Duterte Youth Party-list Chairman Ronald Cardema has filed graft and corruption complaints before the Office of the Ombudsman against several officials of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), intensifying his dispute with the poll body following the suspension of his group’s proclamation.
Named in the complaint are Teopisto Elnas Jr., Rafael Olaño, Helen Aguila-Flores, Celia Romero, and other members of the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC) Supervisory Committee, whom Cardema accuses of recommending the move to hold off the party-list’s proclamation after the 2025 elections.
Cardema claimed the recommendation came from the supervisory body, citing Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia’s explanation. “In behalf of the 2.3 million Filipinos who voted for the Duterte Youth Party-List… we repeatedly questioned COMELEC Chairman George Garcia on why COMELEC suspended our proclamation,” he said. “His only answer is because it was ‘recommended’ by the 2025 NBOC Supervisory Committee.”
Garcia, for his part, responded calmly to the complaint, saying, “It’s part of the job in public service. Belief in our legal processes makes decision-making a lot easier.”
Cardema also questioned the legal authority of the Supervisory Committee, saying it had no clear mandate to issue such recommendations. “We looked into the powers of this Supervisory Committee, and it turns out they don’t really have that kind of authority,” he said in Filipino.
He further alleged that the move to delay the Duterte Youth’s proclamation was selective and not applied to other candidates facing pending cases. According to him, this violates Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, as it appeared to specifically target their party.
In a parallel move, Cardema also requested the Commission on Appointments to defer confirming the appointments of Comelec commissioners Noli Pipo and Maria Norina Tangaro-Casingal, who were part of the board that approved the suspension.
