The Commission on Elections (Comelec) En Banc on Monday, 30 June, affirmed the resolution declaring Bienvenido "Benny" Abante as the duly elected representative of the 6th District of Manila in the May 2025 midterm elections.

In a 12-page resolution, the Comelec En Banc denied the motion for reconsideration filed by initial winner Luis "Joey" Chua Uy against the 18 June ruling that voided his certificate of candidacy.

In that resolution, the Comelec Second Division ruled that Uy is not a natural-born Filipino citizen and is therefore not qualified to run for or hold a seat in the House of Representatives.

"His proclamation as the winning candidate for district representative of the 6th District of the City of Manila was, thus, made in violation of the Constitution," the ruling stated.

It further ruled that Uy's proclamation is "hereby annulled," declaring Abante as the only qualified candidate who garnered the highest number of votes and is, therefore, the duly elected representative of the 6th District of Manila.

The Comelec En Banc also ordered the Manila City Board of Canvassers to reconvene and formally proclaim Abante.

Abante lost his reelection bid to Uy in a close race, receiving 63,358 votes compared to Uy's 64,746.

Meanwhile, in a radio interview, Comelec Chairperson George Garcia said he would meet with the Office of the Solicitor General on Monday afternoon regarding a Supreme Court (SC) clarification.

This follows the SC’s recent ruling that second-ranking candidates cannot be proclaimed winners if the leading candidate is disqualified or deemed ineligible.

"This is not to seek a reversal of their decision, but rather to simply request clarification," Garcia said.