MANILA — Legazpi Mayor Carmen Geraldine Rosal will keep her position for now, as the Supreme Court on Thursday issued a status quo ante order on her disqualification as a candidate for the city's 2022 mayoral race.
In a decision released Thursday, the Supreme Court said it would consolidate the 2 petitions connected to the disqualification case and ordered the respondents, including the Commission on Elections, to file their comments within 10 days from notice.
The Comelec en banc last week affirmed the disqualification of Rosal from running in the May 2022 elections.
It would have become final and executory 5 days from receipt without the Supreme Court's intervention.
In a statement Thursday, the Comelec said it has received the high court's order and directed all parties to maintain the status quo before it issues resolutions disqualifying Rosal and proclaiming her rival, Alfredo Garbin, who received the second-highest votes, as the duly elected mayor of Legazpi City, Albay.
In a resolution dated May 4, the poll body's en banc found Rosal accountable for "giving money to influence, induce or corrupt voters in violation of Section 68 (a) of the Omnibus Election Code."
It said the mayor did not deny that she was present during a 2-day tricycle drivers' cash assistance payout in May.
The Comelec found it sufficient to conclude that Rosal was among those who gave the cash assistance.
— with a report from Mike Navallo, ABS-CBN News