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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Deciding on Duterte Youth DQ case 'not that easy' — Comelec

Deciding on Duterte Youth DQ case 'not that easy' — Comelec

Published May 23, 2025 02:58 pm
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has yet to decide on the fate of Duterte Youth Party-list because its pending case before the poll body "is not an easy one".
Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia made the remark on Friday, May 23, even as the the body dismissed the disqualification case against Bagong Henerasyon (BH) Party-list.
Both BH and Duterte Youth won in the 2025 mid-term elections party-list race, but their proclamation was suspended pending Comelec's decision on their respective cases.
"'Yun po kasing sa Duterte Youth, hindi po ganoon kadali, kumplikado, dahil hindi po technicality ang issue doon (The case of the Duterte Youth is not that easy. It's complicated because the issue there is not about technicality)," Garcia said in an ambush interview.
"Ang issue po doon ay (The issue there is) on the merits [of the case]. It goes into the very heart as to whether dapat bang na-accredit or hindi 'yung naturang party-list (it should have been accredited or not)," he added.
In September 2019, a group of youth leaders filed a petition before Comelec to nullify the registration of the Duterte Youth.
They said the party-list's registration should have been declared void from the very start because it was approved by the Comelec en banc without proper hearing as required by the 1987 Constitution and Republic Act No. 7941 or the Party-List System Act.
The case against the Duterte Youth basically revolved around its alleged misrepresentation of the youth.
Duterte Youth Party-list Chairman Ronald Cardema--its former House representative until his nomination was cancelled by the poll body--continues to argue that the party-list had been allowed twice to take a seat in the 18th and 19th Congresses, so there's no way their proclamation should be suspended for the 20th Congress.
Meanwhile, Garcia said that the Comelec made an immediate decision on the case of BH because it was only a matter of technicality.
"Bakit mo pasasagutin kung may technicality din lang naman, kung talaga namang dismissible yung kaso? (Why would you demand an answer from them regarding a petition that already has a technicality issue and is dismissible)" Garcia said.
"Walang payment ng filing fee, walang verification, walang copy furnish doon sa mismong respondent... Bakit ka pa magdedesisyon kung invalid din naman pala ang magiging desisyon mo sapagkat hindi na-observe 'yung proper requirements para mag-acquire ng jurisdiction ang Comelec? (The petitioners did not pay the filing fee, did not have a verification and did not give a copy furnish of the petition to the respondents... Why do we still have to decide on a case that has not undergone proper requirements and does not give the Comelec a jurisdiction on it)" he added.
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