Comelec holds off Duterte Youth party-list proclamation due to Cardema disqualification

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will not be issuing a certificate of proclamation to the Duterte Youth party-list in light of the disqualification of its first nominee, ex-National Youth Commission Chair Ronald Cardema, Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon said on Wednesday.

“They have the right to appeal to the Commission en banc and all the way to the Supreme Court, but the Comelec en banc has ruled that we will not issue a certificate of proclamation to Duterte Youth pending the litigation of this case, especially that he has been found disqualified by the Comelec First Division,” Guanzon said at a press conference.

Guanzon was referring to the Comelec First Division’s decision to cancel Cardema’s nomination as Duterte Youth party-list representative due to material misrepresentation as to his eligibility as a party-list representative for the youth sector for being over the age limit.

The decision stemmed from the two petitions lodged by several youth groups against Cardema largely anchored on the contention that Cardema—who is 34 years old—sought to break the law by filing his substitution bid as nominee of Duterte Youth party-list last May 12 even if the Party-list law states that party-list representatives of the youth sector should only be aged between 25 to 30 years old.

“The Secretary General of the House of Representatives already said that they will abide by the decision of the Comelec, which means they will not allow Cardema to assume office,” Guanzon added.

The Comelec First Division said Cardema’s move is punishable under Comelec Resolution 9366, which states that a sole ground for cancellation of nomination is when there is a material misrepresentation committed in the qualification of nominees.

Likewise, the Comelec First Division pointed out that Cardema cannot claim to represent "young professionals" instead of the youth because the Duterte Youth's constitution and by-laws did not define what a young professional was and a Supreme Court ruling (Amores vs. HRET) already stated that a representative of the youth sector needs to fall within the party-list law requirement on age limits, regardless whether the party-list group was a multi-sectoral one or represented various other sectors other than the youth. — BM, GMA News