GR. No. 206844-45.

July 23, 2013

I
COALITION OF ASSOCIATIONS OF SENIOR CITIZENS IN THE PHILIPPINES, INC. [SENIOR CITIZENS PARTY-
LIST], represented herein by its Chairperson and First Nominee, FRANCISCO G. DATOL, Jr., petitioner vs.
COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS, respondents.
GR. No. 206844-45. July 23, 2013

Leonardo-De Castro, J.

II SYLLABUS TOPIC

Composition, Qualifications and Term of Office

II RELEVANT FACTS
I

On May 2010, the nominees of SENIOR CITIZENS signed an agreement, entitled

Irrevocable Covenant, which contains the list of their candidates and terms on sharing of their
powers. It contained an agreement on who among the candidates will serve the terms according
to the power sharing agreement. By virtue of the term-sharing agreement, the term of Kho as
member of the HR was cut short to 1 yr and 6 mos. In line with this, Kho tendered his
resignation to be effective on December 31, 2011.

In the interim, COMELEC Resolution was promulgated on February 21, 2012.

Pertinently, Section 7 of Rule 4 thereof provided that filing of vacancy as a result of term sharing
agreement among nominees of winning party-list groups/organizations shall not be allowed.
On March 12, 2012, the Board of Trustees of SENIOR CITIZENS issued recalled the resignation
of Kho and allowed him to continue to represent the party-list. Despite of the recall of
resignation, COMELEC found the term sharing agreement contrary to public policy and hence
resolved to CANCEL the registration of SENIOR CITIZENS under the Party-List System of
Representation..

IV ISSUE

Whether or not the COMELEC can disqualify and cancel the registration and accreditation of
SENIOR CITIZENS solely on account of its purported violation of the prohibition against term-
sharing.

V RULING AND VERDICT

NO. There was no indication that the nominees of SENIOR CITIZENS still tried to implement,
much
less succeeded in implementing, the term-sharing agreement. Before this Court, the Arquiza
Group and the Datol Group insist on this fact of non-implementation of the agreement. Thus, for
all intents and purposes, Rep. Kho continued to hold his seat and served his term as a member
of the House of Representatives. Indubitably, if the term-sharing agreement was not actually
implemented by the parties thereto, it appears that SENIOR CITIZENS, as a party-list
organization, had been unfairly and arbitrarily