SC upholds disqualification of 2 Bohol councilors over vote-buying
The Supreme Court (SC) has upheld the disqualification of two candidates for municipal councilor in Candijay, Bohol, over vote-buying during the 2025 elections, voiding their proclamation as winning candidates.
In separate rulings, the SC En Banc, on 28 October, denied the petitions of Charina C. Bagor and Erlinda Curativo challenging the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) decisions disqualifying them as candidates for the Sangguniang Bayan.
The court found substantial evidence that Bagor distributed food packs to residents days before the elections and asked them to remember her as a candidate, while Curativo gave P60,000 to a barangay councilor with instructions to distribute P100 to each voter.
The Comelec disqualified both candidates under Section 68 of the Omnibus Election Code. The SC affirmed the rulings, finding that Bagor distributed items of value in exchange for votes, while Curativo distributed money to influence voters to support her.
The court stressed that vote-buying undermines free elections by exploiting voters’ economic circumstances and replacing their will with money.
It said vote-buying must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and those responsible must be prevented from entering public office.
SC dismisses court employee over missing funds
In a separate administrative case, the SC dismissed a Municipal Trial Court employee in Romblon, Romblon, for misappropriating court funds and suspended her supervisor for failing to properly oversee financial transactions.
The court ordered Rose Ann R. Marzonia, a Clerk II of the Municipal Trial Court of Romblon, dismissed for serious dishonesty and gross misconduct. It also ordered her and Wina M. Cometa, the court’s Clerk of Court II, to jointly pay P598,444.20 in missing court funds.
The case stemmed from a financial audit covering February 2008 to March 2023 that found shortages in eight court funds.
The SC found that Marzonia repeatedly made unauthorized withdrawals, failed to deposit collections, tampered with fund passbooks and forged the signatures of the presiding judge and Cometa on withdrawal slips.
Marzonia also admitted tampering with the Fiduciary Fund and Sheriff’s Trust Fund passbooks with the help of individuals in Recto, Manila.
The court dismissed her from the service, forfeited her benefits and disqualified her from reinstatement or appointment to any public office. It also directed the Bureau of Immigration to issue a hold departure order against her.
Cometa was suspended for eight months without pay and benefits for gross neglect of duty.
The SC found that she allowed Marzonia to handle financial transactions without written authority or proper supervision and failed to regularly reconcile bank records, secure passbooks and submit required financial reports.
However, the court found no evidence that Cometa directly participated in the misappropriation, falsified documents or benefited from the irregularities. It also considered her 30 years of service without any prior penalty and the fact that it was her first offense.
The SC said court officials responsible for public funds cannot escape accountability by relying on the apparent regularity of documents or blaming their subordinates.
It reiterated that public office is a public trust and that court officials and personnel must uphold honesty, integrity and accountability.