The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Friday it will go ahead with the proclamation of the Mamamayang Liberal (ML) party-list’s top nominee, former senator Leila de Lima, even though the Court of Appeals (CA) has nullified her acquittal in a drug case, stating that the ruling is not yet final.
“There’s no reason for us to halt the announcement of the party-list or its candidate since the CA’s decision isn’t final yet,” Comelec chairman George Erwin Garcia said, adding “there are no ongoing cases regarding that party-list that would require us to issue a suspension order.”
Garcia made the statement after the CA issued a 12-page ruling that granted the petition for certiorari submitted by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), challenging De Lima’s acquittal in a drug-related case involving former Bureau of Corrections chief Rafael Ragos.
Additionally, the case was remanded to Branch 204 of the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court.
“As legal practitioners, we understand that the decision of the Court of Appeals is subject to a motion for reconsideration. If not, it may be elevated to the Supreme Court,” Garcia said.
“We don’t think it is right to suspend the proclamation of a winning party-list or nominee because of a decision that is not yet final. Again, it will have no effect to the proclamation,” he said.
The ML party-list, where De Lima is the number one nominee, placed 14th in the party-list race, garnering 547,949 votes in the 2025 midterm elections, assuring her a seat in the 20th Congress as member of the House of Representatives.
