THE Supreme Court (SC) has affirmed with finality its 2025 decision which abandoned the ‘second placer rule’ that previously allowed the candidate who received the second highest number of votes to assume office if the winning candidate is later found disqualified or ineligible.
The Court made the decision during its regular en banc session on Wednesday where it acted on the motion for reconsideration filed by Datu Pax Ali S. Mangudadatu which sought the reversal of the 2025 ruling that also upheld the cancellation of his certificate of candidacy for governor of Sultan Kudarat.
However, the Court clarified that its ruling is limited to local elective positions covered by the Local Government Code.
‘The case did not address the application or non-application of the second placer rule or succession rules for national elective positions, as these issues were not raised before the Court,’ the SC said.
On the other hand, the Court noted that succession for national elective positions such as President and Vice President is governed exclusively by Article VII , Section 7 and 8 of the Constitution.
Section 7 provides that in case of death, permanent disability, removal from office, or resignation of the President, the Vice-President shall become the President to serve the unexpired term.
Section 8, on the other hand, states that ‘in case of death, permanent disability, removal from office, or resignation of both the President and Vice-President, the President of the Senate or, in case of his inability, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, shall then act as President until the President or Vice-President shall have been elected and qualified’
Likewise, the SC clarified that its ruling applies to other similar pending cases, stressing that second placers ‘have no inherent right or entitlement to be declared the winner.’
In its 2025 ruling, the SC stressed that there is no legal basis for proclaiming the second placer in elections since there is no law authorizing the proclamation of the second placer.
The rule on succession under Sections 44 (Permanent Vacancies in the Offices of the Governor, Vice-Governor, Mayor, and Vice-Mayor) and 45 (Permanent Vacancies in the Sanggunian) of the Republic Act 7160 or the Local Government Code (LGC) should apply instead.
‘The second placer rule undermines the people’s choice in every election and is repugnant to the people’s constitutional right to suffrage. The Court cannot impose upon the electorate to accept as their representative the candidate whom they did not choose in the elections,’ the ruling stated.
The case stemmed from the petition for certiorari filed by Datu Pax before the SC against the Commission on Elections and Sharifa Akeel Mangudadatu, his opponent in the 2022 gubernatorial elections in Sultan Kudarat.
Pax Ali won the 2022 gubernatorial race with a total of 301,404 votes, over Sharifa Akeel, who received 47,348 votes.
Prior to the election, Sharifa Akel filed a petition to deny or cancel the certificate of candidacy of Pax Ali for not meeting the residency requirement.
The Comelec ruled in favor of Sharifa Akeel and canceled Datu Pax Ali’s certificate of candidacy.
This prompted Pax Ali to elevate the case before the Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of the Comelec and declared that the vice governor of Sultan Kudarat should assume the position of governor for the remainder of the term.
The second placer rule was established in the 2012 Jalosjos Jr. v Comelec ruling of the SC.
It refers to the practice of declaring the candidate who received the second highest number of votes as the winner after the winning candidate is disqualified.
But, the SC said this doctrine has no legal basis.
‘No law authorizes the proclamation of the second placer in the elections in case the candidate who received the most votes is disqualified or turned out to be ineligible,’ it declared.