Winning candidates with pending DQ cases not yet off the hook — Comelec’s Jimenez

Winning candidates with pending disqualification cases should not yet celebrate.

On Wednesday, Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said the cases are not considered dismissed even if they are proclaimed winners.

“Magtutuloy yung kaso. And if the case if resolved afterwards, the consequences will follow,” Jimenez told reporters at the National Board of Canvassers.

Decisions made by a division of the Comelec can still be appealed before the Comelec en banc.

Decisions by the Comelec en banc, meanwhile, can still be appealed before the Supreme Court. 

The disqualification case against former Foreign Affairs secretary and Taguig City congressional candidate Alan Peter Cayetano has been dismissed by the Comelec Second Division but petitioner Leonides Buac Jr. has filed an appeal for the reversal of the decision.

The Comelec has also yet to issue a resolution on the disqualification case against senatorial candidate Sergio Osmeña III.

The poll body earlier junked the two disqualification cases against reelectionist Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, saying the constitutional ban on two consecutive six-year Senate terms did not apply to the former Senate President. — Tina Panganiban-Perez and Amita Legaspi/RSJ, GMA News