Comelec certifies ruling cancelling Duterte Youth party-list's registration as final
By Dhel Nazario
At A Glance
- The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has declared final and executory its order cancelling the registration of the Duterte Youth Party-list, citing multiple violations, including failure to meet jurisdictional requirements, untruthful statements, misuse of the party-list system, and actions that mocked the election process.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has issued a Certificate of Finality and Entry of Judgment on the Commission En Banc's order that affirmed the Commission Second Division's ruling granting the petition to cancel registration of the Duterte Youth Party-list.
Marie Cardema (left), and Ronald Cardema of Duterte Youth Party-List (Facebook)
The poll body issued the certificate on Tuesday, Sept. 30.
The dispositive portion of the order states that the Commission En Banc resolved to deny the Motion for Reconsideration of the Duterte Youth Party-list and affirmed the Resolution of the Commission Second Division in cancelling its registration.
In its Resolution, the Commission En Banc iterated the decision of the Commission Second Division wherein it found that the Duterte Youth Party-list's registration is void ab initio for failure to comply with the publication and hearing requirements, which are jurisdictional in nature, and, likewise, found that it committed several other grounds for the cancellation of its party registration which includes the following:
- Untruthful statements in its Petition, particularly on the eligibility of its nominees;
- No bona fide intention to represent the sector for which the Petition has been filed and, thus, prevent a faithful determination of the true will of the electorate;
- Advocated violence or unlawful means to achieve its goal;
- It was an adjunct of or an entity funded or assisted by the National Youth Commission;
- Violates or fails to comply with laws, rules or regulations relating to elections; and
- The Petition has been filed to put the election process in mockery or disrepute.
In addition, the poll body said that the withdrawal and substitution en masse, as well as the back-and-forth switching of Duterte Youth Party-list nominees during the 2019 National and Local Elections, undermine the spirit and intent of the party-list system and puts a mockery in the election process.
With the issuance of the Certificate of Finality and Entry of Judgment, Comelec said that the order of the Commission En Banc as to the cancellation of party-list registration of Duterte Youth Party-list is now declared immediately executory.