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Marikina Mayor Marcelino Teodoro. —Photo from the Marikina City government
MANILA, Philippines — Marikina Mayor Marcelino Teodoro said on Thursday that the filing of petitions to cancel his candidacy for the 2025 polls is “political maneuvering” by his political opponents.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) 1st Division on Wednesday granted two petitions filed by five individuals including Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III, to cancel Teodoro’s certificate of candidacy for material misrepresentation regarding his address.
Pimentel and Teodoro are both gunning for a seat in the House of Representatives for the 1st district of Marikina City.
“The fact that two petitions were filed against me shows that there are political underpinnings that [are] geared towards my removal from the electoral race. I will not allow this to happen and will exhaust all legal remedies available to me,” Teodoro said in a statement.
READ: Sen. Pimentel airs concern over Mayor Teodoro’s transfer to District 1
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Teodoro said he would file a motion for reconsideration to contest the decision of the Comelec 1st Division, emphasizing that he would still want to continue serving his constituents in Marikina City.
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“I am asking my political rivals to let the voices of the citizens of Marikina be heard because an election is a democratic process for their welfare to have a good leader,” Teodoro said in Filipino.
Further, Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said on Thursday that the cancellation of Teodoro’s candidacy was not yet final and he was given five days to file a motion for consideration.
“Until the decision of the Comelec en banc is not yet final and there is a motion for reconsideration, the name of the candidate will not be removed from the list,” Garcia said in Filipino in an ambush interview.
Garcia noted that the Comelec 1st Division’s ruling was a collegial decision made by a three-member division with no dissent and manipulation.
Garcia also shared that he would inhibit himself from the en banc in deciding on the case of candidacy cancellation of Teodoro as Teodoro and Pimentel were his past clients.
READ: Comelec chief to inhibit self from Teodoro candidacy cancellation case
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Meanwhile, Teodoro expressed his confidence in Comelec en banc’s fair and impartial treatment of the case, adding that his “faith in the fairness of the Comelec is unwavering.”