THE Supreme Court dismissed the petition filed by losing senatorial candidate Francis Tolentino to stop the Commission on Elections (Comelec) from proclaiming the winning senatorial candidates who ranked 10th 11th and 12th in the last senatorial race.

In an en banc session, the magistrates junked the petition for being "moot and academic" as the Comelec, sitting as the National Board of Canvassers, had already proclaimed the 12 senators-elect last week.

"The Court dismissed the Petition for Certiorari, Prohibition and Mandamus with Prayer for TRO (temporary restraining order) for being moot and academic," the decision states.

On May 18, Tolentino, who was on the 13th place, urged the Court to issue immediately a TRO that would stop the Comelec from proclaiming candidates who ranked 10th-12th.

In a petition, former Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairman, Tolentino said that the May 9 polls was compromised with automated election system (AES) provider Smartmatic's unauthorized tweaking of the script at the Comelec transparency server in the evening of the election day.

The court however did not issue a decision, which prompted the NBOC to proceed with the proclamation of 12 winning senatorial candidates on May 19. (Sunnex)