Vico Sotto faces new petition to disqualify, a week after proclamation

Photo from Mayor Vico Sotto’s Facebook page.

MANILA, Philippines — A petition to disqualify Pasig City mayor-elect Vico Sotto was filed on Tuesday, a week after his proclamation, Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman George Erwin Garcia said.

“I don’t know the nature [of the case], but I was informed by the clerk of the commission that it was a petition to disqualify that candidate,” Garcia said of Sotto’s case during a KBP membership meeting in Makati City.

Garcia added that a filing fee was already paid, meaning the election case was officially filed before the Comelec.

“Someone already paid a filing fee to a disqualification case filed earlier involving the same personality,” he said.

However, Garcia, without alluding to Sotto’s particular petition, said that a petition to disqualify is only allowed to be filed before the proclamation.

“Question, is that still allowed? I will not answer the merits. But usually, the petition to disqualify is only allowed to be filed before the proclamation of the candidate,” Garcia explained.

“After the proclamation, you can no longer file except election protests or quo warranto or if you want to file a criminal case like election offense,” he went on. “But the disqualification case has a timeline until the period before proclamation.”

Sotto was already proclaimed on May 13, or a day after the midterm elections. He garnered 351,392 votes, according to Comelec’s official tally. This was a commanding lead compared to his opponent Sara Discaya, who only got 29,591 votes.

READ: Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto, partymates proclaimed winners

In Jan. 28, Sotto said a disqualification case was filed against him by Curlee Discaya, husband of his rival in the Pasig mayoral elections, claiming misinformation in the incumbent mayor’s letter to Comelec.

READ: Vico Sotto says Comelec junked DQ filed vs him by rival’s husband

In his October 2024 letter, Sotto had urged Comelec to act against his rival Sarah over what he deemed as a “conflict of interest” due to her stake in a company formerly linked in a joint venture with the election service provider for the 2025 polls.

But the Comelec Second Division dismissed the petition on March 4, according to the document shared by Sotto. /jpv