Gregorio Nuval v. Norberto Guray | GR No L-30241 | Dec.

29, 1928
Facts:
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On May 11, 1928, within the period fixed by Sec. 437 of the Administrative Code, Nuval filed in Civil Case 1442 in CFI-La Union, in
his dual capacity as a registered voter and a registered candidate for the office of municipal president, a petition filed against Guray,
asking for the exclusion of the latters name from the election list since he has not fulfilled the residency requirement.

The Judge dismissed the petition, opining that Guray was a bona fide resident of the municipality from Jan. 1, 1927; since the order
was not appealable, Gurays name remained in the election list.

Guray was elected as municipal president, with Nuval obtaining second place.

Nuval filed the present quo warranto action, based on Sec. 408 of the Administrative Code, asking that Guray be declared ineligible
due to non-fulfillment of the residency requirement which is required to be eligible in an elective office.

Issues: Whether the judgment rendered by the CFI in cancelling Gurays name on the election list constitutes res judicata;
In Sec. 437 of the Administrative Code, the procedure prescribed is summary in character, thus the judgment rendered therein is unappealable,
EXCEPT when the petition is tried before a justice of peace, in which case it may be appealed to a CFI judge.
However, it is not enough to constitute res judicata. There is no substantial identity of parties, which is a requisite in res judicata. The petition for
execution was presented by Nuval in his capacity as a qualified voter and as a duly registered candidate. The quo warranto proceeding, however,
was in Nuvals capacity as a registered candidate for the office.
Furthermore, the subject matters are not substantially identical. In the petition for exclusion, the object of the litigation was the conclusion of
Guray as a voter from the election list, while in the present quo warranto proceeding, the object is the expulsion from office.
There is no identity in the causes of action. In the petition for exclusion, the cause of action was that Guray had not fulfilled the 6-month required
residency. In the quo warranto proceeding, the cause of action was that Guray has not the one year legal residence required for the eligibility of
the office of the municipal president.
Whether Guray, at the time of his election, was ineligible for office of the residence in the municipality;
On June 27, 1922, Guray was appointed municipal treasurer of Balaoan, La Union. A requirement of the post is that he live continuously in the
municipality where he performs such official duties. Due to this, Guray asked for the cancellation of his name in the election list of Luna (where
he has lived since forever). In 1926, Guray and his family went back to live in Luna at his in-laws house due to high costs of living in Balaoan.
In 1927, he began construction of a house which remained incomplete. On February 1928, he applied for and obtained vacation leave to be spent
in Luna, and filed his resignation on the same month. Despite having a cedula declaring him a resident of Balaoan, he obtained another cedula
from the municipality of Luna on Feb. 20, 1928, which was dated January 15, 1928. He then applied for registration as a voter of Luna, alleging
that he had been residing in the municipality for 30 years.
In view of the facts just related, the question arises whether or not Norberto Guray had the legal residence of one year immediately prior to the
general elections of June 5, 1928, in order to be eligible to the office of municipal president of Luna, Province of La Union.
It is an established rule that "where a voter abandons his residence in a state and acquires one in another state, he cannot again vote in the state of
his former residence until he has qualified by a new period of residence". "The term 'residence' as so used is synonymous with 'domicile,' which
imports not only intention to reside in a fixed place, but also personal presence in that place, coupled with conduct indicative of such intention."
Since Norberto Guray abandoned his first residence in the municipality of Luna and acquired another in Balaoan, in order to vote and be a
candidate in the municipality of Luna, he needed to reacquire residence in the latter municipality for the length of time prescribed by the law, and
for such purpose, he needed not only the intention to do so, but his personal presence in said municipality.
For the foregoing considerations, we are of opinion and so hold in fact and in law Norberto Guray only abandoned his legal residence in the
Municipality of Balaoan, and began to acquire another in the municipality of Luna from Febraury 16, 1928, when he filed his resignation from
the office of municipal treasurer of Balaoan which he had been holding, and which resignation was accepted; and on being elected municipal
president of Luna in the general elections of June 5, 1928, he had not reacquired the legal residence necessary to be validly elected to said office.