Reynaldo Echavez vs. Manila Medical Society, Inc., et al.

[SEC-SICD * CASE NO. 3520. July 10, 1990.] REYNALDO ECHAVEZ , plaintiff, vs . MANILA MEDICAL SOCIETY, INC., ET AL. , defendants . D E C I S I O N An action has been filed for the nullification of the March 12, 1989 election for President-elect as well as for the disqualification of defendants Nenita Lee Tan and Erlinda Novales for the positions of President and President-elect respectively. prcd In his amended complaint Reynaldo J. Echavez through counsel aver seriatim the defendants Roy P. Villarin, Ricardo L. Santos and Cesar Y. Villafuerte are the Chairman, Secretary and member respectively of the COMELEC of the defendant Manila Medical Society, Inc. (MMS for brevity); that plaintiff is an active member in good standing of the defendant MMS; that he has been active in the affairs of defendant MMS mother organization, the Philippine Medical Association (PMA for brevity), serving as its elected National Treasurer in 1983-1985 and appointed as Secretary General for 1985-1986; that on February 9, 1989 plaintiff filed his certificate of candidacy for President-Elect; that plaintiff upon filing his certificate of candidacy as PRESIDENT-ELECT waited on February 10, 1989 up to 5:45 p.m. for a meeting of the COMELEC, but there was none; that with the coming elections last March 12, 1989, plaintiff through counsel wrote the defendant through its President, Dr. Modesto Llamas to call the special meeting pursuant to the by-laws; that on account of such letter, this plaintiff was informed of a special meeting on February 24, 1989 and disclosed the six (6) members of the COMELEC; that on February 24, 1989, only two (2) members of the COMELEC were present, that despite the lack of quorum, the COMELEC proceeded with the deliberation on the qualification of the candidates, as indicated in the Minutes (Annex "E" to the amended petition) showing plaintiff as disqualified to run and be voted as candidate for MMS President-elect. Plaintiff therefore prays, among others, on the nullification of the March 12, 1989 elections for President-Elect and the scheduling of new elections for President, President-Elect in accordance with the amended MMS by-laws; that defendants Nenita Lee Tan and Erlinda Novales be declared disqualified for the positions of President and President-Elect and to declare Modesto Llamas as having illegally held the position of President for 1988-1989; and for defendants to pay actual, moral, and compensatory damages to the plaintiff. Defendants through counsel denied that plaintiff is an active member of good standing of the MMS and that plaintiff waited in the afternoon of February 10, 1989 for the calling of its meeting with the candidates or that the MMS COMELEC was prodded by plaintiff to call the meeting for the candidates, or there was delay or breach of the by-laws. Respondents claim that the COMELEC meeting was for an interview of the candidate on their qualification and compliance with other requirement. Respondents further pointed out that in the minutes of February 24, 1989, the MMS records show that the alleged payments of Dr. Echavez were received and recorded only on November 29, 1988 which was after the deadline (September 30, 1988) for said payments. Therefore, he is not in good standing, a requirement for membership and candidacy. Moreover, one of the requirements expressly provided by MMS by-laws for qualification for the position of President is that the prospective candidate must have served the Executive Counsel or Board of Trustees for at least one year (Chapter XIII, Section 2, a (3). There was no compliance of this requirement pursuant to the admission of Dr. Echavez himself at the meeting. Respondents furthermore denied that Dr. Novales was disqualified to run for MMS president and for president-elect in the 1988 elections for not being a member of good standing. The truth of the matter is that in SEC Case No. 3337,Gotanco V. Novales, et al., a decision was finally rendered on September 8, 1988 where the Commission found no justifiable reason to declare respondent Novales negligible or disqualified for the position of vice president to which he was duly elected on March 20, 1988. Both parties submitted affidavits in support of their respective allegations and the affiants were subjected to cross-examination. LLjur The bone of contention revolves on, first: whether or not the plaintiff Dr. Reynaldo Echavez was qualified to be a candidate for president-elect in the election of March 1989; second: whether or not the individual defendants were duly elected as MMS officers in accordance with the constitution and by-laws as well as the Corporation Code; and finally, whether or not the plaintiff or defendants are entitled to damages. Plaintiff admitted that he paid the full life membership dues which were received by the MMS on the 29th of November 1988. (TSN, February 7, 1990 p. 10) He likewise admitted on cross-examination that he did not actually serve the board of trustees or executive council one year immediately following the election that he participated in or filed his candidacy as president-elect. (TSN Ibid., p. 30) To show that the deadline for payment of the required dues from the members was September 30, 1988, respondent Dr. Modesto Llamas, the president of MMS, presented a document dated July 15, 1988 addressed to the plaintiff and signed by Dr. Arcadio Tamayo, Secretary General of the PMA, (Exhibit "10") reminding all the members of the deadline for the payment of dues on September 30, 1988 for the election of 1989. This was sufficient notice for plaintiff to comply with his obligation to pay his dues on the requested date. Aside from such notice, the newsletters carried this reminder for them to be in good standing. (TSN February 7, 1990 p. 80) Even the treasurer Dr. Nenita Lee Tan herself admitted that the deadline for payment of membership dues was September 30 since she was Treasurer four years ago for two terms. (TSN February 7, 1990 p. 95) Likewise the PMA has set the deadline on September every year and the MMS follow the deadline PMA has set in the PMA Primer. (Exh. 12) All these adduced evidences point to the indubitable fact that plaintiff is not a member in good standing of MMS for having failed to pay on time his dues. Moreover, the payment of the monthly dues to an affiliate organization is not payment to MMS. In addition, plaintiff's admission that he did not actually serve the board of trustees one year after election and that he failed to file his certificate of candidacy as president-elect gravely violated the provisions of the amended by-laws. The provisions in Chapter XIII of the MMS by-laws transgressed by the plaintiff are as follows: SECTION 2. Qualification of candidates "The qualification for the following candidates shall be: A. President, . . . xxx xxx xxx 3. Must have served the Executive Council or Board of Trustees as a member for at least one year for President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer". xxx xxx xxx "SECTION 5. Rules of candidates A. "The candidate must file in writing to the Secretariat of his intention to the position before 5:00 p.m. exactly 30 days before the MMS Election Day, if the deadline falls on Sunday or Holiday, the next working day shall be considered." xxx xxx xxx On the matter of whether or not the individual defendants are duly elected as MMS officer, in SEC Case No. 3337, Gotanco v. Novales, et al., a decision was rendered finally resolving this issue. Vis-a-vis the issue on whether or not the plaintiff or defendants are entitled to damages, there is no substantial evidence that would warrant either party the entitlement to damages. LLpr WHEREFORE, the amended complaint is hereby DISMISSED for lack of merit. No pronouncement as to costs. SO ORDERED. (SGD.) JOSEFINA L. PASAY-PAZ Hearing Officer