MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court has dismissed the petition filed by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) against now incumbent Caloocan City-District 2 Rep. Edgar Erice disqualifying him from running in the same post last May 2025 elections. In its ruling, the high tribunal explained that under the Omnibus Election Code (OEC), the poll body has the authority only to investigate election offenses while the Regional Trial Courts have the power to decide if an offense was committed. “In this case, the Comelec did not observe the proper legal steps when it directly declared that Erice was guilty and then proceeded to disqualify him,” it stressed. It was Associate Justice Henri Jean Paul Inting who penned the ruling that reversed the order of the Comelec which barred Erice from running during May 2025 polls based on an OEC provision, prohibiting the spreading of false or alarming information regarding ballot printing, election postponement or the general conduct of elections, and when the statements are intended to disrupt the election process. The poll body based its disqualification case against the veteran Caloocan lawmaker who claimed during media interviews that the automated machines from Miru Systems had never been used in any election worldwide. Erice also exposed the alleged P18-billion contract between Comelec and Miru and that he had evidence of offshore accounts linked to Comelec Chairman Erwin Garcia. As a result, the Comelec en banc disqualified Erice from running in the 2025 polls as it found his statements to be false an unverified, which may cause public confusion, alarm and distrust in the electoral process. Erice brought the case before the high tribunal which issued a temporary restraining order that stopped the poll body from enforcing the disqualification while the case was under review. In the same ruling, the high court pointed out that the prohibition against spreading false or alarming information is not among the grounds for disqualification under a certain OEC provision. Interviewed by The Manila Times via Viber, Erice said he was doubly elated by the Court’s favorable decision although he was already confident even before it came out that he would win the case saying that “my statements were protected under my right to speech.” Erice then went on to win handily the congressional post in the city’s District 2 against then incumbent congresswoman Mitch Cajayon-Uy whose name was dragged in the flood control corruption scandal.