Former Governor Noel Rosal of Albay has filed a petition with the Supreme Court seeking to nullify a recent Commission on Elections (Comelec) En Banc resolution that disqualified him as a candidate for Governor of Albay in the May 2025 elections.

In a 25-page petition filed on 10 January through his lawyers led by election lawyer Romulo Macalintal, Rosal argued that the Comelec committed grave abuse of discretion when it issued the disqualifying resolutions.

He contended that these resolutions were issued with “apparent and deliberate haste, brisk and speed faster than lightning,” allegedly to favor his political rivals.

The case stemmed from a petition filed by a certain Josefino Dioquino, an alleged registered voter of Legazpi City, seeking the “automatic administrative cancellation of the Certificate of Candidacy” of Rosal pursuant to Comelec Resolution 11044-A.

In his answer to the petition, Rosal argued that the petition should be dismissed on the ground that the implementation of Comelec Resolution 11044-A was, as stated, enjoined or stopped by the Supreme Court in a temporary restraining order (TRO) dated 22 October 2024, in three consolidated cases.

However, instead of dismissing Dioquino’s petition, the Comelec converted it into a disqualification case under Section 40 of the Local Government Code and held that the Comelec can always “suspend its rules.”

Rosal argued in his petition that the Comelec flagrantly violated the import of the TRO because Section 40 of the LGC is one of the grounds for disqualification under Comelec Resolution 11044-A, which the SC enjoined or prohibited from being implemented by the Comelec.

He also cited that while the Comelec may “suspend its rules,” it cannot do so if it will affect the substantial rights of a party, as in his case.

“By converting Dioquino’s petition to one for disqualification under Section 40 of the LGC, my right to due process was violated because such conversion was done without giving me a chance to answer the same and that it broadened the scope of Dioquino’s petition beyond what was asked by him as his causes of action were substantially and materially altered,” Rosal said.

He also accused the Comelec en banc of deliberate and apparent haste and speed in denying his Motion for Reconsideration without even requiring Dioquino to answer or file an opposition.

“On 2 January 2025, I filed my Motion for Reconsideration of the Resolution of the Comelec Second Division disqualifying me as a candidate for Governor of the Province of Albay in the May 2025 elections. On 6 January 2025, the Comelec Second Division ‘elevated all the records of the case to the Comelec en banc.’ And then came the coup de grace, on 7 January 2025, in record time of one day — the Comelec En Banc issued a resolution denying my motion for reconsideration, without even asking Dioquino to answer or oppose it. Which means that my motion for reconsideration was unopposed,” Rosal told the court.