SC issue TRO on Comelec ruling against Erice

The Supreme Court (SC) has issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) preventing the Commission on Elections (Comelec) from disqualifying former Caloocan Representative Edgar Erice from running as the representative of Caloocan City’s 2nd district in the 2025 midterm elections.

The TRO was issued during the SC’s regular en banc session on Tuesday, which also addressed similar petitions from other candidates disqualified by the Comelec.

In Erice’s case, the SC directed the Comelec to submit its comment on his petition within a non-extendible period of 10 days from receiving the notice.

The Comelec finalized Erice’s disqualification through a resolution dated 3 January 2025, affirming the earlier ruling of the Comelec Second Division issued on 27 December 2024.

Disseminating 'false information'

Erice was disqualified for allegedly disseminating “false and alarming” information, which the poll body ruled as a violation of Section 261 of the Omnibus Election Code. The Comelec cited Erice’s claims of corruption and irregularities in the poll body's P18-billion contract with the Korean-based firm Miru Systems for the automated election system.

According to the Comelec, Erice’s “act of propagating false information across multiple platforms demonstrates his deliberate intent to disrupt elections rather than legitimate criticism."

Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia previously revealed that Erice’s name had been excluded from the official ballot as printing began on 6 January 2025.