The Supreme Court has scrapped the “second placer” rule, ruling that a candidate who finishes second cannot automatically assume office when the winning candidate is disqualified.
In a decision dated April 22, 2025, the Supreme Court En Banc ruled in Datu Pax Ali S. Mangudadatu v. Commission on Elections (COMELEC) that a runner-up cannot be declared the winner simply because the top vote-getter was later found ineligible.
The case stemmed from the 2022 gubernatorial race in Sultan Kudarat, where Mangudadatu garnered the most votes. COMELEC later cancelled his certificate of candidacy after finding that he failed to satisfy the residency requirement.
During its Aug. 26, 2026 session, the Supreme Court En Banc denied with finality Mangudadatu’s motion for reconsideration in G.R. Nos. 260219 and 260231, affirming its earlier decision to cancel his certificate of candidacy for governor of Sultan Kudarat and ruled that the resulting vacancy should instead be filled by the vice governor.
The Court said the runner-up cannot assume the post because no law gives a losing candidate the right to succeed a disqualified winner under these circumstances. It stressed that placing second does not change the candidate’s status as an electoral loser.
The Court said allowing the second placer to assume office would presume that voters would have chosen that candidate had the disqualified winner not run. Such an assumption, it said, would disregard the electorate’s actual choice.
Instead, vacancies resulting from the disqualification of elected officials must be filled according to existing succession laws. For local positions, the Court pointed to the succession rules under the Local Government Code.
