SC stops disqualification of Caloocan’s Erice from 2025 polls

Former Caloocan City 2nd Dist. Rep. Edgar Erice
MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday temporarily stopped the Commission on Elections’ from implementing its order disqualifying former Caloocan 2nd District Rep. Edgar Erice from staging a House of Representatives comeback via the 2025 midterm elections.
Erice and Comelec locked horns after the former made moves and uttered remarks that the poll body said “disrupt the electoral process.”
“The SC issued a TRO (temporary restraining order) prohibiting the Comelec from disqualifying Erice,” the high court said in a statement.
The high court also ordered the Comelec to comment on Erice’s petition within a non-extendible period of 10 days from receipt of the notice.
In April, Erice asked the SC to stop the Comelec from implementing its P17.9 billion Automated Election System contract with Miru Systems Co. Ltd. and their partners for the 2025 midterm elections.
Article continues after this advertisementErice said the contract violates the provisions of Republic Act 7369, or the Automated Election Law, specifically the provisions on bidding procedures and the use of prototype machines during elections.
Article continues after this advertisementOn Dec. 27, the Comelec en banc affirmed the Second Division’s decision to disqualify Erice from the elections.
The poll body then issued a four-page Certificate of Finality, making Erice’s disqualification “final and executory.”
This meant that Erice’s name was excluded in the ballots, whose printing began on Jan. 6.
Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia acknowledged the high court ruling, calling it “part of the process.”
“We will have to find a way to comply with the SC directive,” Garcia told reporters in a Viber message.