The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has ordered the immediate implementation of the rule of succession in Tarlac City after the Commission on Elections (Comelec) En Banc disqualified Mayor Susan Yap from holding office due to a failure to meet residency requirements.
DILG Region 3 regional director Araceli A. San Jose issued a memorandum dated Tuesday directing Vice Mayor Katrina Theresa Angeles to immediately assume the position of city mayor.
“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,” the memorandum cited.
The DILG Region 3 ordered Angeles to submit relevant documents within 24 hours for her assumption of office. With Angeles moving up to mayor, the highest-ranking member of the Sangguniang Panlungsod (City Council) will then take over the position of vice mayor.
The Comelec En Banc Resolution, proclaimed on 22 October 2025, found Yap, whose full name is Susan Areño Yap-Sulit, ineligible to hold the post, thereby annulling her proclamation.
The poll body cited that Yap “failed to sufficiently rebut the substantial evidence presented by Petitioners showing that she did not establish domicile in Barangay Tibag, Tarlac City.”
It also cited that to acquire a new domicile by choice, three requisites must be met, citing a Supreme Court decision — bodily presence in the new locality, intention to remain there, and intention to abandon the old domicile.
The Comelec said it found that Yap “failed to adduce sufficient evidence to prove actual residence or bodily presence in Barangay Tibag, or the locality she claims as her domicile.”