Comelec denies Duterte Youth bid vs. Guanzon substitution as party-list rep

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) en banc has denied Duterte Youth's complaint against the substitution of retired poll commissioner Rowena Guanzon as first nominee of P3PWD party-list, acting Comelec spokesperson Rex Laudiangco said Thursday.

In a press briefer shared to the media, Laudiangco said the en banc approved the Comelec Law Department's recommendation to deny the opposition to the substitution filed by Duterte Youth Party-list.

Laudiangco said the complaint was denied on the following grounds:

• Resolution 10717 provides for the rules prior to elections and not post-elections;
• Consistent with the 2019 case of Duterte Youth wherein the Commission en banc granted/allowed/gave due course to withdrawals, substitutions and submission of new list of nominees after elections under the following Minute Resolutions: 19-0569 (May 14, 2019), 19-0849 (August 28, 2019) and 19-1006 (October 23, 2019)
• Sections 8 and 16 of Republic Act No. 7941 or the Party-List System Act allows submission of additional nominees when the list of nominees had been exhausted

According to Laudiangco, the certificate of proclamation for Guanzon as P3PWD party-list representative was already printed on Wednesday and is currently being routed for signature.

"It's just a matter of formality of transmitting to P3PWD the signed Certificate of Proclamation in the name of the 1st Nominee," Laudiangco said.

He also said the en banc has already noted P3PWD party-list's full compliance to the publication requirement.

On the same day, Guanzon took her oath of office before Court of Appeals Justice Edwin Sorongon.

In a Facebook live, the former commissioner said the petition filed by National Youth Commission chairman Ronald Cardema and Duterte Youth Rep. Ducielle Marie Cardema's petition to block the issuance of certificate of proclamation to Guanzon were already "moot."

"The issue of opposing my substitution is now moot because I have already taken my oath and I will assume office after 12 noon of June 30, 2022," Guanzon said.

But in a statement, Rep. Cardema said Guanzon's oath taking is "another mockery of the law and of our government institutions" if she doesn't have a certificate of proclamation with the former poll official's name and the approving signatures of the Comelec en banc.

Cardema also questioned if the officiating officer has shown an official copy of the certificate of proclamation.

The Duterte Youth representative assailed that first nominee Grace Yaneza already took her oath as P3PWD congresswoman last June 2, 2022.

"Last June 14, Guanzon filed for substitution, within 24 hours on June 15 (Wednesday) it was “approved” by the Comelec En Banc thru a vote of 3-1. Last Friday we filed our opposition and our request for public documents relating to Rowena Guanzon, until today no documents [have] been released by Comelec, but have they released within that short span of time, an official Certificate of Proclamation signed by all the Commissioners? If none, how low can we get in mocking the law/rules on elections with this episode?" Cardema asked.

"Lastly, in all her announcements today, she discussed her Oath today and that she will submit her Oath of Office to Congress next week, why clearly is there no mention of an existing Certificate of Proclamation? or is it non-existing now when she took her alleged Oath?" she added.

Last week, the Comelec en banc approved in a "majority vote" the request of P3PWD Party-list, which was submitted to the Comelec Law Department on June 14, to withdraw the nomination of its original roster namely Grace Yeneza, Ira Paulo Pozon, Marianne Heidi Cruz Fullon, Peter Jonas David, and Lily Grace Tiangco.

The en banc has also "given due course" or granted and approved the new list of nominees that named Guanzon as its first nominee. Rosalie Garcia was named second nominee, Cherrie Belmonte-Lim third, Donnabel Tenorio fourth, and Rodolfo Villar Jr. fifth.

In filing its opposition to Guanzon's substitution, Duterte Youth asserted that P3PWD party-list submitted its documents for substitution past the November 15, 2021, deadline for cases of voluntary withdrawal.

P3PWD party-list, which Guanzon campaigned for in the 2022 national and local elections, won one seat in the House of Representatives. P3PWD stands for Komunidad ng Pamilya, Pasyente at Persons with Disabilities.

Before P3PWD submitted the documents assigning Guanzon as its new first nominee, National Youth Commission (NYC) Undersecretary Ronald Cardema accused her of forcing the group's nominees to resign for her benefit.

Guanzon, in response, challenged Cardema to present the people whom she allegedly coerced to quit and urged him to file a complaint with the Comelec if he believes his accusations are true. —KBK, GMA News