Youth leaders ask Supreme Court to strike down proclamation of Duterte Youth party-list

Youth leaders have asked the Supreme Court (SC) to strike down the Commission on Elections' (Comelec) proclamation of Duterte Youth party-list.

A petition filed Tuesday questioned the Commission on Elections' (Comelec) issuance of a certificate of proclamation to Duterte Youth despite the pendency of cases alleging the party-list was not registered to join the 2019 elections to begin with.

Ducielle Cardema was sworn in as Duterte Youth representative on October 13. Her husband, former National Youth Commission chair Ronald Cardema, was a nominee until he was disqualified for being overaged.

The petitioners argued the proclamation was "illegal and unconstitutional" because there is an unresolved case at the Comelec to void the registration of Duterte Youth, on the ground that it has not complied with publication and public hearing requirements.

The pendency of the case, they said, makes the proclamation "premature."

They added that the Comelec might have conflicting decisions should it eventually decide that Duterte Youth was unregistered — making Ducielle a non-candidate — after all.

"This brazen accommodation of the seemingly sacred Duterte Youth is the most unconstitutional act ever done by Comelec in its 80-year history," the petitioners said.

"This act of Comelec of deliberately bypassing cases prejudicial to the proclamation constitutes grave abuse of discretion, begging to be stricken down for being illegal and unconstitutional," they added.

The petition was filed by Aunell Ross Angcos, Raainah Punzalan, Reeya Beatrice Magtalas, Raoul Danniel Manuel, and Abigail Aleli Tan.

Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon, who voted against proclaiming Duterte Youth, raised similar arguments in her dissenting opinion.

"A vote to grant a Certificate of Proclamation is a betrayal of the Constitution and the duty imposed upon us as constitutional commissioners," she said.

Comelec chair Sheriff Abas said the poll body resolved to grant a certificate of proclamation to Duterte Youth in September. — RSJ, GMA News