Comelec asked to stop proclamation of Duterte Youth party-list as 2019 poll winner

Members of youth groups have asked the Commission on Elections to do away with proclaiming Duterte Youth party-list representative Ducielle Marie Cardema as a winner in the 2019 elections on the argument that the party-list was not registered before the poll body.

The petitioners argued that while the Comelec en banc granted Duterte Youth’s petition for registration in January 2019, it cannot be considered a valid registration since Comelec en banc did not remand their January 2019 Resolution to the Comelec Second Division for publication and continuance of the proceedings, thus violating Comelec Resolution No. 9366 on filing for registration for the party-list elections.

“These statutory and constitutional requirement of public notice and requirement of public notice and public hearing are jurisdictional in character.  Without complying with these requirements, the Commission en banc would have no authority to hear and decide the subject matter of the case, that is, the respondent’s party-list registration,” the petitioners said in their opposition.

“In behalf of our clients Teeya Beatrice Magtalas, Abigail Aleli Tan, Raainah Punzalan and Ross Angcos, we write to formally oppose the proclamation of Duterte Youth's Ducielle Marie Cardema should one be forthcoming. Oppositors are filing this letter-opposition in their capacity as petitioners in Magtalas  et al. vs. Duterte Youth, members of the youth sector, registered voters and taxpayers,” lawyers Emilio Marañon III, Ernelson Trojillo and Rod Ryan Suaco, counsel for the petitioners, added.

The petitioners argued that Comelec en banc’s January 2019 decision cannot likewise be treated as a grant of registration as the requirement of publication is not only jurisdictional Comelec Resolution No. 9366 but an express and mandatory requirement in Article 9C, Section 2.5 of the 1987 Constitution.

The Constitution states that the Comelec should “register, after sufficient publication, political parties, organizations, or coalitions which, in addition to other requirements, must present their platform or program of government; and accredit citizens’ arms of the Comelec.”

“In sum, this failure to remand and non-compliance with the publication and hearing requirement have rendered the registration of Duterte Youth incomplete and unfinished therefore, its status unregistered,” the petitioners said.

“Without first acquiring jurisdiction over Duterte Youth and without prior registration, the Comelec would have no authority to allot a seat to Duterte Youth or proclaim Ducielle Marie Cardema who technically represents a non-entity. Thus, to proclaim Ducielle Marie Cardema would not only be clearly ultra vires, but would grossly be illegal and patently unconstitutional,” they added. — BM, GMA News