G.R. Nos. 260219 & 260231, April 22, 2025
Datu Pax Ali S. Mangudadatu, Petitioner, vs. The Commission on Elections, Sharifa Akeel Mangudadatu, Azel V. Mangudadatu, and Bai Ali A. Untong, Respondents.

FACTS

Petitioner Datu Pax Ali S. Mangudadatu, the incumbent Mayor of Datu Abdullah Sangki (DAS), Maguindanao, filed his Certificate of Candidacy (COC) for Governor of Sultan Kudarat for the 2022 elections. He declared his residence as Lutayan, Sultan Kudarat, with a residency period of one year and eight months. Respondents, fellow candidates, filed petitions to cancel his COC, alleging material misrepresentation. They argued that his continuous discharge of duties as Mayor of DAS until his resignation in November 2021 negated any bona fide intent to transfer his domicile to Sultan Kudarat, making his residency declaration false.
The COMELEC En Banc canceled Mangudadatu’s COC, finding that his performance of official functions in Maguindanao, coupled with his late resignation, demonstrated he had not abandoned his domicile there. Mangudadatu argued he had re-established domicile in Sultan Kudarat, his domicile of origin, through acts like transferring his voter registration, obtaining local certifications, and physically returning to his family home, all completed well before the election period.

ISSUE

Whether an elected official’s incumbency and performance of duties in one locality absolutely preclude the acquisition of a new domicile of choice in another for purposes of the Local Government Code’s residency requirement.

RULING

No. The Supreme Court granted the petition, reversing the COMELEC. The Court held that incumbency in one office is not an absolute legal bar to acquiring a new domicile of choice elsewhere. Domicile requires both physical presence (animus manendi) and intent to remain indefinitely (animus non revertendi). The Court found Mangudadatu presented substantial evidence of both elements regarding Sultan Kudarat. His acts—transferring voter registration, obtaining local government certifications as a resident, and physically reoccupying his family home—were concrete manifestations of his intent to abandon DAS and re-establish domicile in his domicile of origin.
The legal logic centers on the distinction between the performance of an official function and the concept of domicile. While performing duties as Mayor of DAS required his physical presence there, it did not, as a matter of law, irrevocably tether his domicile to that municipality. His eventual resignation, though close to the election, was merely a corroborating act, not the sole determinant. The residency requirement is prospective, looking to the candidate’s qualification at the time of election. The evidence showed Mangudadatu had successfully effected the transfer of his domicile before the election period, satisfying the one-year residency requirement for the gubernatorial post. The COMELEC committed grave abuse of discretion in giving conclusive weight to his incumbency while ignoring the totality of evidence proving a change of domicile.