Comelec cancels registration of Duterte Youth; party-list may still file motion for reconsideration
The Commission on Elections Second Division on June 18 canceled the registration of the Duterte Youth party-list.
Speaking to the media, as captured by One News, Comelec Chairman George Garcia said the cancellation happened with a vote of 2 to 1. The decision will become final and executory five days after its release.
"Bagama't 'yung naging desisyon ng Comelec Division ay mayroon pa namang remedyo," Garcia said. "'Yung naturang party-list, pwede pa rin sila mag-file ng motion for reconsideration."
A petition was filed to cancel Duterte Youth's registration due to its alleged failure to submit accreditation requirements.
"Mahaba 'yung naging diskusyon," Garcia said, as per ABS-CBN News. "Hindi kumpleto ang mga requirements and therefore hindi daw dapat nagawaran ng accreditation."
Last March, Kabataan Party-list filed an urgent motion asking Comelec to resolve the petition seeking to cancel Duterte Youth's party-list registration and/or declare the nullity of its registration.
The group argued that Duterte Youth was dishonest about the ages of their nominees.
Section 9 of Republic Act No. 7491, or the Party-list System Act, states that a nominee of the youth sector must be at least 25 but not more than 30 on election day. Those who would reach 30 during their term shall be allowed to continue until it ends.
Duterte Youth's top nominees and their supposed ages are Drixie Cardema, 28; Berlin Lingwa, 26; and Ron Bawalan, 26.
Duterte Youth was also under investigation as the family name of its first nominee is actually Suarez. She's the sister of Ducielle Cardema, the wife of the party-list's chairman, Ronald Cardema, whom Comelec had disqualified as a party-list representative during the 2019 elections, as he was already 34 at the time.
On May 19, Comelec suspended the proclamation of Duterte Youth alongside Bagong Henerasyon due to their pending disqualification cases. On May 23, the Comelec First Division junked the disqualification case against BH, saying the petitioner, lawyer Russel Stanley Geronimo, failed to submit pertinent documents to support his petition.
Duterte Youth was among the top three party-lists. Alongside Akbayan and Tingog, it would have three seats in the 20th Congress.
The next three party-lists—4PS, ACT-CIS, and Ako Bicol—will have two seats each, while those in the 7th to 54th spots will be given one seat each.
Party-lists that got at least 2% of the votes are guaranteed one seat from the 63 available seats, with additional seats depending on more votes. Groups can only have a maximum of three seats each. If there are still available seats from the 63 slots, they will be distributed to the remaining top groups.
According to the 1987 Constitution, members of the House of Representatives can serve three-year terms up to three consecutive times only.
Newly elected party-list and district representatives, as well as the 12 incoming senators, will take their oaths and begin their terms in the 20th Congress on June 30.
The midterm elections were held on May 12.
