Title
Francis Leo Antonio Marcos vs. Commission on Elections
Case
G.R. No. 277280
Decision Date
Sep 30, 2025
Nuisance candidate, TRO secured, candidacy withdrawn. SC finds mootness but holds candidate in contempt.
election law
nuisance candidate
contempt of court
A

Case Summary (G.R. No. 277280)

Facts and Proceedings Before the COMELEC

On October 8, 2024, Francis, through his authorized representative, Atty. Jonie Caroche (Atty. Jonie), filed his Certificate of Candidacy for Senator in the May 12, 2025 elections as an independent candidate, indicating that he was a businessman. Francis had previously run for the same Senate seat in the May 9, 2022 elections and obtained a total of 4,477,024 votes. On October 16, 2024, the COMELEC Law Department filed, on its own initiative, a petition to declare Francis a nuisance candidate and to require COMELEC to deny due course to or cancel his Certificate of Candidacy. The Law Department alleged that Francis lacked political affiliation and, allegedly, lacked ideology, political beliefs, or a governmental platform, and that the filing of his candidacy was meant to put the election process in mockery or disrepute. It further argued that Francis was not serious in his candidacy because he did not personally file the certificate at the Law Department Offsite Office at the Manila Hotel and instead chose to have Atty. Jonie file the certificate on his behalf. The Law Department also asserted that Francis’s surname was similar to that of Sen. Imee, which could lead to voter confusion.

Francis responded by filing an Answer cum Memorandum dated October 28, 2024. He invoked res judicata, emphasizing that in SPA No. 21-038, the COMELEC Second Division had dismissed a substantially similar petition involving his 2021 candidacy and that in a Resolution dated December 14, 2021, COMELEC had ruled that he was not a nuisance candidate for the May 9, 2022 elections. Francis argued that he had substantial public support, a proven track record, and active engagement in society demonstrating bona fide intent to run, pointing to community service and public engagement including the “Mayaman Challenge,” and to a platform focused on education and agriculture that he had highlighted in social media. He also cited COMELEC and Social Weather Stations (SWS) surveys in 2022 and his social media following. He further defended his use of an authorized representative, asserting that COMELEC’s rules permit such filings, and he contended that similarity of surname alone provided no legal basis for disqualification. He also claimed compliance with campaign finance reporting requirements.

COMELEC’s Nuisance-Candidate Ruling and Finality

In its November 18, 2024 Resolution, the COMELEC Second Division granted the Law Department’s petition and declared Francis a nuisance candidate. It held that Francis’s actions and statements, considered collectively, showed a lack of bona fide intention to seek a Senate seat and that his candidacy could not be taken seriously. The Resolution’s dispositive portion declared Francis a nuisance candidate and denied due course and cancelled his Certificate of Candidacy for the May 12, 2025 elections.

Francis filed a Motion for Reconsideration, but the COMELEC En Banc denied it in a November 29, 2024 Resolution. Francis received a copy of the En Banc Resolution via email at 4:20 in the afternoon on November 29, 2024, and he obtained true copies on December 3, 2024. On December 5, 2024, the COMELEC En Banc issued a Certificate of Finality and Entry of Judgment, stating that no restraining order had been issued by the Supreme Court within five days from receipt of the Resolution. It therefore declared the En Banc Resolution final and executory.

The Supreme Court Petition and the Issuance of a TRO

On December 6, 2024, Francis filed the present Supreme Court petition seeking to annul the COMELEC En Banc Resolution declaring him a nuisance candidate. He argued, among others, that COMELEC committed grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction; that he was denied due process because he was not afforded an opportunity to present evidence; that he was denied equal protection because he was allegedly singled out based on subjective and unfounded reasons; and that COMELEC erred in disregarding res judicata. Francis asked that the En Banc Resolution be declared null and void and sought a Status Quo Ante Order, TRO, and/or Preliminary Injunction to prevent his exclusion from the official ballots.

Acting on the petition, the Court En Banc issued a TRO on January 21, 2025, enjoining COMELEC from implementing the assailed Resolution and from excluding Francis’s name from the official ballots for the May 12, 2025 elections. The Court required COMELEC to file a comment within a non-extendible period of five days.

On January 22, 2025, Sen. Imee moved to intervene. In her motion, she claimed that Francis’s actual name was Norman Magusin y Antonio. To support her contention, she attached a copy of a Metropolitan Trial Court of Manila judgment convicting “Norman Mangusin y Antonio alias Francis Leo Marcos y Antonio” for Illegal Use of Alias under Sections 1 and 3 of Commonwealth Act No. 142, as amended by Republic Act No. 6085. Sen. Imee argued that by filing his Certificate of Candidacy under the name “Francis Leo Marcos,” Francis sought to cause confusion among voters and to mock the election process. She also prayed for the lifting of the TRO, asserting that Francis was not entitled to it.

COMELEC’s Comment and Francis’s Reported Withdrawal

On January 23, 2025, the COMELEC, through the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), filed a Manifestation in lieu of Comment, stating that on even date Francis filed a Statement of Withdrawal of his candidacy for Senator in the May 12, 2025 elections. COMELEC argued that the petition had become moot and academic because of the withdrawal. Francis, however, filed a Manifestation and Urgent Motion on January 24, 2025, asserting that Atty. Jonie had not been consulted or informed about the reported withdrawal. Francis asked for a reasonable period of five working days to establish communication and to secure proper, unequivocal instructions, and he prayed that the TRO remain effective pending resolution.

On January 27, 2025, COMELEC, through the OSG, filed a supplemental manifestation indicating that, pursuant to Rule 60 of COMELEC Resolution No. 11045, the COMELEC En Banc, through Resolution No. 11097-B dated January 24, 2025, resolved to give due course to Francis’s Statement of Withdrawal and considered Francis’s Certificate of Candidacy as withdrawn. COMELEC also reported that it directed the amendment of the senatorial candidates’ database to delete Francis’s name, and it directed the printing of ballots based on an amended database and certified list of candidates.

Subsequently, on February 25, 2025, the Court ordered Francis to show cause within 72 hours from notice why he should not be cited in contempt of court for actions that tended to bring the Court’s processes into disrepute or disrespect. Francis submitted his Compliance on April 8, 2025, where he apologized to the Court and explained that the withdrawal was intended to serve the public interest, avoid unnecessary government expenditure due to ballot printing delays and costs, and prevent harm. He also claimed that he received threatening phone calls and that fear and duress caused impaired judgment leading to his abrupt withdrawal without the benefit of legal counsel. He maintained that his actions were premature and did not follow proper procedural steps, but he asked that the Court treat them as driven by a sincere, though mistaken, desire to serve the country and protect his life.

The Issues Presented

The Court framed the issues as: first, whether the petition had become moot and academic; and second, whether Francis should be held guilty of indirect contempt.

The Court’s Ruling on Mootness and Lifting of the TRO

The Court held that the petition had become moot and academic. It noted that on January 23, 2025, COMELEC, through the OSG, had informed the Court via Manifestation in lieu of Comment that Francis had withdrawn his candidacy for Senator for the May 12, 2025 elections, attaching a copy of his Statement of Withdrawal. Because Francis’s withdrawal terminated the dispute over whether COMELEC committed grave abuse of discretion in declaring him a nuisance candidate, the Court found no continuing justiciable controversy.

The Court reiterated the doctrine of mootness, explaining that a case is moot when a supervening event terminates the legal issue between the parties such that adjudication would have no practical value. It cited Department of Trade and Industry v. Toyota Balintawak, Inc. and Toyota Motor Phils. Corp. and the Court’s articulation of mootness principles in Agbayani, Jr. v. Director or Whoever is in Charge of the Manila City Jail. The Court further recognized that jurisprudence allows exceptions when, among others, there is a grave constitutional violation, exceptional character and paramount public interest exist, controlling principles must be formulated, or the issue is capable of repetition yet evading review. It stressed, however, that exceptions require a strict test because they represent deviations from the general rule.

Finding no exception applicable, the Court held that resolution would be a useless exercise and would amount to an opinion on a hypothetical situation. Accordingly, the Court lifted the TRO issued on January 21, 2025 and declined to act on Sen. Imee’s Motion to Intervene because lifting of the TRO was already among the reliefs effectively granted.

The Court’s Ruling on Indirect Contempt

The Court then addressed indirect contempt. It defined contempt of court as a willful disregard or disobedience of a public authority, and it distinguished its broad and restricted meanings. It explained that contempt is generic, and it emphasized that indirect contempt is committed out of the presence of the court. Indirect contempt, the Court held, involves conduct that tends to bring the court into disrepute or disrespect and obstructs the administration of justice.

The Court referred to Section 3, Rule 71 of the Rules of Court, e

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