CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY— The Supreme Court has finally ended former Camiguin gubernatorial candidate Paul Rodriguez’s legal challenge to his disqualification, clearing the way for the finality of Gov. Jurdin Jesus M. Romualdo’s 2025 election victory.
In an eight-page resolution dated July 8, 2026, the Supreme Court En Banc denied with finality Rodriguez’s motion for reconsideration, finding no sufficient grounds to overturn its earlier ruling upholding his disqualification.
The Court said Rodriguez presented “no substantial arguments” that would warrant reversing the questioned resolution.
The case, docketed as G.R. No. 279499, Paul Y. Rodriguez vs. Commission on Elections and Jurdin Jesus M. Romualdo, stemmed from Rodriguez’s challenge to his disqualification from the May 12, 2025 gubernatorial elections in Camiguin.
The Court ordered the immediate entry of judgment and said no further pleadings or motions would be entertained, making the ruling final and executory.
Residency issue
Rodriguez was earlier disqualified by the Commission on Elections En Banc over questions involving his residency qualification for the gubernatorial race.
After the Comelec upheld his disqualification, Rodriguez brought the case before the Supreme Court.
The High Court earlier dismissed his petition, prompting him to seek reconsideration.
That motion has now also been rejected with finality.
The Supreme Court had also previously ruled that issues surrounding Romualdo’s proclamation had become moot following the resolution of the disqualification case.
Romualdo won 66.91%
The final ruling comes more than a year after the 2025 gubernatorial elections, where Romualdo won 66.91 percent of the votes, more than twice the votes received by Rodriguez.
With the Supreme Court’s latest resolution, Rodriguez has no further remedy before the country’s highest court in the disqualification case.
