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 Mamba.

This, as the SC En Banc on 16 April 2024, in a decision penned by Associate Justice Jhosep 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 gubernatorial position of the province of Cagayan in the said election.

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 14 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 COMELEC En Banc, which dismissed De Guzman-Lara's petition to disqualify Mamba for being filed out of time.

The poll body, relying on Sec. 5 of its Resolution No. 10673, or its guidelines on the electronic filing of pleadings, ruled that the petition, which was emailed on 10 May 2022, at 6:21 p.m., was considered to have been filed the next working day, or on 11 May 2022, at 8:00 a.m.

The petition was filed after Mamba's proclamation, which effectively divested the COMELEC of any authority to hear and decide disqualification cases filed thereafter.

De Guzman-Lara was thus prompted to seek redress before the Court.

The SC ruled that the COMELEC En Banc committed grave abuse of discretion in dismissing the petition for disqualification against Mamba.

It held that the petition for disqualification was filed on time.

Under Section 3, Rule 25 of the COMELEC Rules of Procedure, disqualification petitions shall be filed any day after the last day for filing of certificates of candidacy (COCs) but not later than the date of proclamation.

A petition for disqualification can be filed even after the exact time of the proclamation of a candidate, so long as it was filed within the same day.