Supreme Court: Second placers don't automatically succeed disqualified local winners

The Philippine Supreme Court has definitively settled the "second placer rule" for local elections, affirming that candidates who come in second do not automatically succeed winners who are later disqualified or deemed ineligible.

The high tribunal, in an en banc session, dismissed a motion for reconsideration by Datu Pax Ali Mangudadatu. Mangudadatu had sought to claim the governorship of Sultan Kudarat after his certificate of candidacy was nullified by the Commission on Elections due to a change in residence. The Comelec had previously ruled that the vice governor should serve the remainder of the term.

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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.

The Supreme Court reiterated that no law supports the second placer rule. It stressed that the Constitution recognizes only the candidate who received the highest number of votes as elected. Second placers, the court stated, were not the choice of the people and technically lost the election. Therefore, they hold no vested right to be recognized as the winner.

This ruling specifically applies to elective posts at the local level, as outlined in the Local Government Code. The court noted that the issue for national posts was not covered in this case, but succession for the president and vice president is guided by the 1987 Constitution.

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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.