The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has ordered the implementation of the rule of succession in Tarlac City following the final and executory decision of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) En Banc disqualifying Mayor Susan Yap from office due to failure to meet the residency requirement.

According to a memorandum issued by DILG Region 3 Director Araceli A. San Jose dated 04 November 2025, Vice Mayor Katrina Theresa Angeles was directed to assume the position of city mayor after the Comelec ruling rendered Yap ineligible to hold the city’s top post.

“In view of the foregoing, and in accordance with Section 44 of the Local Government Code of 1991, the existence of a permanent vacancy in the Office of the City Mayor necessitates that the City Vice Mayor shall automatically assume the position of City Mayor,” San Jose stated.

The DILG Region 3 has ordered Angeles to submit all necessary documents within 24 hours for her assumption as Tarlac City mayor. Once Angeles takes office, the highest-ranking member of the Sangguniang Panlungsod will automatically assume the role of vice mayor.

It can be recalled that the Comelec En Banc resolution promulgated on 22 October 2025 declared Susan Areño Yap-Sulit ineligible to serve as mayor, effectively annulling her proclamation.

The Comelec ruled that Yap “failed to sufficiently rebut the substantial evidence presented by Petitioners showing that she did not establish domicile in Barangay Tibag, Tarlac City.”

The poll body cited three requisites to establish a new domicile by choice, based on a Supreme Court decision: residence or bodily presence in the new locality, intention to remain there, and intention to abandon the old domicile.

“Applying these principles, the Commission En Banc finds that Respondent failed to adduce sufficient evidence to prove actual residence or bodily presence in Barangay Tibag, or the locality she claims as her domicile,” the Comelec said.

“The collective testimonies of Petitioners’ witnesses, including barangay officials of Barangay Tibag, barangay health workers, and even one of Respondent’s own political allies, indubitably establish that Respondent did not, in fact, establish residence in Barangay Tibag,” it added.