The Duterte Youth party-list has elevated its battle for political survival to the Supreme Court, filing a 34-page petition that seeks to stop the Commission on Elections (Comelec) from enforcing the cancellation of its registration.
The group argues that the Comelec en banc committed “grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction” when it upheld the decision to revoke the party-list’s registration on August 29, 2025.
In its petition for certiorari, Duterte Youth urged the high court to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) and a status quo ante order—measures that would effectively prevent Comelec from implementing its decision and restore the group’s legal standing until the case is resolved.
The party-list also asked the Supreme Court to conduct a special raffle to expedite the handling of its petition.
Comelec Chair George Erwin Garcia, in a separate interview, acknowledged the move as a foreseeable legal maneuver. “The running of the period of finality shall proceed as such sans any injunctive writ from the SC,” he noted, emphasizing that Comelec will proceed as scheduled unless the high court intervenes.
The cancellation means Duterte Youth—despite ranking second in votes for party-lists in the 2025 elections—would not be awarded a congressional seat. Losing accreditation strips a group of all the rights and privileges granted to officially registered party-lists under Philippine election law.
