The Commission on Elections (Comelec) en banc has reinstated the certificate of candidacy for outgoing Marikina City Mayor Marcelino Teodoro, reversing an earlier decision to cancel it.

Teodoro, who defeated Senator Aquilino Pimentel III for a seat in the House of Representatives, called the Comelec’s ruling “a victory for the people of Marikina.”

“This decision validates the legitimacy of my certificate of candidacy for member of the House of Representatives for the First District of Marikina City,” Teodoro said in a statement.

He added that the poll body found “no material misrepresentation” in his Certificate of Candidacy and “no abandonment of my domicile in the first district.”

Teodoro maintained his “connection, familial, social and political, has always been rooted in Barangay San Roque.”

“I was able to clearly prove my actual and physical residency there,” he said.

With the decision, Teodoro’s proclamation as the duly elected representative for the district faces no further hindrance.

“I welcome this decision. It affirms what we’ve believed from the beginning, that the voice of the people matters and should never be silenced,” Teodoro said.

Teodoro secured 75,062 votes in the recent midterm elections, while Pimentel received 29,091.