A week after Vico Sotto was officially proclaimed as the reelected mayor of Pasig City, a petition seeking to disqualify him has been filed, according to Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chair George Erwin Garcia.
“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 in a media interview on Tuesday.
Garcia emphasized that, under usual procedure, disqualification petitions are generally filed before a candidate is proclaimed. “Question, is that still allowed? I will not answer the merits,” he stated, leaving it up to legal processes to determine the validity of the petition.
He explained that following a candidate’s proclamation, legal remedies typically shift to election protests, quo warranto cases, or the filing of criminal complaints for election-related offenses.
Sotto secured another term after earning 351,392 votes, based on Comelec’s official tally. He was proclaimed on May 13, a day after the elections.
