Makabayan lawmakers on Friday, Aug. 26, pressed the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to immediately proclaim Gabriela Women's Party as a winning party-list in the 2025 mid-term elections following its decision to cancel the registration of Duterte Youth Party-list, which ranked second during the May polls.

ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio says it is the women's sector that really needs representation in the current 20th Congress.

"Every day that passes without Gabriela Women's Party's proclamation is another day that Filipino women are deprived of their voice in crafting laws that affect their lives and welfare," he said.

Comelec declared the top 54 party-lists as winners during the recent elections. However, it did not immediately proclaim two party-lists, namely Duterte Youth and Bagong Henerasyon, pending resolution of cases filed against them.

Eventually, Comelec junked the disqualification case against Bagong Henerasyon; while on Friday, Aug. 29, the Comelec en banc upheld the June decision of the Comelec Second Division to cancel the accreditation of Duterte Youth.

Duterte Youth would have been entitled to three seats in the House of Representatives. But considering their disqualification, three party-lists that ranked 55th, which was Gabriela, and the 56th and 57th would have the chance to enter Congress.

Tinio said the urgency cannot be overstated as critical women's issues demand immediate legislative attention.

"We have witnessed how the absence of genuine women's representation has resulted in inadequate responses to gender-based violence, reproductive health concerns, and economic discrimination against women," he said.

For Kabataan Party-list Renee Co, the poll body's decision "is a victory for authentic youth representation in our country".

"Ang Duterte Youth ay hindi tunay na kinatawan ng kabataan kundi isang pekeng organisasyon na ginawa lamang upang palakasin ang political machinery ng pamilyang Duterte (Duterte Youth is not a true representation of the youth but a fake organization created only to strengthen the political machinery of the Duterte family)," Co said.

"The Duterte Youth was never established to advance the genuine interests of Filipino youth. Instead, it served as a tool for red-tagging and attacking progressive youth organizations while masquerading as a legitimate sectoral representative," she added.

The two militant lawmakers then called on the Comelec "to act with utmost urgency in proclaiming qualified party-list groups".

"The Filipino people, especially women and other marginalized sectors, cannot afford further delays in securing their rightful representation in Congress," they said.