A YouTube video claims that the Supreme Court’s recent landmark ruling rejecting the “second placer rule” in local elections applies to the Luis Uy-Bienvenido Abante Jr. case. This needs context.
The high court ruling applies only to local officials covered by the rules of succession under the Local Government Code (LGC).
This does not apply to national elective positions such as the case of Abante, who was declared as Manila’s 6th District Representative after coming second to Luis ‘Joey’ Chua Uy in the 2025 elections, when the Commission on Elections (Comelec) disqualified Uy.
Published on June 22, the erroneous video bore a text on its thumbnail that read:
“2ND PLACER RULE GITANGGAL NA! SUPREME COURT DECISION BENNY ABANTE HINDI PWEDENG PUMALIT KAY JOEY UY (2nd placer rule junked! Supreme Court decision Benny Abante cannot replace Joey Uy)”
The vlogger in the video discussed a June 21 article published by Abogado.com.ph related to the landmark SC ruling that the second placer in local elections cannot be proclaimed the winner in cases where the original winner is disqualified or declared ineligible.
The vlogger claimed that this decision is applicable to the case of Abante and Uy, citing the said SC ruling promulgated on April 22.
In its 37-page ruling, the SC declared that “the rules on succession under the LGC shall apply in all cases where a permanent vacancy results from a local elective official’s disqualification from office regardless of the proceedings involved.”
The SC acted on a certiorari petition filed by Datu Pax Ali Mangudadatu contesting the Comelec’s decision to cancel his certificate of candidacy (COC) in the 2022 Sultan Kudarat gubernatorial race.
Although he won the election, the Comelec found that Mangudadatu “deliberately committed material misrepresentation in his COC.”
The SC ordered Mangudadatu “to cease and desist from discharging the functions of the Office of the Governor of Sultan Kudarat to surrender the same to the duly elected Vice-Governor of the province in the May 9, 2022 elections.”
This indicates that the decision only applies to local officials. A seat at the House of Representatives, as in the case of Abante and Uy, is a national elective position.
Read the full story on VERA Files Fact Check.