CEBU CITY – The disqualification case filed against incoming Cebu Gov. Pamela Baricuatro is bound to fail.

Veteran lawyer Ferdinand Topacio said this as he cited three reasons why the disqualification case will not prosper.

In a press conference on Saturday, June 28, Topacio described the filing of the disqualification as political harassment and was erroneous from the start.

“That disqualification case is bound to fail because of three big reasons. The filing was wrong whoever was instructed to file it,” Topacio said.

The case stemmed from a pre-election survey showing that Baricuatro was leading by 82 percent against Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia. Baricuatro defeated Garcia by approximately 800,000 votes.

The complainant, Katrina Kaye Kowalik, head of the Capitol’s social media arm Sugbo News, accused Baricuatro of violating the Fair Elections Act as the survey did not indicate who commissioned it, paid for it, and who conducted it.

As he belittled the filing of the case, Topacio said that based on the Omnibus Code, the case should have been filed before the clerk of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) or before the agency’s law department.

Topacio said it was a mistake that the case was filed before the Central Visayas office of the Comelec.

He also described the filing as “time barred” as it was made days after the elections.

The second mistake, according to Topacio, is that the complainant cannot implicate her client with the conduct of the survey.

“The act of a third person cannot affect you. Otherwise, it would be simple to disqualify someone,” said Topacio.

Topacio added that the publication of the survey is not even grounds for disqualification.

“If they can hurdle the first two mistakes, the No. 3 issue that they have to hurdle is that the publication of the survey is not a ground for disqualification. At most, that is a criminal case. Vote-buying, acts of terrorisms, or illegal propaganda are grounds for disqualification but the survey is not of them,” Topacio added.

Though he insisted that the filing was defective, Topacio said “anything is possible” as to how the Comelec will resolve the case.

Topacio expressed concerns over the recent decisions made by the Comelec, citing the disqualifications of Congressman-elect Joel Chua Uy of the sixth district of Manila and Duterte Youth party-list.

“The big but here is what the Comelec has been doing as of late. It’s very obvious what they have been doing for the allies of the administration,” Topacio said.

Topacio said that because the Comelec is dominated by appointees of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., they are wary of an unfavorable decision.

If that happens, according to Topacio, the consequence will be severe.

“You cannot substitute your (Comelec) will with the will of the people. Let us show that we will not allow such travesty with the people’s will,” the veteran lawyer said.

Topacio added it was unusual that Baricuatro has yet to receive summons from the Comelec.

He said they have filed “Ad Cautelam Answer cum Memorandum” despite not receiving summons. “We filed an Ad Cautelam Answer cum Memorandum baka mabutasan pa kami (we might be faulted),” said Topacio.