Comelec cancels Duterte Youth party-list registration
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Wednesday cancelled the registration of the Duty to Energize the Republic through the Enlightenment of the Youth Sectoral Party-list Organization, more known as the Duterte Youth Party-list.
In a 25-page decision promulgated Wednesday, the Comelec Second Division granted a 2019 petition that sought to nullify the party-list registration of the Duterte Youth for being void ab initio, or void from the beginning, after the party-list failed to comply with the jurisdictional requirements of publication and hearing.
'Duterte Youth cannot merely hide under the convenient excuse that the Commission had not required it to publish its Petition for registration or that the Commission has not set a hearing, as it reflects poorly on the party's commitment to transparency and accountability,' the ruling read.
The decision added that Duterte Youth 'should have demonstrated good faith compliance with the law and the constitution as an earnest performance of its duty to the electorate.'
The Comelec said Duterte Youth committed grounds for cancellation of registration when it fielded overage nominees in 2019.
'It is true that party-list organizations have the freedom to choose their nominees, often through their own internal mechanisms. However, this freedom is not without limits. While the Court recognizes party autonomy, party-list groups must still operate within statutory framework. Unarguably, Section 9, R.A. 7941 listed the qualifications of party-list nominees, including the highly disputed age qualification of at least 25 but not more than 35 years of age on the day of the election,' the decision said.
'Thus, when Duterte Youth deliberately accommodated its overaged candidate just a few hours before the 13 May 2019 National and Local Elections, arguing that it has all the freedom to choose whoever it chooses as nominee, its bona fide intent to represent the youth sector becomes clouded with doubt. To stress, it is the nominee who has to qualify in representing the sector, not the other way around. The sector cannot be tailored to fit the nominee's profile,' the poll body added.
Further, the Second Division ruled the Duterte Youth party-list violated Section 2(3), Rule 2 of Resolution No. 9366 when it used the machinery of the National Youth Commission to promote their candidacy. The party-list likewise 'undermined the spirit and intent of the party-list system and put a mockery in the election process' when it withdrew and substituted en masse its nominees in 2019.
'It is the duty of the Commission to respond when the technicalities of election laws are being exploited and used as tools for manipulation. To find otherwise would be to encourage the abhorrent practice of hunting for loopholes and to keep a blind eye on corruption and abuse of the system,' the ruling said.
GMA Integrated News has reached out to the Duterte Youth Party-list for comment.
'Not yet final'
Meanwhile, poll chief George Erwin Garcia said the decision is not yet final and executory as the party-list may still file a motion for reconsideration (MR) with the Comelec en banc.
'Bagamat yun ang naging decision ng Comelec division, may remedyo ang naturang partylist. Maaari pa rin silang mag-file ng motion for reconsideration upang maresolve yan ng Commission en banc,' Garcia said.
(The partylist may still avail of legal remedies. They can file a motion for reconsideration with the Comelec en banc.) —RF, GMA Integrated News
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
GMA Network
a day ago
- GMA Network
Comelec to hold mock elections for BARMM polls in July
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will conduct mock polls for the first-ever Bangsamoro parliamentary elections on July 26. At a stakeholders' briefing on the 2025 BARMM polls on Friday, Comelec Chairperson George Erwin Garcia reiterated that the parliamentary elections will push through on October 13. 'The Comelec will proceed with the conduct of the elections in the Bangsamoro by October 13, and that is very clear,' Garcia said. The Bangsamoro polls were rescheduled from May 12 to October 13 after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in February signed the law postponing the elections. The postponement came months after the Supreme Court (SC), in September 2024, upheld the validity of the Bangsamoro Organic Law but declared that Sulu was not part of BARMM. The Court denied motions seeking the reversal of the decision in November 2024. The SC ruling necessitated the redistribution of the seven vacated seats originally allocated to Sulu under the Bangsamoro Electoral Code. However, the Bangsamoro government has yet to issue a decision on the reallocation. 'At this point, how can the Comelec comply with the 80 coming from Sulu? The Comelec doesn't have the power to reapportion…In the meantime, we are proceeding with our preparation based on 73 seats,' Garcia said. The poll chief also said the Comelec is eyeing repositioning certain forces of its deputized law enforcement agencies, such as the Philippine Army, the Philippine Navy, the Philippine Marines, the Philippine National Police, and the Philippine Coast Guard, as part of peacekeeping operations during the 2025 Bangsamoro polls and to neutralize any armed groups who may disrupt said elections.— VBL, GMA Integrated News
GMA Network
2 days ago
- GMA Network
Comelec lifts proclamation suspension of Benguet solon
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) Second Division lifted the suspension of the proclamation of Benguet lone district representative-elect Eric Yap following the dismissal of a disqualification petition against his candidacy for Eleksyon 2025. In an eight-page ruling, the poll body junked an October 2024 petition filed by petitioner Franklin Tino, seeking to disqualify Yap from the May 2025 midterm elections on the grounds of material misrepresentation due to questions on his citizenship. Tino alleged that Yap committed material misrepresentation when he filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) for Benguet representative when he is not a natural-born Filipino citizen. He also accused Yap of falsifying his birth certificate and Philippine passport. Yap, in his verified answer, denied the allegations as 'false, malicious, and unfounded'. 'In this case, the Petitioner has utterly failed to discharge this burden. Not a single piece of documentary, testimonial, or circumstantial evidence has been adduced to support his claims against the Respondent,' the poll body said. 'This glaring omission not only renders the Petition fatally defective, but also betrays a troubling lack of diligence and candor in invoking the processes of this Honorable Commission,' it said. The Comelec Second Division also added that 'courts and tribunals are not venues for fishing expeditions or trial by innuendo. To entertain a petition built on unproven claims is to erode the very foundations of justice. Justice is not served by speculation but by evidence, and in the absence of the latter, the Petition must inevitably fail.' Meanwhile, the Benguet Provincial Board of Canvassers (PBOC) were also instructed to reconvene and proceed with the proclamation of Yap. Motion for Reconsideration Poll chief George Erwin Garcia, for his part, reiterated that the ruling is not yet final and executory as the petitioner still has five days to question the decision. 'May karapatan ang peititoner na mag-file ng motion for reconsideration. Titingnan natin within the period of five days kung mag-MR. Kaya ang PBOC ng Benguet ay maaari pang hindi mag-convene para iproklama siya kasi hihintayin pa ang certificate of finality and entry of judgment sapagkat kung saka-sakali na ang petitioner ay mag-file ng MR, maaaring mahinto ang pagpapatupad ng decision,' Garcia told reporters. (The petitioner can file for an MR. We'll see if he will do that within five days. The PBOC may still not reconvene to proclaim [Yap] because we will have to wait for the certificate of finality and entry of judgment. If the petitioner files an MR, the decision may be stopped and not be implemented.) — BAP, GMA Integrated News
GMA Network
3 days ago
- GMA Network
Comelec lifts suspension of Marcy Teodoro' proclamation as Marikina rep
The Commission on Elections has lifted the suspension of the proclamation of outgoing Marikina Mayor Marcelino "Marcy" Teodoro as the winning congressional candidate of the city's 1st District following the reinstatement of his certificate of candidacy. In a 38-page resolution promulgated on June 25, the Comelec en banc granted the consolidated motions for reconsideration filed by Teodoro and reversed and set aside the poll body First Division's December 11, 2024 resolution cancelling his COC. "The order for the suspension of the proclamation of respondent Marcelino "Marcy" R. Teodoro issued by the Commission (En Banc) on 12 May 2025 is hereby lifted. Finally, the certificate of candidacy of herein respondent Marcelino "Marcy" R. Teodoro for the Member of the House of Representatives, 1st District, Marikina City in the 12 May 2025 National and Local Elections is hereby reinstated," it said. The en banc said the petitioners failed to prove that Teodoro committed material representation in his COC for the 2025 polls as regards his residency in Barangay San Roque in the 1st District. —AOL, GMA Integrated News For more Eleksyon 2025 related content and updates, visit GMA News Online's Eleksyon 2025 microsite.
