Outgoing Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III said on Thursday, June 26, that he would bring up before the Supreme Court the Commission on Elections' (Comelec) ruling that allowed the proclamation of Marcelino “Marcy” Teodoro as Marikina City’s 1st District representative and reinstated his Certificate of Candidacy (COC).

“They all know they did something very special in that case, which took them 6 months to cook. At any rate, while and since we are still here on earth, the very important legal and constitutional issue in that controversy will have to be raised before the Supreme Court,” Pimentel said.

“That’s the plan. Everyone including me needs to learn a lesson from this experience,” he added when asked if he plans to raise it before the High Court.

He questioned if a person who left the district in February 2024 and returned to the district in September 2024 could still run for Congress there in the May 2025 elections. The Comelec en banc reversed the First Division's ruling cancelling Teodoro's COC, also lifting the suspension order of his proclamation.

Teodoro garnered the most votes for the city's 1st District congressional seat against Pimentel but was not proclaimed due to the pending case.

Pimentel denounced Comelec for reversing its earlier ruling, calling it “a mockery of the Constitution” and warning that it “opens the gates of electoral hell.”

“This reversal is not just a legal setback, for it’s clearly a betrayal of the Constitution and the democratic process,” Pimentel said in a statement.

“It sets a dangerous precedent and ‘opens the gates of electoral hell,” he said.

“If residency requirements mandated by the Constitution can be brushed aside with a flip of a resolution, what stops others from gaming or manipulating the system?” Pimentel said. “Article VI, Section 6 of the Constitution is clear that a congressional candidate must be a resident of the district for at least one year before the election,” he added.

Pimentel also slammed Comelec’s “turtle-paced” handling of the case, criticizing the commission for taking 196 days to issue a final decision.

“The Comelec’s inexcusable delay undermined the electoral process,” Pimentel said.

“Nearly 200 days passed before the Commission could decide on a simple question of residency and voter eligibility.”

He added that the commission's failure to act promptly deprived the electorate of a clear and lawful choice and allowed a candidate to run under the cloud of a pending disqualification case.

Pimentel said that they have five days to file for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) before the SC.

Asked for a reaction, Comelec Chairman George Garcia said: “Ultimately, the SC will be the final arbiter of the question of law.”