Philstar.com
December 12, 2024 | 1:21pm
MANILA, Philippines — Marikina Mayor Marcy Teodoro vowed to appeal the Commission on Elections First Division’s decision to cancel his certificate of candidacy (COC), denouncing the ruling as “political maneuvering” by his opponents for the 2025 congressional race.
The Comelec ruling stems from petitions filed by several individuals, including his main electoral rival, Senate Minority Leader Koko Pimentel III, who questioned Teodoro’s residency qualifications. Both are running as Marikina City’s first district representative.
“The fact that two petitions were filed against me shows that there are political underpinnings that is geared towards my removal from the electoral race. I will not allow this to happen and will exhaust all legal remedies available to me,” Teodoro said in a statement on Thursday, December 12.
The Comelec First Division on Wednesday, December 11, ruled that Teodoro failed to meet the one-year residency requirement in Marikina’s first district before the May 2025 elections. The commission cited two notarized legal documents from July and September 2024 showing his legal residence in Barangay Tumana in Marikina’s 2nd district.
Under the 1987 Constitution, a member of the House of Representatives (excluding party-list representatives) must have been a resident of the district they seek to represent for at least one year before election day.
In his statement, Teodoro emphasized that the decision is not yet final and executory. “I will file a Motion for Reconsideration, and I have five days from today within which to do so,” he stated, citing Comelec Resolution No. 11046, which allows for an appeal within five days of receiving the resolution.
Teodoro said the local Comelec office had initially approved his voter registration transfer to the First District. He also defended his connection to the area, noting that the poll body’s First Division itself acknowledged he was “not a stranger” or a “newcomer” to the district.
“It is worth noting that the purpose of the residency requirement is to prevent a stranger or a newcomer who is unacquainted with the conditions and needs of a community,” Teodoro said. “They also acknowledged that I was born there and even served as the first representative of the 1st Congressional District of Marikina.”
Teodoro represented the first district of Marikina from 2007 to 2016. He has been the mayor of Marikina since 2016, serving a maximum of three terms.
While the Comelec’s First Division found no issue with his “flip-flopping transfer of voter registration and residence,” they ruled that he failed to prove he had re-established his residence in the city’s first district since April 2024.
If his appeal to the Comelec en banc proves unsuccessful, Teodoro can still appeal the case with the Supreme Court. — Cristina Chi
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