Mabalacat, Pampanga”•Crisostomo C. Garbo has been declared as the duly elected mayor of this 3rd class city—three months before the midterm elections.
This after the Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Commission on Elections dated June 8, 2017, which proclaimed Garbo as the duly elected mayor of the city.
In a 21-page resolution penned by Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, the high court dismissed the certiorari filed by then-incumbent Mayor Mariano Morales and Vice Mayor Christian Halili for being without merit.
Garbo welcomed the decision “despite attempts by other people to circumvent the law. I am elated by the ruling of the Court as it erased doubts on the legitimacy of my position as city mayor of Mabalacat,” he said.
As the victor, Garbo said he will extend his hand of reconciliation to Morales and Halili for the benefit of the city and its people.
However, the three are facing each other again in the midterm elections this May 13.
In the 2016 election, Morales ran again as city mayor, saying he was not violating the three-term rule for elected local officials.
But on August 3, 2016, the Comelec First Division annulled the Certificate of Candidacy (COC) of Morales and votes cast in his favor were declared astray.
In the same ruling, the division also ordered the City Board of Canvassers to reconvene and annul the proclamation of Morales, and proclaim the qualified candidate with the next highest votes.
On May 3, 2017, the Comelec en banc affirmed the decision of the First Division, as denied Morales’ motion to reconsider for lack of merit.
The Supreme Court said the primordial issues to be resolved were whether the Comelec gravely abused its discretion amounting to a lack of jurisdiction in finding that Morales committed a false representation in his COC when he declared himself eligible to run as mayor.
Thus, it directed the Comelec to proclaim Garbo as duly elected mayor of Mabalacat City for being the qualified candidate with highest number of votes.
In affirming the decision of the poll body, the Supreme Court denied with finality the motion of reconsideration of Morales and Halili.