Edgar "Egay" Ranes Erice (born June 15, 1960) is a Filipino politician who served as the representative for Caloocan's second congressional district from 2001 to 2004 and from 2013 to 2022. Erice ran for

mayor of Caloocan The Mayor of Caloocan () is the head of the local government of the city of Caloocan who elected to three-year terms. The mayor is also the executive head and leads the city's departments in executing the city ordinances and improving public servi ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

and lost to fellow representative

Along Malapitan Dale Gonzalo "Along" Rigor Malapitan (born October 31, 1979) is a Filipino politician currently serving as the Mayor of Caloocan since 2022. He previously served as the representative of the first district of Caloocan. Early life and education ...

. He was the regional chairman of Aksyon Demokratiko for the National Capital Region from 2021 to 2024, but he quit from the party and returned to

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

in 2024.

Early life and education

Erice took up secondary education at Caloocan High School from 1973 to 1977 and earned his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science at

University of Santo Tomas The University of Santo Tomas (UST; ), officially the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, The Catholic University of the Philippines or colloquially as ''Ustê'' (), is a Private university, private Catholic school, Catholic researc ...

as a beneficiary of "Study-now, Pay-Later Plan" of Caloocan. Furthermore, Erice was a leader of the Liberal Party of the Philippines for 18 years (since 1988). He was the Regional Chairman for National Capital Region of Aksyon Demokratiko and the Past President of the Rotary Club of Caloocan District 3800 and a past navigator of Andres Bonifacio Assembly – Knights of Columbus.

Political career

Caloocan President of Kabataang Barangay (1975)

Erice first came to public service in 1975, when he became part of Kabataang Barangay Chairman (now known as

Sangguniang Kabataan A Sangguniang Kabataan (abbreviated as SK; ) is a community council that represents the youth in a barangay in the Philippines. Established to provide young people with a platform for civic engagement and participation in Local government in ...

) at the age of 15. He was the President of the Kabataang Barangay for Caloocan from 1975 to 1981.

Caloocan city council member (1995–2001)

Erice was elected member of the Caloocan City Council in 1995 at the age of 35. He was re-elected to a second term in 1998.

Congressional stint (2001–2004)

Erice decided not to seek re-election for councilor in 2001 and instead ran for representative of Caloocan's 2nd congressional district in

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

. He won, serving for one term until 2004. In 2004, he ran for

under the Liberal Party but lost to 1st district Representative Enrico Echiverri.

2007 Congressional bid

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, Erice attempted a comeback to the Congress, but lost to incumbent

Mitzi Cajayon Mary Mitzi Lim Cajayon-Uy (born May 6, 1978), also known as Mitch Cajayon-Uy, is a Filipino politician who is the incumbent representative from the 2nd district of Caloocan in the House of Representatives of the Philippines since 2022 and previ ...

Vice Mayor of Caloocan under Mayor Echiverri (2010–2013)

Erice ran for vice-mayor in the 2010 elections under the Liberal Party-coalition of Mayor Enrico Echiverri. He was elected, defeating former Mayor

Rey Malonzo Reynaldo Oliver Malonzo (born May 17, 1952), professionally known as Rey Malonzo, is a former Filipino actor, film director and politician in the Philippines. He was a famous action star doing mostly martial arts in his films during the 1970s up ...

who was the running mate of Luis Asistio. He was also the President of the Vice Mayors' League of the Philippines that time and Director of Metro Manila Development Council. He would serve for only one term until 2013.

Congressional stint (2013–2022)

Initially planning to run for Mayor of Caloocan, Erice ran for representative of Caloocan's 2nd congressional district in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

under the Liberal Party and won, defeating incumbent

. He was re-elected in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

and in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

. He ran again for mayor in

under Aksyon Demokratiko, which he said would be his last political run, but lost to 1st district Representative

, son of outgoing Mayor

Oscar Malapitan Oscar "Oca" Gonzales Malapitan (born June 14, 1955) is a Filipino politician who currently serves as the representative from the 1st District of Caloocan in the House of Representatives of the Philippines since 2022 and previously from 2004 to ...

Controversies

In July 2024, the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

En banc In law, an ''en banc'' (; alternatively ''in banc'', ''in banco'' or ''in bank''; ) session is when all the judges of a court sit to hear a case, not just one judge or a smaller panel of judges. For courts like the United States Courts of Appeal ...

directed Erice to file

comment Comment may refer to: Computing * Comment (computer programming), explanatory text or information embedded in the source code of a computer program * Comment programming, a software development technique based on the regular use of comment tags ...

on the

confidentiality Confidentiality involves a set of rules or a promise sometimes executed through confidentiality agreements that limits the access to or places restrictions on the distribution of certain types of information. Legal confidentiality By law, la ...

and protective

gag order A gag order (also known as a gagging order or suppression order) is an order, typically a legal order by a court or government, restricting information or comment from being made public or passed on to any unauthorized third party. The phrase may ...

motion In physics, motion is when an object changes its position with respect to a reference point in a given time. Motion is mathematically described in terms of displacement, distance, velocity, acceleration, speed, and frame of reference to an o ...

filed by Miru Systems

joint Venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

on the

2025 Philippine general election The 2025 Philippine general election was held on May 12, 2025. During this midterm election, where the winners take office mid-way through the Presidency of Bongbong Marcos, term of President Bongbong Marcos, all 317 seats in the House of Repres ...

case. Earlier, Erice filed a

certiorari In law, ''certiorari'' is a court process to seek judicial review of a decision of a lower court or government agency. ''Certiorari'' comes from the name of a prerogative writ in England, issued by a superior court to direct that the recor ...

case versus the contract awarded by the COMELEC to Miru Systems. Erice also filed a

with the High Tribunal to cite Chairman George Garcia in

contempt of court Contempt of court, often referred to simply as "contempt", is the crime of being disobedient to or disrespectful toward a court of law and its officers in the form of behavior that opposes or defies the authority, justice, and dignity of the co ...

for violation of the

sub judice In law, ''sub judice'', Latin for "under a judge", means that a particular case or matter is under trial or being considered by a judge or court. The term may be used synonymously with "the present case" or "the case at bar" by some lawyers. I ...

rule alleging Garcia's prohibited remarks on the pending case. In August 2024, Angelo Balatbat and Raymond Salipot filed a joint

complaint In legal terminology, a complaint is any formal legal document that sets out the facts and legal reasons (see: cause of action) that the filing party or parties (the plaintiff(s)) believes are sufficient to support a claim against the party ...

-affidavit against Erice at the Comelec Law Department. The lawsuit petitioned for a preliminary investigation based on his alleged false claims and information regarding Comelec and Miru Systems. In November, Garcia in his

memorandum A memorandum (: memorandums or memoranda; from the Latin ''memorandum'', "(that) which is to be remembered"), also known as a briefing note, is a Writing, written message that is typically used in a professional setting. Commonly abbreviation, ...

recused from all

lawsuits A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. T ...

before the COMELEC against Erice based on Rule 4, Section 1(c), 1993 Comelec Rules of Procedure.

2025 Congressional bid

Erice filed his candidacy to run again as congressman in Caloocan's second district in

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

. On November 27, 2024, he was disqualified by the Comelec Second Division for "propagating false information across multiple platforms" in relation for his accusations against Comelec and Miru Systems. The decision was affirmed by the Comelec ''en banc'' on December 27. In January 2025, however, the Supreme Court issued a TRO in favor of Erice against the disqualification. Erice later won the election, defeating incumbent Mitch Cajayon-Uy once again.

Other political experience

*(1980–1982) Administrative Officer I – Metro Manila Commission (MMDA) *(1982–1984) Plans & Programs Officer – Metro Manila Commission (MMDA) *(1984–1986) Chief, Research and statistics Office – Metro Manila Commission (MMDA) *(1986–1987) Area Manager – Environmental Sanitation Center Caloocan *(1989–1992) Chief of staff – Office of Congressman Virgilio P. Robles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Erice, Edgar 1960 births Liberal Party (Philippines) politicians Lakas–CMD (1991) politicians Aksyon Demokratiko politicians University of Santo Tomas alumni Members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from Caloocan Metro Manila city and municipal councilors Living people