SC denies TRO sought by Duterte Youth Party-List vs Comelec's ruling on cancellation of registration
The Supreme Court (SC) did not issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) that could have stopped the Commission on Elections (Comelec) from enforcing its order that cancelled the accreditation of the Duterte Youth Party-List.
In a resolution dated Sept. 30, 2025, the SC did not also issue a status quo ante order that could have restored the Party-List’s accreditation prior to its cancellation.
However, the SC ordered the Comelec and the private respondents in the petition -- Reeya Beatrice Magtalas, Abigail Aleli Tan, Raainah Punzalan, and Aunell Ross Angcos -- to comment on the Duterte Youth’s main petition within 10 days from notice.
The four private respondents were the petitioners before the Comelec against the proclamation of the Duterte Youth last May and its registration as a Party-List group.
Challenged before the SC by the Duterte Youth’s group were the Comelec’s June 18, 2025 resolution that cancelled the group’s registration and the Aug. 29, 2025 resolution which affirmed the cancellation.
The Comelec has proclaimed Abono, Ang Probinsyano, and Murang Kuryente Party-Lists to replace the Duterte Youth’s three seats in the House of Representatives.
The Duterte Youth landed second with a total of 2,338,564 in the national and local elections held last May, entitling them to three seats in the House.
In its SC petition, the group accused the Comelec of committing “grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction,” in upholding the cancellation of their registration.
It said that the Comelec’s rulings that barred them from as seat in the 20th Congress were “contrary to law and jurisprudence” and effectively disenfranchised the more than 2.3 million Filipinos who voted for them.