vice Mayor elect, is entitled to continue the proceedings and intervene in the election protest.

  • The mandatory period within which to effectuate the substitution of parties in an election protest is thirty days from the date when the counsel of the deceased party informed the trial court of the death.