Manila: The Supreme Court (SC) has definitively denied the motion for reconsideration submitted by Datu Pax Ali S. Mangudadatu, thereby upholding its earlier decision to cancel his certificate of candidacy for the position of governor in Sultan Kudarat.
According to Philippines News Agency, the high tribunal has also reaffirmed its prior decision that the Local Government Code (LGC) provision on succession for local chief executives should be applied. This decision effectively abandons the 'second placer rule,' which previously allowed the candidate with the second highest number of votes to be declared the winner if the leading candidate was found disqualified or ineligible. The SC emphasized that no law authorizes the second placer rule, stating that the Constitution only recognizes the candidate who received the highest number of votes as elected.
The Court further explained that a permanent vacancy arises when a winning candidate is later found ineligible to hold office. For local elective positions, this vacancy is filled through succession as per the LGC, rather than declaring the second placer as the winner. As a result, the vice governor will succeed to the position of governor for the remainder of the term. The SC clarified that this ruling is specific to local elective positions covered by the LGC.
The decision did not address the application or non-application of the second placer rule or succession rules for national elective positions, as these issues were not presented to the Court. However, the SC stressed that succession for national elective positions, such as the President and Vice President, is exclusively governed by Article VII, Sections 7 and 8 of the Constitution. These sections outline the order of succession when the President or Vice President is unable to qualify for office.
In its ruling, the SC emphasized that the second placer has no inherent right or entitlement to be declared the winner, asserting that the second placer lost in the elections and was not the choice of the people. The Court's original ruling, which was an 8-to-5 vote, declared that the rules on succession under the LGC should apply in all cases where a permanent vacancy results from a local elective official's disqualification from office, regardless of the proceedings involved.
