Section 8.

The term of office of elective local officials, except barangay officials, which
shall be determined by law, shall be three years and no such official shall serve for more
than three consecutive terms. Voluntary renunciation of the office for any length of time
shall not be considered as an interruption in the continuity of his service for the full term
for which he was elected.

BORJA VS. COMELEC- The three-term limit shall apply when these 2 conditions
concur: (1) the local official concerned has been elected three consecutive times;
and (2) he has fully served three consecutive terms.
FACTS:
Private respondent Capco, Jr. was elected vice-mayor of Pateros on January 1988 for a
term ending June 30, 1992.
On September 2, 1989, he became mayor, by operation of law, upon the death of the
incumbent, Cesar Borja. For the next two succeeding elections in 1992 and 1995, he
was again re-elected as Mayor.
On March 27, 1998, private respondent Capco filed a certificate of candidacy for mayor
of Pateros relative to the May 1998 elections.
Petitioner Benjamin U. Borja, Jr., who was also a candidate for mayor, sought Capcos
disqualification on the theory that the latter would have already served as mayor for
three consecutive terms by June 30, 1998 and would therefore be ineligible to serve for
another term after that.
The Second Division of the Commission on Elections ruled in favor of petitioner and
declared private respondent Capco disqualified from running for reelection as mayor of
Pateros but in the motion for reconsideration, majority overturned the original decision.
Issue:
1. w/n Capco has served for three consecutive
2. w/n Capco can run again for Mayor in the next election

terms

as

Mayor

Held:
1. No. Capco was not elected to the office of mayor in the first term but simply found
himself thrust into it by operation of law. Neither had he served the full term because he
only continued the service, interrupted by the death, of the deceased mayor. A textual
analysis supports the ruling of the COMELEC that Art. X, Sec. 8 contemplates service
by local officials for three consecutive full terms as a result of election. It is not enough

that an individual has served three consecutive terms in an elective local officials, he
must also have been elected to the same position for the same number of times before
the disqualification can apply.

2. Yes. Although he has already first served as mayor by succession, he has not
actually served three full terms in all for the purpose of applying the three-term limit. The
three-term limit shall apply when these 2 conditions concur: (1) the local official
concerned has been elected three consecutive times; and (2) he has fully served
three consecutive terms.