The Supreme Court (SC) has upheld the cancellation of a gubernatorial candidate’s certificate of candidacy (COC) for false material representation regarding his residency, while abandoning the “second placer” rule and holding that the vice governor should succeed to the resulting vacancy.

In a decision penned by Associate Justice Samuel H. Gaerlan, the Court en banc dismissed the petition of then-Sultan Kudarat gubernatorial candidate Datu Pax Ali Mangudadatu and affirmed the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) rulings canceling his COC for false material representation regarding his residency. 

“It is the height of absurdity to continue representing a locality/place as its local chief executive and at the same time declare under oath that you are a resident of another province,” the Court said. 

FACTS AND ISSUE

The case stemmed from Mangudadatu’s candidacy for Sultan Kudarat governor in the 2022 elections while he was serving as mayor of Datu Abdullah Sangki (DAS), Maguindanao. 

In his Oct. 7, 2021 COC, Mangudadatu declared Purok Garden, Tammang, Lutayan, Sultan Kudarat as his residence and stated that his period of residence there would be one year and eight months by the day before the May 9, 2022 elections. 

Three petitions sought to deny due course to or cancel his COC, principally arguing that he could not satisfy Sultan Kudarat’s one-year residency requirement while continuing to serve and perform his duties as DAS mayor. 

Mangudadatu maintained that Lutayan, Sultan Kudarat was his domicile of origin and that he had temporarily transferred his residence to DAS to meet the residency requirement when he ran for mayor. He argued that he later reestablished his domicile in Lutayan through physical presence and an intention to return there. 

On Jan. 18, 2022, the COMELEC First Division granted the consolidated petitions and canceled Mangudadatu’s COC, finding that he failed to validly transfer his residence back to Sultan Kudarat and made a material misrepresentation in his COC. The COMELEC en banc denied his motion for reconsideration on May 2. 

Mangudadatu elevated the case to the SC, challenging the COMELEC’s findings on his residency and alleged false representation. 

The SC issued a temporary restraining order against enforcement of the COMELEC rulings on May 6, and Mangudadatu was proclaimed governor on May 11, 2022. 

The main issue before the Court was whether the COMELEC committed grave abuse of discretion in canceling Mangudadatu’s COC on the ground that he made a false representation regarding his residency qualification. 

RULING

The SC dismissed Mangudadatu’s petition and affirmed the cancellation of his COC, finding the requirements for false material representation under Section 78 of the Omnibus Election Code (OEC) satisfied. 

The Court held that Mangudadatu had abandoned his domicile of origin in Sultan Kudarat when he ran for mayor of DAS. Although he presented evidence of physical presence in Lutayan, he failed to show that he had abandoned DAS as his domicile, particularly because he continued serving as mayor and resigned only on Nov. 15, 2021, after the petitions against his COC had been filed. 

The Court consequently found that Mangudadatu knew when he filed his COC that he could not be considered a resident of Sultan Kudarat while serving as DAS mayor during the relevant period. 

“In this case, Pax Ali made a false material representation in his COC when he declared that he would be a resident of Lutayan, Sultan Kudarat for one year and eight months immediately before the day of the elections,” the Court ruled. 

The Court also abandoned the “second placer” rule, which had allowed the candidate with the second-highest number of votes to be proclaimed in certain cases where the winning candidate was disqualified or found ineligible. It held that the rule has no basis in law and conflicts with the electorate’s constitutional right to choose its representatives. 

Instead of declaring the second placer governor, the Court held that the cancellation of Mangudadatu’s COC created a permanent vacancy in the governorship that should be filled under the succession rules in Section 44 of the Local Government Code. 

The Court ordered Mangudadatu to cease performing the functions of governor and surrender the office to the duly elected vice governor, who was directed to serve as governor for the remaining term from July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2025.

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