MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court has affirmed that candidates who place second in local elections do not automatically succeed winners who are later disqualified or found ineligible.
The high tribunal, in an en banc session on Wednesday, ruled on the “second placer rule” when it dismissed with finality the motion for reconsideration sought by Datu Pax Ali Mangudadatu, who was accused of false representation in his certificate of candidacy (COC) for the 2022 elections.
Mangudadatu ran for Sultan Kudarat governor, but the Commission on Elections (Comelec) later decided to nullify his COC because of his change in residence. The Comelec, at the time, ruled that the duly elected vice governor should serve the remaining duration of Mangudadatu’s term.
READ: SC: 2nd placer in local polls can’t take place of DQ’d winner
In its latest ruling, the high court agreed that the vacancy left behind by Mangudadatu’s ineligibility should be filled by the sitting vice governor, and not by whoever was the “second placer” in the governor post.
“The (Supreme Court) reiterated that no law authorizes the second placer rule. It emphasized that the Constitution recognizes as elected only the candidate who received the highest number of votes,” it said in a statement.
It noted that second placers have no vested right to be recognized as the winner in the polls, stressing that they were “not the choice of the people” as they technically lost.
This, however, applies only to elective posts at the local level as stipulated in the Local Government Code, said the Supreme Court.
It noted that it could not decide on the issue for national posts as they were not covered in the case. But it said that the succession rule for the two highest elective posts, which are the president and vice president, are guided by the 1987 Constitution. /das
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