SC issues TROs for Marcos, Rosalto in May elections

The Supreme Court (SC) issued temporary restraining orders (TROs) on Tuesday, January 21, allowing senatorial candidate Francis Leo Marcos and gubernatorial candidate Noel Rosalto to participate in the May 2025 elections.

These TROs prevent the Commission on Elections (Comelec) from implementing resolutions that disqualified these candidates, with Comelec citing a lack of genuine intent for Marcos and Rosalto facing a disqualification based on the Office of the Ombudsman's decision to dismiss him from public service.

SC spokesperson Camille Ting stated that Comelec must comment within five days on petitions filed by both candidates.

The high court has received 25 petitions for national and local elections, with thirteen already resolved through TROs for various candidates.

Comelec chairman George Garcia announced a postponement of ballot reprinting due to these new directives from the Supreme Court, stressing that election day will not be affected despite delays in printing; about 6 million ballots were wasted, amounting to P22 each.

Garcia emphasized the importance of complying with legal processes and assured the public that final testing and sealing of ballots would still occur one week before elections.