BORJA versus COMELEC

Succession to an office or by operation of law under the three consecutive terms limitation

BORJA versus COMELEC

Facts:

Private respondent Jose T. Carpo, Jr. was elected vice-mayor of Pateros on January 18, 1988 for a term ending June 30, 1992.  On September 2, 1989, he became mayor, by operation of law, upon the death of the incumbent, Cesar Borja.  For the next two succeeding elections in 1992 and 1995, he was again re-elected as Mayor. 

On March 27, 1998, private respondent Carpo filed a certificate of candidacy for mayor of Pateros relative to the May 11, 1998 elections.  Petitioner Benjamin U. Borja, Jr., who was also a candidate for mayor, sought Carpo’s disqualification on the theory that the latter would have already served as mayor for three consecutive terms by June 30, 1998 and would therefore be ineligible to serve for another term after that.

COMELEC ruled in favour of petitioner and declared private respondent Carpo saying that “In both the Constitution and the Local Government Code, the three-term limitation refers to the term of office for which the local official was elected. It made no reference to succession to an office to which he was not elected.” Carpo won the election case against Borja. Hence, this petition.

Issue:

Whether or not a person who served in a position by operation of law could be considered as having served the term for the purpose of the three-term limit under the Constitution.

Held:

No. The court held that when Carpo occupied the post of the Mayor upon the incumbent’s death and served for remainder of the term, he cannot be construed as having served a full term as contemplated under the three term limit. The term he served must be one for which he was elected. Furthermore, before assuming the position of Mayor, he served first as a Vice Mayor and the duties and responsibilities of the two positions are wholly different from each other.