Comelec abused discretion in Mamba case

The Supreme Court (SC) ruled that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) gravely abused its discretion junking the petition for disqualification lodged against then gubernatorial candidate and current Cagayan Governor Manuel N. Mamba.

This as the SC En Banc on 16 April 2024, in a decision penned by Associate Justice Jhosep Y. Lopez, granted the petition for certiorari filed by Ma. Zarah Rose de Guzman-Lara challenging the poll body’s En Banc’s dismissal of her petition to disqualify Mamba from the May 2022 local elections.

The case was remanded to the Comelec En Banc for proper disposition of De Guzman-Lara’s petition for disqualification against Mamba.

De Guzman-Lara and Mamba were candidates for the position of Governor of the province of Cagayan in the said elections.

De Guzman-Lara on 10 May 2022, at 6:21 p.m., filed through email a petition to disqualify Mamba on the grounds of massive vote-buying and unlawful disbursement of public funds.

The Provincial Board of Canvassers on 11 May 2022, at 1:39 a.m., proclaimed Mamba as the duly elected governor of Cagayan after garnering the highest number of votes.

But the Second Division of the Comelec subsequently issued a Resolution on December 2022, disqualifying Mamba after finding substantial evidence that Mamba violated Section 261(v) of the Omnibus Election Code, which prohibits the unauthorized release, disbursement, or expenditure of public funds during the campaign period.

This was reversed by the Comelec En Banc, which dismissed De Guzman-Lara’s petition to disqualify Mamba for being filed out of time.