CEBU, Philippines – Dismissed Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama Monday, October 7, asked the Supreme Court to stop the Commission on Elections (Comelec) from canceling his certificate of candidacy (COC).

Rama, who was dismissed and permanently disqualified from public office by the Office of the Ombudsman, filed with the Supreme Court Monday a petition for certiorari and prohibition with an urgent prayer for a status quo ante order and motion for a special raffle to hear his pleading. A copy of his petition was provided to Rappler by his legal counsel.

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A status quo ante order would prevent the Comelec from canceling Rama’s COC and barring him from running for reelection. Rama was ordered dismissed by the Ombudsman for grave abuse and nepotism over the city hall appointment of two of his brothers-in-law.

At the Cebu City Hall, acting mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia said he would be taking his oath to serve the unexpired portion of Rama’s term. Garcia, the vice mayor, became acting mayor when Rama was suspended in May over an unrelated case. Garcia said he would take his oath before Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG 7) Central Visayas   Director Leocadio T. Trovela after he filed his certificate of candidacy. Tuesday, October 8, is the last day of filing COCs.

“Only death will stop me from running for mayor,” Rama told local broadcaster Jason Monteclar in the latter’s YoutTube show.

In his petition, Rama said the Comelec exceeded its authority and created a new qualification for running for office by requiring candidates not to have an executory decision of disqualification from the Ombudsman.

“Comelec cannot just decide for itself to expand the coverage of its administrative function to include all decisions of the Ombudsman just by the mere fact that they are immediately executory, especially when it is loud and clear that what is required is finality of the judgment,” Rama’s petition said.

Rama said Comelec misapplied the Jalosjos v. Comelec ruling “as basis to administratively cancel the COC of a candidate on account of a mere executory judgment by the Ombudsman.” He said the Jalosjos ruling involved a final judgment of a criminal conviction. The Comelec resolution, he said, seeks to apply this to an administrative case that can still be appealed.

“Finality rests with the Supreme Court,” Rama told Monteclar in their interview.

Rama said in his pleading that the Comelec resolution goes against the right of suffrage of the electorate by limiting their choices. 

“Comelec added a qualification that only those who have not been subjected to the Ombudsman’s disciplinary powers can run for public office. That is an undue hindrance to the right of every voter to equal opportunities,” he said in his pleading.

Rama asked the Supreme court to: 

• Issue a Status Quo Ante Order that would prevent the Comelec from implementing its resolution until the Supreme Court has ruled on the case;
• Conduct a special raffle so that the case can be heard as quickly as possible;
• Rule that the Comelec’s resolution is null and void;
• Prohibit the Comelec from enforcing the resolution.

Rama also told the SC that Comelec Chairman George Garcia said that a that any candidate who has been dismissed and permanently disqualified by the Ombudsman and and who cannot present an injunction when they start printing election paraphernalia in December will not be included in the ballots. He said implementing the resolution would cause candidates like him irreparable harm. – Rappler.com

Max Limpag  is a freelance journalist based in Cebu and is an Aries Rufo Journalism Fellow of Rappler for 2024.