Luna v.

COMELEC
G.R. No. 165983, April 24, 2007

Facts: On January 15 2004, Hans Roger withdrew his certificate of candidacy. On the same date,
Joy Chrisma Luna filed her certificate of candidacy as a substitute candidate for Hans Roger for the 2004
elections as vice mayor of Lagayan, Abra. Tomas Layao, together with several others filed a
disqualification petition against her since she was not a registered voter Lagayan, Abra, but of Bangued. It
is also contested that there can be no valid substitution since Hans Roger, the candidate sought to be
substituted, is only 20 years old on the day of the election. COMELEC ruled in favor of the disqualification
case.

Issue: Whether or not the COMELEC committed grave abuse of discretion when it ruled that there was
no valid substitution by Luna for Hans Roger.

Held: The COMELEC acted with grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction in
declaring that Hans Roger, being under age, could not be considered to have filed a valid certificate of
candidacy and, thus, could not be validly substituted by Luna. The substitution of Luna for Hans Roger
was valid. The COMELEC may not, by itself, without the proper proceedings, deny due course to or
cancel a certificate of candidacy filed in due form. Since Hans Roger withdrew his certificate of candidacy
and the COMELEC found that Luna complied with all the procedural requirements for a valid substitution,
Luna can validly substitute for Hans Roger. The Court ruled that the question of eligibility or ineligibility of
a candidate for non-age is beyond the usual and proper cognizance of the COMELEC.