OUSTED Albay governor Noel Rosal has sought the intervention of the Supreme Court in stopping the Commission on Elections (Comelec) from halting his candidacy to reclaim his post.
In a petition for the immediate issuance of a temporary restraining order, writ of preliminary injunction, and or status quo ante order dated October 11, Rosal through lawyer Romulo Macalintal said there is a need for the High Court to issue an injunction “due to the immediate and threatened injury” to his right as a candidate in the 2025 national and local elections.
Rosal filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) for Albay’s gubernatorial post last October 3.
The Ombudsman, in a resolution released in August, declared the former governor guilty of grave misconduct, oppression, and two counts of conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service for removing three provincial officials from their posts and assigning them to lesser positions.
Rosal said unless the high court issues a temporary restraining order and/or status quo order directing the Comelec to stop implementing its Resolution No. 11044-A, he “will suffer grave and irreparable injury” as a candidate for governor of Albay because his name will not be included in the official ballot.
“The assailed resolution bars a public elective official, like herein petitioner, who has been dismissed by an order of the Ombudsman, with accessory penalty of perpetual disqualification from holding public office, from seeking an elective office even while his appeal is pending before the Court of Appeals,” he added.
Rosa said the Comelec resolution, issued on September 4, amended Resolution No. 11044 which limited the cancellation of COCs of public officials dismissed to final conviction in criminal cases and does not apply to administrative cases decided by the Ombudsman and whose accessory penalty of perpetual disqualification to hold public office is pending appeal.
Rosal said such accessory penalty shall apply only in cases where the Ombudsman decision has already become final and executory which, he added, has been the consistent ruling of the poll body in previous elections.
He said that on September 4, his camp received a copy of the Ombudsman’s resolution dismissing him from the service with perpetual disqualification to hold public office.
“What a weird coincidence. The assailed resolution was promulgated by the Comelec on the same day that petitioner received a copy of the Ombudsman resolution imposing upon him the penalty of dismissal, on 4 September 2024, making petitioner an easy target thereof,” Rosal said.
In the same ruling, the Ombudsman also meted a one-year suspension on Rosal’s wife, Legazpi City Mayor Carmen Geraldine Rosal, after she was also found guilty of administrative charges involving the reassignment of several department heads in 2022.
He said he filed a timely appeal of the resolution before the Court of Appeals on September 16 and the appeal is still pending resolution by the appellate court.
Rosal said if the poll body is allowed to have its way, preventing his running for the gubernatorial post, it will deprive Albayanos of their right to choose whoever they want to run the province.
Rosal won the 2022 gubernatorial race in Albay, with 469,481 votes as against the 230, 735 votes of his closest rival, Al Francis Bichara.
