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SALVADOR DIVINAGRACIA v. COMELEC

This case has been cited 5 times or more.

	GR No. 196355 2012-09-18	BIENVENIDO WILLIAM D. LLOREN v. COMELEC BERSAMIN, J.
It should be stressed, however, that the Rules in A.M. No. 07-4-15-SC did not supersede the appeal fee prescribed by the COMELEC under its own rules of procedure. As a result, "the requirement of two appeal fees by two different jurisdictions caused a confusion in the implementation by the COMELEC of its procedural rules on the payment of appeal fees necessary for the perfection of appeals."[11] To remove the confusion, the COMELEC issued Resolution No. 8486,[12] effective on July 24, 2008,[13] whereby the COMELEC clarified the rules on the payment of the two appeal fees by allowing the appellant to pay the COMELEC's appeal fee of P3,200.00 at the COMELEC's Cash Division through the ECAD or by postal money order payable to the COMELEC within a period of 15 days from the time of the filing of the notice of appeal in the trial court, to wit: xxxx
	GR No. 187635 2010-01-11	MATEO R. NOLLEN v. COMELEC VELASCO JR., J.
For the sake of laying down clearly the rules regarding the payment of the appeal fee, a discussion of the application of the recent Divinagracia v. COMELEC[13] to election contests involving elective municipal and barangay officials is necessary. Divinagracia explained the purpose of Resolution No. 8486 which, as earlier stated, the COMELEC issued to clarify existing rules and address the resulting confusion caused by the two appeal fees required, for the perfection of appeals, by the two different jurisdictions: the court and COMELEC. Divinagracia stressed that if the appellants had already paid the amount of PhP 1,000 to the lower courts within the five-day reglementary period,[14] they are further required to pay the COMELEC, through its Cash Division, the appeal fee of PhP 3,200 within fifteen (15) days from the time of the filing of the notice of appeal with the lower court. If the appellants failed to pay the PhP 3,200 within the prescribed period, then the appeal should be dismissed.[15] The Court went on to state in Divinagracia that Aguilar[16] did not "dilute the force of COMELEC Resolution No. 8486 on the matter of compliance with the COMELEC-required appeal fees."[17] The resolution, to reiterate, was mainly issued to clarify the confusion caused by the requirement of payment of two appeal fees.
	GR No. 186201 2009-10-09	CARMELINDA C. BARRO PERALTA, J.
It must be stated, however, that for notices of appeal filed after the promulgation on July 27, 2009 of Divinagracia v. Commission on Elections,[22] errors in the matter of non-payment or incomplete payment of the two appeal fees in election cases are no longer excusable.
	GR No. 184268 2009-09-15	ERNESTO BATALLA v. COMELEC VELASCO JR., J.
The issue of the correct appeal fee to be paid for the perfection of an appeal from the decision of the trial court in electoral cases was clarified in very recent cases--Aguilar v. Commission on Elections[28] and Divinagracia v. Commission on Elections.[29] In both cases, the Court clarified that the appellant in an electoral protest case decided by the trial court must file his notice of appeal and pay the PhP 1,000 appeal fee to the trial court that rendered the decision, and must pay to the Comelec Cash Division the required additional PhP 3,200 appeal fee.
	GR No. 183366 2009-08-19	RICARDO C. DUCO v. COMELEC BERSAMIN, J.
Thus, recently, in Divinagracia, Jr. v. COMELEC, [33] the Court has issued the following dictum for the guidance of the Bench and Bar: In Aguilar, the Court recognized the Comelec's discretion to allow or dismiss a "perfected" appeal that lacks payment of the Comelec-prescribed appeal fee. The Court stated that it was more in keeping with fairness and prudence to allow the appeal which was, similar to the present case, perfected months before the issuance of Comelec Resolution No. 8486.