Comelec to uphold Ombudsman decisions on dismissed public officials

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will uphold and enforce the decisions of the Office of the Ombudsman, particularly on public officials who have been dismissed from their positions and disqualified from holding office.

In an interview with Cebu media, Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said, "We only have one thing to say, and I have been clear with the public: the Comelec stands firm on respecting and recognizing the authority of the Office of the Ombudsman."

He cited that government agencies must comply with the Ombudsman's decisions.

"When these individuals are dismissed from service with a perpetual disqualification to hold public office, who is the Comelec to disregard this? If we do not follow it, we would be violating the very law that created the Ombudsman, Republic Act 6770, which is why we took this action," Garcia stressed.

He added that decisions of the Ombudsman are executory and cannot be stopped unless stayed by a restraining order from the Court of Appeals.

He said the cases of Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes and Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama are examples.

In 2023, the Comelec issued Resolution 11044, which mandates the immediate removal of names of individuals facing perpetual disqualification from the ballot, in deference to the Ombudsman's authority under Section 21, Paragraph 1 of RA 6770.

"Now, our resolution has been questioned by certain individuals in the Supreme Court. They obtained a temporary restraining order (TRO), which is only temporary and not a permanent injunction. Therefore, we are given only 10 days without extension to respond to the petition and defend the actions and position of the Comelec," Garcia insisted.

There are more than 100 cases of this nature now being handled by the Comelec, and it may increase more as the Comelec requested the Ombudsman for an updated list.

He warned though that if the TRO is not lifted before the scheduled ballot printing by late December, the names of candidates with perpetual disqualification will still appear on the ballots.

On October 22, the Supreme Court granted a TRO that favored the petitions of Cortes and Rama, who are seeking reelection in the May 2025 elections. The TRO has prevented Comelec to immediately enforce the cancellation of the certificates of candidacy (COCs) of Cortes and Rama.