PLJ volume 37 number 1 -01- Deogracias Eufemio

In the case of Racuyal v. Garcia, et al.,113 it appears that {',l
Oct. 1, 1961, petitioner filed an urgent petition for certiorari and
mandamus with the Supreme Court to compel the Commission on
Elections to give due course to his certificate of candidacy for .the
office of President of the Philippines. He alleged that he.had been
a perennial candidate since 1935; that in connection with theelectionon
Nov. 14, 1961, he filed his certificate of candidacy for the
office of President on April 13, 1981; that the Commission on .Elections
refused to give due course to his certificate of candidacy; that
Sec. 1 of Rep. Act No. 3036, which took effect on June 17, 1961,
cannot be retroactively applied to him; and that he aeted in good
faith in filing his certificate of candidaey.
In its answer, the Commission contended that it was authorized
under Sec. 37 of the Revised Election Code, as amended by
Rep. Act No. 3036, to refuse to give due course to petitioner's eertificate
of candidacy because it was not filed in good faith; that
petitioner's certificate of candidacy has been consistently rejected
in 1949, 1953 and 1957, the last on the ground that "he had been
and still is a psyehiatric case." The Commission a},soargued that
the amendatory provision is applicable notwithstanding the fact that
petitioner's certificate of candidacy was filed before the effectivity of
said amandatory law because the prohibition on retroactive legislation
applies only to eonstitutional limitations like ex post facto
loWS or bill of attainder and the "due process" clause; eonsidering
that Rep. Aet No. 3036 was enacted purposely to cure an existing
defect in our election law, and that the new law, as a curative CliCt,
is intended to be enforced beginning with the elections on Nov. 14,
1961, the Commission aeted within its authority.
On Nov. 8, 1961, the Court unanimously resolved to deny the
petition in this wise:
"Upon consideration of the petition in G.R. No. L.19011, 'Pascual
B. Racuyal vs. Gaudencia Garcia, Sixto Brilliantes and Genaro Visarr,a,'
praying for the reasons therein given, for a writ of certiorari annulling
a resolution of respondents herein, as Chairman ,and members of the Commission
on Elections, dat.ed Oct. 5, 1961, refusing to give due course to
petitioner's certificate of candidacy for the Office of President of the
Philippines, in connection with the elections scheduled to be held on Nov.
14, 1961, and for ,a writ of mandamus commanding said respondents to
give due course to the aforementioned certificate of candidacy, and it
.appearing that, by a resolution dated Oct. 4, .1957,from which no appeal
had been taken, said Commission on Elections had refused to give due
course to a similar certificate of candidacy of petitioner herein for the