KILOSBAYAN vs COMELEC, G.R. no.

128054, October 16, 1997

PAULO JOSE S. VILLARIN

FACTS:
The Comelec received from petitioner Kilosbayan a letter informing the former of
two serious violations of election laws and requesting that these offenses and
malpractices be investigated. Kilosbayan did not submit evidence to prove its
case. Thus, COMELEC dismiss the charges. Petitioner Kilosbayan, however,
brushed off responsibility for adducing evidence of herein respondents'
culpability, and adamantly demanded that the Comelec perform its constitutional
duty of prosecution election offenses upon any, even meager, information of
alleged commission of election offenses.
ISSUE:
WON the comelec commit any act constituting grave abuse of discretion in
dismissing petitioner Kilosbayan's complaint against herein respondents, the
former having failed to prove its case against the latter
HELD:
NO.
The task of the Comelec as investigator and prosecutor, acting upon any
election offense complaint, is not the physical searching and gathering of proof
in support of a complaint for an alleged commission of an election
offense. A complainant, who in effect accuses another person of having
committed an act constituting an election offense, has the burden, as it is his
responsibility, to follow through his accusation and prove his complainant. If
the complainant fails to proffer the necessary evidence to show probable
cause, notwithstanding the lack of denial or any evidence in controversion,
of the accusation, the complaint must be dismissed, since any person
accused of a crime is presumed innocent and does not at all have to make
a response or reaction to the charges against him.The Comelec, in acting upon
an election offense complaint in the course of preliminary investigation, initially
facilitates the confrontation process between the complainant and the
respondents by requiring the submission of and interfacing, their respective
evidences. Ultimately, the Comelec passes upon the contending parties'
respective submission and proofs and weighs the fact and circumstances
established therefrom. Contrary to the asseveration of petitioner Kilosbayan,
the preliminary investigation is not an occasion for the Comelec to, as a
duty, spoonfeed the complainant with evidence needed to prove its case.