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HIGH COURT. File photo of the Supreme Court in Padre Faura, Manila, taken on December 5, 2023.
Angie de Silva/Rappler
The SC also issues temporary restraining orders against the disqualification of four other candidates seeking elective posts in May
MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court on Tuesday, January 14, issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the disqualification of former congressman Edgar Erice as a candidate for Caloocan City 2nd District representative in the May 2025 elections.
The SC decided on the TRO during its regular en banc session on Tuesday, the SC PIO said in a press briefer.
In January, Erice filed a petition before the SC seeking a reversal of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) decision to disqualify him as a candidate in the Caloocan 2nd District congressional race.
“The SC issued a TRO prohibiting the Comelec from disqualifying Erice. The SC also ordered the Comelec to comment on Erice’s petition within a non-extendible period of 10 days from receipt of notice,” the SC PIO said.
The Comelec’s Second Division had disqualified Erice’s candidacy on December 27, 2024 — which the poll body affirmed in early January — for allegedly disseminating “false and alarming” information, in violation of the Omnibus Election Code.
Erice had alleged irregularities in Comelec’s P18-billion contract with Korean-based firm Miru Systems for the automated election system.
Four others secured TROs from the SC: Senate bet Subair Guinthum Mustapha, Ilocos Sur 1st District congressional bet Charles Savellano, Zambales gubernatorial candidate Chito Bulatao Balintay, and San Juan 1st District city council bet Florendo de Ramos Ritualo Jr.
The Comelec had deemed Mustapha and Savellano as nuisance candidates and canceled their certificates of candidacy for senator and Ilocos Sur 1st District congressman, respectively.
The High Court gave the Comelec five days from receipt of notice to comment on the petitions of Mustapha and Savellano, and 10 days in the cases of Balintay and Ritualo.
SC spokesman Camille Sue Mae Ting said that following the issuance of the TROs in favor of the candidates, their names should be reinstated in the ballots.
“So the TROs prohibit Comelec from disqualifying them, so this means their names would have to be included in the ballot. So, it’s up to Comelec how they will implement this but they will just have to follow the order of the Supreme Court,” Ting said. – Rappler.com
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