MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday, January 21, issued temporary restraining orders (TROs) on the disqualification of former Albay governor Noel Rosal and a senatorial candidate from the May 2025 elections.
The SC issued the TROs during their regular en banc session, said SC spokesperson Camille Sue Mae Ting.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) disqualified Rosal from running for Albay governor in December, based on the petition filed by Josefino Dioquino, who had cited the Office of the Ombudsman’s decision to dismiss Rosal from the service. This carries the penalty of perpetual disqualification from holding public office.
Earlier in January, Rosal questioned the Comelec’s ruling in a petition filed before the SC, and claimed that the Comelec committed grave abuse of discretion when it disqualified him.
This is the second TRO issued by the High Court on Rosal’s disqualification. The first was in October 2024, based on the argument of Rosal that his dismissal is not yet final and executory.
The Court also issued a TRO on the disqualification of vlogger Norman Mangusin, who uses the name “Francis Leo Antonio Marcos,” from the Senate race.
The Comelec had deemed the vlogger as a nuisance candidate though the poll body allowed him to run in the 2022 Senate elections, where he obtained over 4.4 million votes.
The Supreme Court ordered the Comelec to comment on Rosal and Marcos’ petition within a non-extendible period of five days from receipt of notice.
Ting assured the public that the Court is prioritizing the resolution of petitions of disqualified candidates so as not to derail the Comelec’s preparations for the 2025 polls. The Comelec earlier said that it will destroy 6 million ballots that it had printed, so far, for the 2025 elections to include the names of the concerned candidates.
Ting said that while the SC considers the printing of ballots, it had also reminded the Comelec that it “should also be aware that in disqualifying candidates there is a big chance these candidates are going to be bringing the issue before the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court would need time to actually resolved their cases.”
She added, “So these are the TROs the SC issued so far and it’s up to the Comelec how they will implement the orders.”
She said that with the issuance of the TROs, the Comelec should include the candidates’ names in the printing of the ballots.
Ting also said that of the 25 petitions seeking TROs on the disqualification of candidates, 11 have been acted upon by the Court.
On top of these, 22 disqualified party-list groups have pending petitions before the Supreme Court. – Rappler.com