The Commission on Elections (Comelec) en banc has upheld its earlier ruling to cancel the registration of the Duterte Youth party-list, rejecting the group’s motion for reconsideration.
In a resolution released Friday, August 29, the poll body voted 5-1-1 to affirm its June decision. Comelec Commissioner George Garcia explained that while the cancellation stands, the ruling is “not yet final and executory” since Duterte Youth still has the option to bring its case before the Supreme Court.
The party-list faced disqualification over allegations of failing to meet accreditation requirements and misrepresenting the eligibility of its nominees. In March, Kabataan Party-list pressed the Comelec to act on the petition, arguing that Duterte Youth’s nominees did not meet the age requirements mandated under the Party-list System Act, which requires youth representatives to be between 25 and 30 years old on election day.
Duterte Youth’s listed nominees were Drixie Cardema, 28; Berlin Lingwa, 26; and Ron Bawalan, 26. The group also came under scrutiny after revelations that the first nominee carried a different family name—Suarez—and is the sister of Ducielle Cardema, wife of party chairman Ronald Cardema, who had himself been disqualified in 2019 for exceeding the age limit.
The Comelec had earlier suspended Duterte Youth’s proclamation, along with Bagong Henerasyon, pending the outcome of their disqualification cases. While BH’s petition was dismissed, Duterte Youth’s challenge continued.
Duterte Youth was among the top-ranking groups in the 20th Congress elections, projected to secure three seats. Under party-list rules, organizations that obtain at least 2% of the total votes are guaranteed representation, with additional seats distributed based on higher vote counts, up to a maximum of three seats.
