Camarines Sur gubernatorial candidate Ronald “Bong” Alarkon Rodriguez cautioned his constituents against believing in “fake news,” saying he is disqualified from the May 12 race.
This needs context. The Commission on Elections has cancelled Rodriguez’s Certificate of Candidacy over discrepancies in his claim of residency.
STATEMENT
In a Facebook post on April 30, Rodriguez said:
“Dae po maniwala sa pinapakalat na fake news. DAE PO AKO DISQUALIFIED.
PeoplePowerSaCamSur2025
(Don’t believe in the circulating fake news. I am not disqualified).”
Source: Bong Rodriguez Facebook page, Dae po maniwala sa pinapakalat na fake news…, April 30, 2025
Another post by BRAVO CamSur, an official Facebook page of Bong Rodriguez’s active volunteers, said:
“Bako pong totoo na disqualified si Governor Bong Rodriguez. Ang totoo po overqualified siya. (It is not true that Governor Bong Rodriguez is disqualified. The truth is he is overqualified.)
Bongkaras Cam Sur! #ProtestVoteSaCamSur2025”
Source: BRAVO CamSur Facebook page, Bako pong totoo na disqualified si Governor Bong Rodriguez…, April 30, 2025
On the same day, however, the Commission on Elections’ First Division released a 12-page resolution cancelling Rodriguez’s Certificate of Candidacy (COC) for “material misrepresentation,” citing discrepancies in his claim of residency.
FACTS
While a Comelec panel has cancelled Rodriguez’s CoC, his disqualification is not yet final. Rodriguez can still file a motion for reconsideration, according to Comelec Chairman George Garcia.
Under Rule 19, Section 1 of the Comelec Rules of Procedure, a candidate, whose CoC has been cancelled, can appeal a division’s decision within five days from promulgation “on the grounds that the evidence is insufficient to justify the decision, order or ruling; or that the said decision, order or ruling is contrary to law.”
The Comelec en banc will rule with finality on the motion for reconsideration. If either party is dissatisfied with the en banc’s decision, they can bring the issue to the Supreme Court via certiorari on the grounds of grave abuse of discretion. The Court will then decide if the ruling by the Comelec en banc is consistent with the law.
If the decision becomes final before the elections, the candidate’s name may be removed from the ballot. If the decision comes after the elections and the candidate wins, the candidate cannot assume office and votes cast for him will be considered stray.
If a candidate has not been disqualified by a final judgment before an election and he receives enough votes to win, any violation of the earlier provisions will not hinder his proclamation or assumption of office.
BACKSTORY
Rodriguez was disqualified for material misrepresentation in his CoC, in which he declared being a resident of Barangay Palestina, Pili, Camarines Sur since April 2024, but was found to maintain residency in Aeroville Subdivision in San Felipe, Naga City.
Naga City is outside the jurisdiction of the provincial government for being an independent component city.
Under Section 39 of the Local Government Code (LGC), elective local officials, such as governors, must be registered voters in the province where they intend to be elected and they should be residents there for at least one year immediately preceding the day of the polls.
Comelec also found discrepancies in Rodriguez’s length of stay in Pili town. In his application for Transfer of Voter Registration record on May 7, 2024, the gubernatorial candidate said he has been staying at a Dizon Apartment unit in Pamon Village in Palestina, Pili for six months by then, indicating that he has been residing there since December 2023.
When summoned in November 2024 to explain the discrepancy, Rodriguez said it was not because of bad faith, but “a combination of his lack of knowledge in the technicalities of our election laws and a program error or bug in the software of the Comelec’s Voter Registration Machine (VRM).”
The Comelec First Division, however, dismissed Rodriguez’s explanations and ruled that “there was deliberate attempt to mislead, misinform, and hide his true state of residence, which would otherwise render him ineligible” to run for governor of Camarines Sur.
Rodriguez, a candidate of the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), is running against outgoing three-term Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte, who previously served as three-term governor of Camarines Sur.
According to Section 78 of the Omnibus Election Code, Comelec can cancel a candidate’s CoC on the ground that any material representation contained in the document is false.
