MANILA – The Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) Second Division has dismissed a petition seeking to disqualify Senator-elect Erwin Tulfo in the May 12 midterm elections.
In a 25-page decision, the Second Division junked the disqualification case filed by Toto Causing and Graft-Free Philippines Foundation Inc. (GFPFI) against Tulfo on several grounds.
The Comelec said the citizenship issue, which was among the reasons the petitioners cited for Tulfo’s disqualification, should have been raised in a petition to cancel his certificate of candidacy.
“In this case, Petitioners improperly combined in a single pleading grounds that pertain separately and exclusively to a petition for disqualification and a petition to deny due course to or cancel a certificate of candidacy. This defect also warrants the dismissal of the instant Petition,” said the ruling, which was promulgated on Thursday.
“In view of the multiple grounds already established for the dismissal of the Petition, the other matters and issues raised by the parties no longer merit any consideration,” it added.
The petition stemmed from Tulfo’s previous libel conviction and his supposed US citizenship.
“Having served his sentence on 17 February 2011, Respondent’s disqualification due to conviction of a crime involving moral turpitude was deemed removed on 16 February 2016, which marked the expiration of the five-year period from his service of sentence,” the Comelec division said.
“Therefore, for the 2025 NLE (national and local elections), Respondent is not disqualified as a candidate for Senator,” it added.
Tulfo, who ran under the administration-backed Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas coalition, placed 4th among the 12 winning senatorial candidates after garnering 17,118,881 votes. (PNA)