THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday welcomed the decision of the Supreme Court (SC) allowing the poll body to hold special elections to fill vacant congressional seats without Congress declaring a vacancy.
“This strengthens the mandate of the Comelec that we can call special elections,” Comelec chairman George Garcia said in an interview.
At the same time, Garcia said they would gather more details on the ruling of the high tribunal on the case filed by Elroy John Hagedorn against the House of Representatives.
“We just want to know the extent of the Commission’s authority to call special elections,” he said. “It would be great if we could read the decision giving us the discretion. We want to know what the parameters really are.”
The SC ruled that the Comelec can hold special elections to fill vacancies in the House, even without a resolution from Congress.
Hagedorn filed a petition to compel the House to issue a resolution certifying the existence of a vacancy in Palawan’s third legislative district, and calling for a special election.
The seat became vacant after Elroy John’s father, Rep. Edward Hagedorn who was elected in 2022, passed away on Oct. 3, 2023.
