Comelec maintains status quo in Rosales, Pangasinan vice mayoral post

MANILA, Philippines — The First Division of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has preserved the status quo in the vice mayoral post of Rosales in Pangasinan after a court ruled that the opponent of the incumbent vice mayor was the winning candidate in the 2025 midterm elections following a manual recount.

In a decision dated Wednesday, the Comelec First Division granted the petition filed by John Isaac Kho, the incumbent vice mayor of Rosales, seeking the issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction to prevent the implementation of the ruling of Regional Trial Court Branch 53 (RTC Branch 53), which voided Kho’s proclamation.

Susan Casareno, who placed second in the vice mayoral race, filed an election protest alleging “fraud, anomalies, and irregularities” during the polls, including inaccurate reading and counting of votes by automated counting machines, discrepancies in the actual votes cast, and unaccounted votes.

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After recounting votes in all precincts, the court said Casareno garnered 20,705 votes, while Kho received 18,730 votes. The court declared Casareno the duly elected vice mayor and ruled that Kho’s proclamation was “null and void” and of “no force and effect.”

In granting Kho’s petition, the Comelec First Division said “it appears that great and irreparable injury would result to petitioner before the issue can be resolved,” adding that it found the issues raised by Kho to be “very serious.”

“Considering that the merits of the case will be resolved in due time, and that the interest of justice would not be best served if the issues are rendered moot and academic, the Commission (First Division), following the dictates of prudence and fair play, hereby grants, pending resolution of the main petition, the injunctive relief prayed for by the petitioner,” the decision read.

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The First Division directed Judge Roselyn Andrada-Borja, presiding judge of RTC Branch 53, and all persons under her supervision to cease and desist from implementing the court decisions dated Nov. 28, 2025, and Dec. 1, 2025.

“Let the Clerk of Court of the Commission issue a writ of preliminary injunction, upon petitioner’s posting of a bond in the amount of One Hundred Thousand Pesos (P100,000.00), which shall answer for damages that the private respondent may sustain by reason of this injunction if it is finally decided that petitioner is not entitled thereto,” the ruling stated.

Meanwhile, Comelec spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco said the First Division’s ruling may still be appealed before the Comelec en banc. /jpv