SC issues status quo ante order on disqualification of Tarlac mayor

The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday announced that it has issued a status quo ante order maintaining Susan Yap-Sulit as mayor of Tarlac City.

According to the SC, it issued the order to “maintain the situation between the parties prior to the issuance of the Comelec En Banc resolution, while the case is pending.”

In October, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) En Banc disqualified Yap-Sulit in the 2025 May elections and declared her ineligible to serve public office after she allegedly failed to meet the mandatory one-year residency requirement.

This led her to file a petition for certiorari with a prayer for a temporary restraining order or status quo ante order with the SC against the resolution of the poll body.

Meanwhile, the SC directed the poll body and others to comment on the petition within a non-extendable period of 10 days from notice.

GMA News Online has asked Comelec for comment and will publish its response once available.

For her part, Yap welcomed the development: “I thank the Supreme Court for being the voice of rationality in what has seemed like a hasty plot to unseat me and reverse the will of the Tarlaqueños.This decision restores hope that the truth – and the people’s mandate – will prevail.”—With Vince  Angelo Ferreras/VAL, GMA Integrated News