Duterte Youth challenges Comelec’s non-proclamation before SC

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MANILA, Philippines — The party-list group Duty to Energize the Republic through the Enlightenment of the Youth Sectoral or Duterte Youth has questioned before the Supreme Court the suspension of its proclamation.

On Tuesday, May 20, Duterte Youth, represented by former Rep. Ronald Cardema, filed a petition for certiorari seeking a temporary restraining order against the Commission on Elections’ National Board of Canvassers (NBOC) for suspending its proclamation.

“Sinabihan lang kami na hindi kami kasama sa proclamation tanghali bago mag-proclamation mismo. Kung sinabi nila last week 'yan, gawa namin paraan pero parang sinadya na talagang tatlo hanggang apat oras bago ang proclamation at kayo magsasabi na hindi kayo kasali,” Cardema said in an interview with reporters.

(We were only informed that we wouldn't be included in the proclamation at noon, just before the proclamation itself. If they had told us last week, we could have found a way, but it seems it was deliberate that they would tell us only three to four hours before the proclamation that we weren't included.)

“Bakit tingin namin may grave abuse of discretion? Kasi discretion nalang pala ng Comelec ngayon kung kailan sila magpaproklama ng duly elected winners sa eleksyon?” he added. 

(Why do we believe there might be grave abuse of discretion? Is it now solely at the Commission on Elections' discretion when they proclaim the duly elected winners of the election?)

The party-list asked the high court to declare the NBOC’s failure to proclaim them as unconstitutional and to issue an injunction compelling the poll body to declare them winners in the 2025 midterm elections.

In the recent polls, Duterte Youth secured the second-highest number of votes with 2,338,564, qualifying the group for three congressional seats.

However, their proclamation—along with that of another party-list—was suspended by the NBOC due to pending petitions.

The petition against Duterte youth.  The petition against Cardema’s party was filed by four individuals on May 15.

Petitioners Reeya Beatrice Magtalas, Abigail Aleli Tan, Raainah Punzalan and Aunell Ross Angcos urged the Comelec to suspend the party’s proclamation until its pending cases are resolved. 

They referred to their original petition filed in 2019, saying that Duterte Youth’s registration is void because it had not complied with publication and hearing requirements. 

The petitioners also argued that the party-list made untruthful statements regarding the ages of their nominees.

Under the Party-List Law, youth representatives must be 30 years old or younger on election day. Cardema, however, was already 34 when the 2019 elections were held.