The Supreme Court has rejected a petition for review filed by high school teacher Barry Tayam that aimed to contest a Commission on Elections (COMELEC) decision clearing Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero.
According to an en banc notice issued on June 3, 2026, by Clerk of Court Marife Lomibao-Cuevas, the high tribunal declared the legal challenge procedurally inappropriate, voting to dismiss the case “for being the wrong remedy.”
The dispute stems from a petition Tayam lodged last December, which sought to reverse a Comelec ruling that cleared Escudero of wrongdoing. The allegations involved a ₱30-million election contribution given to the senator by a government contractor during his 2022 campaign.
While the High Court had initially accepted Tayam’s motion to admit the petition back in March, this recent decision permanently shuts down the legal challenge on procedural grounds.