Comelec junks Rama’s poll protest vs Archival

CEBU, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has dismissed the election protest filed by former Cebu City mayor Michael Rama against Mayor Nestor Archival, citing “insufficiency in form and content.”

The decision, dated August 27, 2025, was confirmed by Archival’s legal counsel, Atty. Amando Virgil Ligutan, in an interview Friday. He said they received the ruling last Thursday.

“The message is clear: former mayor Mike Rama lost the election,” Ligutan stressed. “What we argued to the Comelec was, with all due respect to the former mayor, it is just that based on his imagination, based on how he sees himself, he cannot lose any election in Cebu City.”

Ligutan pointed out that Archival overwhelmingly won the mayoral race in the May 12 midterm polls, garnering 256,197 votes or 43 percent of the total, compared to Rama’s 120,124 votes or 20 percent. Former mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia placed second with 176,967 votes.

In its 10-page decision signed by Presiding Commissioner Rey Bulay, the Comelec said: “After a thorough review of the records of the instant case, this office is convinced that the instant Election Protest failed to comply with the mandatory contents of an election protest.”

Ligutan said the protest, backed by only five witnesses, failed to prove any widespread irregularity. Alleged glitches with the Automated Counting Machines (ACM) reportedly happened in just three clustered precincts, while claims of ballot shortages were confined to a single precinct. He added that no precincts were even cited in the protest’s allegation on ballot transportation.

“There is a famine of facts in the election protest… it is heavy on suppositions and unfounded personal imaginations,” Ligutan said.

He also refuted Rama’s claim that “there’s no way that Archival could beat him,” stressing that Archival drew larger crowds during campaign rallies. “He lost big time,” Ligutan added.

Ligutan urged Rama’s supporters to respect the people’s choice and give Archival’s administration a chance to govern Cebu City.

When Rama filed his protest, Comelec also summoned Garcia to submit a verified answer, but Garcia reportedly waived his right to respond.

Rama, who served as mayor from 2010 to 2016 and again from 2021 following the death of mayor Edgardo Labella, had insisted on contesting the results after personally experiencing a malfunction with the ACM while casting his vote. Members of the media witnessed the incident, which delayed Rama for about an hour at his precinct.

A day after the elections, Rama held a press conference to declare that he would not concede, saying “the fight is not yet over.”-  (CEBU NEWS)