SC reinstates Yap-Sulit as Tarlac City mayor via status quo ante order
The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday, Nov. 4, issued a status quo ante order (SQAO) that allowed Susan Areno Yap-Sulit to reassume her post as mayor of Tarlac City.
Yap-Sulit will reassume her post as mayor of Tarlac City until the SC resolves with finality her petition against the Commission on Elections (Comelec) which disqualified her as a candidate for mayor.
She won as mayor during the May 12, 2025 elections and was proclaimed by the Comelec.
Last Oct. 22, however, the Comelec as a full commission reversed its second division ruling that dismissed the disqualification case against Yap-Sulit.
She elevated the Comelec’s decision before the SC and pleaded for the issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) or SQAO – the order that preserves the status quo prevailing before the controversy.
In the case of Yap-Sulit, the controversy started when she was disqualified as candidate for mayor by the Comelec as a full commission. Before the controversy, she has been performing her duties as Tarlac City mayor.
The disqualification case was filed by Amado S. De Leon and Jay-Ar Capulong Navarro who alleged that Yap-Sulit was not a resident of Tarlac City for at least one year prior to the elections.
In issuing the SQAO, the SC directed the Comelec and the two complainants to file their comments on the petition within a non-extendible period of 10 days from receipt of the resolution.