The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) First Division has dismissed the election protest filed by former Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia against incumbent Governor Pam Baricuatro, ruling that the petition was “insufficient in form and content.”
Garcia had alleged electronic fraud, vote padding, malfunctioning automated counting machines, and “unusually high undervotes/overvotes,” contesting all 4,120 clustered precincts in Cebu.
But the COMELEC said the protest failed to meet the mandatory requirement under Section 7 (g), Rule 6 of Resolution No. 8804, which demands detailed specifications of alleged fraud or irregularities per protested precinct.
“The Division noted that the affidavits submitted focused heavily on one city (Mandaue) and a few municipalities, with no affidavits for the remaining 46 cities and municipalities,” the advisory stated.
The Comelec First Division also noted that cited incidents like paper jams and defective markers were merely “technical incidents,” covered by contingency procedures and not valid grounds for protest.
In the 2025 midterm polls, Baricuatro secured 1,107,924 votes against Garcia’s 765,051—one of the biggest upsets in the provincial races.