THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday cancelled the certificate of candidacy (COC) of Marikina Mayor Marcelino Teodoro, who is running for congressman of the first district of Marikina City in the May 2025 polls.
In a 25-page resolution, the Comelec 1st division ruled to deny giving due course to Teodoro’s COC after he was found to have committed material misrepresentation in filing his COC last October.
“Taking all these circumstances together, we find that the Petitioners were able to discharge their burden of proving that Respondent deliberately committed material misrepresentation in his COC. Hence, we are constrained to grant these petitions and order the cancellation of his CoC for the position of member, House of Representatives for the 1st district, Marikina City,” said the Comelec.
“Wherefore, premises considered, the instant Petitions to Cancel and/or Deny Due Course the certificate of candidacy are granted and the certificate of candidacy of respondent Marcelino “Marcy” Teodoro for member, House of Representatives, in the 1st district, Marikina City for the 2025 NLE, is hereby cancelled,” it ruled.
The decision comes after the Comelec 1st division granted the petition of Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III, along with four other petitioners.
Pimentel is running for congressman against Teodoro for Marikina’s first district.
In the petition, petitioners claimed that Teodoro made material misrepresentation when he declared that he has been a resident of the first district for one year and one month to qualify for the post he is running for.
The petitioners alleged that this was not true since Teodoro had been a resident of the second district since January 2018, and only returned to the first district last September.
“Undeniably respondent is not a stranger or newcomer in the 1st district of Marikina City, having been born therein and even became the first representative of the 1st congressional district of Marikina in 2007. Yet the fact remains that he has abandoned his domicile of origin in the 1st district and acquired a new domicile of choice in the 2nd district,” said the poll body.
“There is also no prohibition for the respondent to return to his domicile of origin and restore his legal residence therein. But for purposes of election, respondent must provide sufficient proof that he has re-established his residence in his domicile of origin, for a period of not less than one year immediately preceding the day of the 2025 NLE,” added the Comelec.
Teodoro, in an interview with Teleradyo, said his camp would appeal the Comelec division’s decision.
“We’re still waiting for the decision, wala pa akong kopya (I still do not have a copy [of the resolution]). But at any rate, we will file a motion for reconsideration). The decision of the division is not yet final,” he said.
He added: “We’re in quandary why (my COC) was canceled). There’s no material representation because, animus revertendi, I am a resident in my stated address.”
He likewise said that the Comelec accepted him as a registered voter of the first district.
“It (voter application) was approved. It was accepted by Comelec,” he said, adding the Comelec division could have mis-appreciated the facts.
“It’s not yet final. It will still go to en banc. It’s not yet executory. It’s part of the process. This is pure politics. My rival is a senator,” Teodoro said. – With Christian Oineza
