Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Erwin Garcia clarified that the Supreme Court (SC) ruling may be applied in the Municipality of President Roxas once the case against Mayor Receliste “Tanoy” Escolin will be decided with finality.
Citing the case of Datu Pax Ali Mangudadatu vs Comelec, Garcia reiterated that the SC abandoned the Second Place Doctrine in an April 2025 decision.
This new SC decision orders that the rule of succession applies to cases including those who violated the three-term limit as what happened with Escolin.
Once Escolin has to vacate the mayoralty seat, the SC ruling would follow that Vice Mayor Jhefferson B. Pastrana will become mayor and not former SB member Bart Locsin.
It was Loscin who garnered the second highest number of votes in the four-way mayoralty race during the May 2025 elections.
“Para po malaman ng sambayanan, lalo po sa President Roxas o kong saan man sa ating bansa, nagkaroon ng bagong desisyon ang SC noong nakaraang taon (For the people to know, especially in President Roxas or anywhere else in the country, there was a new decision by the SC last year),” said Garcia while in Iloilo City during the February 20, 2026 opening of the Comelec regional office.
The Comelec En Banc has recently reiterated its ruling that Escolin already served three consecutive terms as municipal mayor.
Garcia admitted Escolin’s case has not been decided with finality due to legal processes by both camps.
Locin’s camp also filed for an intervention against Escolin and has urged the Comelec En Banc to proclaim him as the winning candidate.
A Comelec En Ban order dated February 18, 2026 has directed both camps to respond to the intervention plea filed by Locsin.
Escolin has long argued that his term as municipal mayor was interrupted by the 90-day suspension imposed by the Office of the Ombudsman in 2024.
