Procedural lapses: Comelec junks appeal on Tulfo DQ

MANILA, Philippines — For lack of procedural compliance and legal merit, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has denied the motion for reconsideration of its earlier decision to dismiss the disqualification case against senator-elect Erwin Tulfo and four of his relatives.

Lawyer Virgilio Garcia had earlier filed the petition, invoking political dynasty as grounds to bar Erwin Tulfo, Rep. Jocelyn Tulfo, Rep. Ralph Wendel Tulfo, Wanda Tulfo and Ben Tulfo from running in the May 2025 midterm elections.

However, the Comelec First Division dismissed the case due to failure to meet procedural requirements. In response, Garcia filed a motion for reconsideration, which was also denied.

“We find no cogent reason to depart from the assailed order,” the commission said in a six-page decision on the appeal filed by Garcia.

The motion, according to Comelec, lacked merit and was riddled with procedural flaws.

“The allegations therein are not only unsupported by law but are also unsubstantiated by any credible or admissible evidence,” the commission noted.

A key issue cited was the complainant’s failure to attach the respondents’ certificates of candidacy (COCs), which the commission viewed as a serious procedural defect.

“It is a fatal omission that justifies the outright dismissal of the petition,” Comelec stressed.

The commission explained that without the COCs, it is deprived of a concrete basis for evaluation, making the petition insufficient in form.

Procedural rules, it emphasized, are not trivial requirements but essential to the fair and efficient handling of election-related cases.

“The procedural requirements are not mere formalities; they are substantive safeguards against unverified, speculative or fishing-expedition type pleadings,” the commission pointed out.