COURT NEWS FLASH

May 6, 2010

By Jay B. Rempillo

The Supreme Court, with a 12-3 vote, today ordered the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) to disclose the complete details of its preparations, particularly the technical aspect, for the May 10, 2010 elections “given the alarming details in the run-up” to the said elections.

In a 20-page resolution penned by Senior Justice Antonio T. Carpio, the Court, granting the petition in part of Teofisto Guingona, Jr., et al., directed the COMELEC within two days from receipt of its resolution to disclose to the public the following: (1) the nature and security of all equipment and devises, including their hardware and software components, to be used in the May 10, 2010 automated elections, as provided for in sec. 7 of RA 9369; (2) the source code for review by interested parties as mandated by sec. 12 of RA 9369; (3) the terms and protocols of the random manual audit, as mandated by sec. 24 of RA 9369; (4) a certification from the Technical Evaluation Committee that the entire Automated Election System is fully functional and that a continuity plan is already in place, as mandated by secs. 9 and 11 of RA 9369; and (5) the certification protocol and the actual certification issued by the Department of Science and Technology that the 240,000 Board of Election Inspectors all over the country are trained to use the Automated Election System, as required by sec. 3 of RA 9369.

The Court said that it had granted only the specific reliefs prayed for by petitioners Guingona, Jr., et al. due to the proximity of elections which is four days away. It noted that petitioners can press COMELEC for the other reliefs after the May 10 polls.

Senior Justice Carpio was joined by Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno and Justices Conchita Carpio Morales, Antonio Eduardo B. Nachura, Teresita J. Leonardo-De Castro, Arturo D. Brion, Diosdado M. Peralta, Lucas P. Bersamin, Mariano C. Del Castillo, Martin S. Villarama, Jr., Jose P. Perez, and Jose C. Mendoza.

Dissenting were Justices Renato C. Corona, Presbitero J. Velasco, Jr. and Roberto C. Abad.

The Court held that petitioners’ prayer to compel COMELEC to make full public disclosure of its preparations for the May 10, 2010 elections “finds overwhelming support in the Constitution, citing in particular, sec. 7, Art. III and sec. 28 of Art. II on the people’s right to information and the State’s corresponding duty of full public disclosure of all transactions involving public interest. Likewise, jurisprudential doctrines laid down in Valmonte v. Belmonte, Jr., Legaspi v. CSC, and Akbayan Citizens Action Party v. Aquino; as well as sec. 52(j) of BP 881 (Omnibus Election Code); sec. 5(e) of RA 6713 (Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees); sec. 3 of RA 9184 (Government Procurement Reform Act); secs. 1, 11, and 12 of RA 9369 (An Act Amending RA 8436); and sec. 2 of RA 9525 (An Act Appropriating PhP11 Billion as Supplemental Appropriations for an Automated Election System).

“Respondent COMELEC cannot shirk its constitutional duty to disclose fully to the public complete details of all information relating to its preparations for the 10 May 2010 elections without violating the Constitution and relevant laws. No less than the Constitution mandates it to enforce and administer election laws. The COMELEC chairman and the six commissioners are beholden and accountable to the people they have sworn to serve. This Court, as the last bulwark of democracy in this country, will spare nothing in its constitutionally granted powers to ensure that the fundamental right of the people to information on matters of public concern, especially on matters that directly affect our democratic processes, is fully guaranteed, protected, and implemented,” the Court said.  (GR No. 191846, Guingona, Jr. v. COMELEC, May 6, 2010)

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