Regional Electoral Court Rejects Early Ruling on Collipulli Mayor’s Removal Case: Determination on Fifth Charge to Be Made in Final Verdict

Original article: TER de La Araucanía desestima frenar causa contra alcalde de Collipulli: Prescripción del quinto cargo se resolverá en la sentencia definitiva

On October 14, 2026, the Regional Electoral Court (TER) of La Araucanía ruled that the statute of limitations exception raised by the defense of Collipulli Mayor Manuel Macaya Ramírez regarding the fifth charge in the removal request will not be decided in advance.

The court opted to «leave this allegation for the final verdict,» which means the substantive issue—whether this charge is time-barred or not—will be addressed at the conclusion of the proceedings, alongside the review of the other allegations. All judges who were supposed to disqualify themselves did not do so.

This resolution, issued in case No. 35-2025, was signed by the presiding judge of the TER, Minister Alejandro Alfonso Vera Quilodrán, along with member attorneys Mauricio Edgardo Lazo Gutiérrez and Roberto Antonio Fuentes Fernández, with authorization from the reporting secretary Andrés Eduardo Vera Schneider.

The Origin of the Complaint: 21 Charges Against Macaya’s Management

The removal request was filed on July 12, 2025, by councilors Carolina Valenzuela (PS) and Jacqueline Ponce (PC), invoking the grounds of «notable abandonment of duties» as provided in the Organic Law on Municipalities.

The request is based on 21 charges that, according to the petitioners, constitute serious and repeated violations of administrative integrity. Among the most significant accusations are:

• A pension debt exceeding $400 million related to unpaid healthcare and education contributions.
• Labor sanctions for harassment against female municipal employees, with firm convictions against the mayor.
• Irregular use of medical leaves, allegedly falsified, to abscond from official duties.
• Obstruction of judicial investigations and falsification of official information.

The councilors requested that the proceedings be conducted publicly and orally, arguing that «it is essential for the community to understand why we are calling for Mayor Macaya’s dismissal. This is not only about political disagreements but concrete facts that impact public ethics.»

Defense Strategy: The Constitutional Court as a Parallel Board

While the TER progresses in its substantive analysis, the mayor’s defense has implemented a parallel strategy before the Constitutional Court (TC).

In January 2026, Macaya filed an unconstitutionality claim against the eighth paragraph of Article 60 of Law No. 18.695, which mandates the automatic suspension of the mayor upon notification of a first-instance ruling accepting the removal request.

According to the document, this regulation constitutes «a genuine administrative sanction imposed without prior procedure, without a founded resolution declaring it, and without the possibility of appeal,» violating the due process guaranteed by the Constitution.

The defense claims that the requirements of «unavoidability and contumacy» necessary to establish abandonment of duties due to delayed contributions are not met.

A Web of Connections Clouding Impartiality

The case has revealed various institutional and familial relationships that raise serious doubts about the impartiality of the bodies tasked with resolving the matter.

One of the most documented connections involves Luis Egisto Mencarini Neumann, a regular member of the TER in La Araucanía and one of the judges required to decide on the mayor’s removal.

His daughter, María Xaviera Mencarini Solervicens, was appointed as Local Police Judge of Collipulli through a decree signed by Mayor Macaya on December 1, 2025.

Another frequently mentioned name is Alexis Gómez Valdivia, an alternate member of the TER, who acted as a defender in a case involving driving licenses and later took on Macaya’s defense in other judicial matters.

Additionally, lawyer Fernando René Cartes Sepúlveda, who represents the mayor in the TC action, also serves simultaneously as a member lawyer of the Appeals Court of Temuco, raising concerns about the coexistence of public and private roles within the same institutional environment.

It should be noted that only on September 9 were lawyer Alexis Salvador Gómez Valdivia and regular member Luis Egisto Mencarini Neumann disqualified, just after a report by El Ciudadano. However, it is striking that Minister Alejandro Alfonso Vera Quilodrán, despite declared disqualifications before the Appeals Court of Temuco, has not yet disqualified himself from the TER and continues to appear as the presiding judge.

Underlying Territorial Context: Sanitary Fill and Rare Earths

Beyond the judicial process, Collipulli is a scene of unresolved socio-environmental conflicts.

The Mapuche community of Lof Rankilko has been denouncing for six years the operation of a large-scale sanitary fill installed without their consent in territory they consider sacred.

The project, managed by Cosemar and William Ives S.A., affects an area of 14 to 15 hectares and, according to spokesperson Rodrigo Curipán, has caused «irreversible damage that is not only environmental but also cultural, medicinal, and spiritual.»

In parallel, the citizen platform «Green Llamas» has raised alarms about a possible connection between the expansion of wind projects in Collipulli and Angol and the future mining of rare earths in Biobío and Ñuble.

The group demands municipal authorities provide transparency regarding potential mining concessions, stating that «it is legitimate to ask whether Collipulli and Angol could be involved.»

Thus, the TER’s decision to reserve the statute of limitations of the fifth charge for the final verdict keeps the process ongoing and delays any determination regarding Manuel Macaya’s political future.

The court must now rule on all 21 charges together as the mayor’s defense continues its offensive at the Constitutional Court, while the Collipulli community closely monitors a case that, as the councilors themselves state, «exceeds the political future of the municipal chief.»

We will continue to provide updates.