Pimentel wants DQ case vs Teodoro resolved quickly

Outgoing Senate president Aquilino ‘Koko’ Pimentel III — File photo

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III on Wednesday urged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) en banc to swiftly rule on the disqualification case against his rival, suspended Marikina Mayor Marcelino “Marcy” Teodoro.

Pimentel claimed that Teodoro’s bid for a House seat in the city’s first congressional district was “constitutionally defective” based on the ruling of the poll body’s First Division on Dec. 11, 2024, which canceled the mayor’s certificate of candidacy for alleged material misrepresentation over the residency requirement.

“Marcy Teodoro is not eligible to run for congressman because he played around with the constitutional requirements for this important office,” Pimentel said in a statement.

READ: Marcy Teodoro’s proclamation, 18 others suspended by Comelec

“We have raised this issue from the very start since October 2024 and the Comelec First Division sided with us in December 2024,” he added, stressing that “the unofficial vote count of one legislative district cannot override the constitutional requirements.”

Citing several legal documents, sworn testimonies and official IDs, the First Division found that Teodoro’s claim of having returned in April 2024 to Barangay San Roque, which is in the city’s first district, was not supported by credible, overt acts required to reestablish domicile under election law.

His proclamation as the city’s first district representative has been suspended by the poll body pending the resolution of two disqualification cases against him.

As of 5 p.m. on Tuesday, however, Teodoro was ahead of Pimentel by over 45,000 votes based on partial and unofficial tallies from the Comelec’s transparency servers. —Tina G. Santos