Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Erwin Garcia said that he would inhibit himself from the case of Marikina City Mayor Marcelino “Marcy” Teodoro particularly on the cancellation of the latter's candidacy for the 2025 polls.

Teodoro said he will file a Motion for Reconsideration (MR) as the decision is not yet final and executory.

Garcia explained that if the respondent files an MR, the petitioner may file a reply although not mandatory, after which the case will be submitted for decision and will be raffled to the one who will write the en banc's decision.

"Ang inyong lingkod ay magi-inhibit sa kasong yan. Gusto ko lang sabihin ng ganito kaaga pa lang sapagkat kliyente ko dati ang dalawang naglalaban sa position dun (I will be inhibiting myself from that case. I just wanted to mention this so early because the two parties involved were my clients in the past)," Garcia said in a chance interview.

Garcia is referring to the respondent Teodoro; and one of the petitioners, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III who is running for mayor of Marikina.

"Minarapat ko po bilang pagrespeto sa proseso na huwag mag-participate. Therefore, 'yung anim na miyembro ng Komisyon ang magpa-participate sa disposiyon ng Komisyon (In respect to the process I chose not to participate. Therefore, the six members of the Commission will take part in the Commission's deliberation)," the poll chief added.

The Comelec First Division granted the petition to cancel and/or deny due course the Certificate of Candidacy (COC) of Teodoro for the First Congressional District of the city.

The First Division stated that the petitioners were able to discharge "their burden of proving that Respondent deliberately comitted material representation in his COC." They said that Teodoro "deliberately" and "materially" misrepresented the fact of his residencey in the first district, which is enough of a ground to cancel or deny due course his COC.

They added that he materially misrepresented that he eligible to for the office he seeks to be elected to.

"Undeniably Respondent is not a stranger or newcomer in the 1st District of Marikina City, having been born therein and even became the first representative of the 1st Congressional District of Marikina in 2007. Yet the fact remains that he has abandone his domicile of origin in the 1st District and acquired a new domicile of choice in the 2nd District," the resolution read.

"There is also no prohibition for the Respondent to return to his domicile of origin, for a period of no less than one (1) year immediately preceding the day of the 2025 NLE. By declaring in his CoC the contrary, despite knowing fully well that he did not meet the minimum residency requirement, Respondent committed material misrepresentation which this Commission (First Division) cannot countenanced," it added.