Duterte Youth submits new set of nominees to Comelec

The party-list filed the Certification of Nomination with the Comelec on Tuesday, a day after the poll body’s First Division cancelled Cardema’s nomination for being overaged. (File Photo: Duterte Youth Patry-list/Facebook)

MANILA — The Duterte Youth party-list has submitted a new set of nominees to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) following the disqualification of its first nominee, former National Youth Commission chairperson Ronald Gian Carlo Cardema.

The party-list filed the Certification of Nomination with the Comelec on Tuesday, a day after the poll body’s First Division cancelled Cardema’s nomination for being overaged.

Cardema was listed anew as first nominee followed by his wife Ducielle, Guillermo B. Villarreal, Jr., Krizza D. Reyes, and Robert D. Garcia.

Meanwhile, Comelec Commissioner Ma. Rowena Amelia Guanzon accused Cardema of deliberately misrepresenting his eligibility and qualification in his Certificate of Nomination and Acceptance (CONA).

“I have sent a memorandum to the law department director to initiate an investigation on the probability that Ronald Cardema may have committed the criminal offense of material misrepresentation by stating under oath in his CONA that he is qualified to be representative of the youth sector,” Guanzon said in a press conference on Wednesday.

Guanzon said the CONA submitted by Cardema to the Comelec shows that he is more than 30 years old on the day of the last May 13 mid-term national and local elections.

“Respondent Cardema is clearly not qualified to be a nominee of Duterte Youth,” she said.

Under the Party-list System Act, a nominee of the youth sector must not be more than 30 years of age on the day of the election and Cardema himself has admitted that he is already 34 years old.

Guanzon said the Comelec will continue to withhold the issuance of Certificate of Proclamation (COP) to the party-list group election due to pending legal issues surrounding the case.

“It is for the reason that there is still pending litigation over the fact that he was disqualified,” she said.

She added the group may still file a motion for reconsideration before the Comelec en banc to appeal the First Division’s ruling.

Guanzon said she will also ask the Party-list Coalition in Congress why they allowed Cardema to attend their meetings despite having a pending case with the Commission.

“Let Congressman (Mikee) Romero answer me. Why are you allowing him to attend your meetings when we have disqualified him already. In what capacity is he attending the meeting of the party-list coalition,” she said.

The Duterte Youth won a seat after getting a total of 354,629 votes last May 13 elections.