Councilor's vacant seat to be filled by his son in upcoming elections

Rewritten Article:

Mandaue City's Team Mandaue gears up to replace the late Councilor Editha Cabahug, who succumbed to ovarian cancer, with her son Kevin Cabahug, in the upcoming May 12, 2025 elections. Former Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes reveals their political party will petition the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for the swap.

"We're gonna holler at our local Comelec officer for the deets on the process," Cortes stated.

Cortes is confident the situation won't disrupt their slate as they're prepping all the necessary documents, like Kevin's oath of office as a member of One Cebu, his Certificate of Candidacy (COC), and Editha's death certificate. He discussed his conversation with Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, who heads One Cebu, regarding the switch.

No need for Kevin to vacate the Looc Barangay captain seat unless he bags the election, according to Cortes.

Cortes ensures voters' ballots cast for Councilor Editha will still be attributed to her substitute per COMELEC guidelines, since the ballots had already been printed. Kevin previously held the city councilor gig from 2016 to 2019 and has a 24-year history in public service.

As barangay captain of Looc, Kevin also served as SK chairman, SK Federation VP, Looc barangay councilor for nine years, Barangay Councilors League of the Philippines president, and past chairman, recent Vice-chairman of the Mandaue City Police Advisory Council.

Comelec Region 7 Director Francisco Pobe affirms substitution in cases of deceased candidates provided they come from the same political party and share the same surname.

"This is like, yeah, totally cool under election rules, but it's the party that makes the official call," Pobe said, highlighting that the final decision lies with leadership.

Pobe explains that since the deceased candidate was an incumbent, the election rules still apply.

"The vote for the deceased is given to the replacement," Pobe said. He added that the Comelec Law Department will instruct electoral boards to follow these rules during the elections.

The substitution process has to wrap up before noon on election day.

In Philippine elections, the substitution of a deceased candidate follows a set of established COMELEC rules and relevant laws. In this instance, Team Mandaue followed these guidelines when they selected Kevin Cabahug as the substitute candidate for the late Councilor Editha Cabahug. His candidacy fulfills the requirements since he belongs to the same political party and shares the same surname as the deceased candidate. This example highlights the application of Philippine election laws that allow party-based replacement in unfortunate situations such as death, ensuring electoral continuity and upholding voter intent.

[Source Information: SunStar Report & COMELEC Rules]

In line with the Comelec rules and relevant Philippine laws, Team Mandaue has followed the established procedure to replace the late Councilor Editha Cabahug with her son Kevin Cabahug in the upcoming May 12, 2025 elections, as they share the same surname and belong to the same political party, One Cebu.
Comelec Region 7 Director Francisco Pobe has confirmed that the substitution of deceased candidates is permissible under election rules, as long as they come from the same political party and share the same surname, and emphasized that the final decision on the official candidate rests with the party leadership.
As the substitution process for deceased candidates adheres to the established COMELEC rules in the Philippines, the voters' ballots cast for Councilor Editha Cabahug will still be attributed to her substitute Kevin Cabahug, ensuring electoral continuity and upholding voter intent.