By Leslie Aquino The bid of former National Youth Commission (NYC) chairman Ronald Cardema to become a congressman continues to hang in the balance. While the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has already given due course to the application of the Duterte Youth Partylist to substitute their nominees, Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon clarified that the bid of Cardema and four others to become the group’s substitute nominees has not yet been granted. “Not the substitution but his application for substitution was given a due course. His substitution is not yet granted because there is a pending petition or opposition on the ground that he is over 30 years old and cannot be a representative of a youth sector partylist,” Guanzon said in her Twitter account @commrguanzon. “Duterte Youth will not have a representative in the HOR (House of Representatives) until the DQ (disqualification) petition is resolved,” added Guanzon. A hearing on the DQ petition, she said, will be set soon. In Minute Resolution No. 2019-0568, the Comelec en banc adopted the recommendation of their Law Department to grant the withdrawals of the certificate of nomination of the previous nominees and give due course to the nomination of Cardema and four other substitute nominees. The other new nominees are Gian Carlo Galang, Catherine Santos, Kerwin Pagaran, and Sharah Shane Makabali. The Comelec, however, rejected the nomination of Allan Payawal as the 6th nominee, saying that the original nominees were only five. In the memorandum of the Comelec Law Department, it pointed the Notice of Withdrawal with Substitution filed on May 12, the eve of Election Day. “Upon evaluation, we find the withdrawals of the Certificates of Acceptance of Nomination with substitution of all the nominees with their respective reasons of such withdrawals in compliance with Section 8 of Republic Act No. 7941 and Sections 4 and 5, Rule 4 of Resolution No. 9366,” said the Comelec Law Department. Those who granted the application of substitute nominees are Comelec Chairman Sheriff Abas and Commissioners Al Parreno, Socorro Inting, Marlon Casquejo, and Antonio Kho. Guanzon dissented, while Commissioner Luie Guia abstained. Cardema had earlier filed a motion to become a substitute nominee of the Duterte Youth Partylist after his wife Ducielle Marie Suarez, the group’s first nominee, withdrew her acceptance of the nomination along with the four other nominees of the partylist. Since then, petitions have been filed at the Comelec, questioning Cardema’s qualification as a youth sector representative since he is already 34 years old.