Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairperson George Garcia has formally inhibited himself from handling cases involving former lawmaker Edgar Erice.

In a memorandum released to reporters Wednesday night, Garcia stated that he is exercising his discretion to recuse himself from participating in any cases filed by or against Erice.

Garcia emphasized that the decision was made “to preserve the principles of fairness and impartiality, ensuring the integrity of the proceedings” under his jurisdiction and to avoid any potential perception of bias or conflict of interest.

Erice was earlier barred from running in the 2025 congressional race in Caloocan’s Second District for "deliberately spreading false and alarming reports" and circulating "misleading messages to disrupt the electoral process and cause confusion among the voters."

"All statements made by Respondent contradict verifiable and widely available facts from the Comelec and all sources across platform," the ruling stated.

"Glaring is the fact that there was not any modicum of evidence provided by Respondent aside from bare statements made in the media. Hence, the information propagated by Respondent on the general conduct of elections are false," it further read.

The decision is not final and Erice may appeal the ruling before the Comelec en banc. No statement has been released by Erice as of writing.

In August, Erice filed graft charges against Garcia and seven other Comelec officials over the allegedly anomalous awarding of an P18-billion contract to Miru Systems as service provider for next year's polls.

He also alleged that a poll official received bribe money from South Korean-based banks through multiple offshore accounts.

Garcia previously denied all allegations made by Erice, requesting the National Bureau of Investigation, Department of Justice, and Anti-Money Laundering Council to investigate the alleged spread of fake information against him.