Fermin vs. COMELEC, G. R. No.

179695, December 18, 2008

Facts:
A new municipality in Shariff Kabunsuan was created after the ARMM Region passes Autonomy
Act No. 205. The new Municipality of Northern Kabuntalan was constituted by separating 11
barangays including Brgy. Indatuan from the Municipality of Kabuntalan.
Mike A. Fermin, the petitioner in both cases, was a registered voter of Brgy. Payan in
Kabuntalan. On December 13, 2006, claiming that he had been a resident of Brgy. Indatuan for
one year ang six months, petitioner applied with the COMELEC for the transfer of his
registration record to the said barangay.
Thereafter, Fermin filed his Certificate of Candidacy (CoC) for mayor of Northern Kabuntalan.
Private respondent, Umbra Ramil Bayam Dilangalen, another mayoralty candidate, filed a
petition for disqualification against Fermin. The petition alleged that the petitioner did not
possess the period of residency required for candidacy. Elections were held without any
decision being rendered by the COMELEC. Dilangalen was proclaimed winner while Fermin as
second. The latter subsequently filed an election protest. COMELEC ruled that Fermin is a
resident of a barangay not a component of the local government unit in which he seeks to be
elected as of May 14, 2007 and is therefore not qualified or eligible to seek election as mayor in
the said municipality. In its decision, the COMELEC relied on the oath of office subscribed and
sworn to before Gov. Ampatuan, in which petitioner indicated that he was a resident of
Barangay Payan, Kabuntalan as of April 27, 2006.

Issue:
Whether or not the COMELEC gravely abuse its discretion when it declared petitioner as not a
resident of the locality for at least one after prior year to the May 14, 2007 election.

Ruling:
The mere filing of a petition and the convenient allegation therein that a candidate does not
reside in the locality where he seeks to be elected is insufficient to effect the cancellation of his
CoC. Convincing evidence must substantiate every allegation. COMELEC have gravely abused its
discretion when it declared that Fermin was not a resident of Northern Kabuntalan for at least
one year prior to the said election. The COMELEC relied on a single piece of evidence to support
its finding that petitioner was not a resident of Brgy. Indatuan, Northern Kabuntalan, which is
the oath of office subscribed and sworn to before Gov. Datu Andal Ampatuan, in which the
petitioner indicated that he was a resident of Brgy. Payan, Kabuntalan as of April 27, 2007. This
single piece of evidence does not necessarily support a finding that petitioner was not a
resident of Northern Kabuntalan as of May 14, 2007 elections. Petitioner merely admitted that
he is a resident of another locality as of April 27, 2006, which was more than a year before the
elections. It is not inconsistent with his subsequent claim that he complied with the residency
requirement for the elective office, as petitioner could have transferred to Brgy. Indatuan after
April 27, 2006, on or before May 14, 2006.
Neither does this evidence a support to the allegation that the petitioner failed to comply with the
residency requirement for the transfer of his voting record from Brgy. Payan to Brgy. Indatuan. Since it is
required that a voter needs to reside where he proposes to vote only six months immediately preceding
the election, petitioner's application for transfer on December 13, 2006 does not contradict his earlier
admission that he was a resident of Brgy. Payan as of April 27, 2006.

Full text: https://lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2008/dec2008/gr_179695_2008.html