Comelec summons Cardema over ‘misrepresentation’

They alleged that Cardema committed material misrepresentation by stating under oath in his Certificate of Nomination and Acceptance (CONA) that he is qualified to be representative of the youth sector. (File Photo: NATIONAL YOUTH COMMISSION/Facebook)

MANILA — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Thursday has subpoenaed former Duterte Youth first nominee Ronald Gian Carlo Cardema to personally submit his counter-affidavit on the case filed against him for material misrepresentation.

In a subpoena, the poll body through its Law Department ordered the former National Youth Commission (NYC) chairman to answer the case filed against him for supposed violation of Section 74 of the Omnibus Election Code (OEC) and to appear before the said office on December 13.

“Under and by virtue of authority and power vested in the Commission on Elections by Section 52 (d), Omnibus Election Code (Batas Pambansa Blg. 881), you are hereby notified that a complaint has been filed against you for alleged violation Section 74 of the Omnibus Election Code…” said the subpoena dated November 27.

“Accordingly, you are hereby directed to submit your subscribed Counter-Affidavit and other supporting documents of affidavit or witness/es as the case may be, and to personally appear at the Law Department, Commission on Elections, 8th Floor Palacio del Gobernador, Intramuros, Manila on December 13, 2019 (Friday) at 10:00 o’clock in the morning for the conduct of hearing,” it added

At the same time, the poll body warned that Cardema’s failure to comply shall be considered as waiver of his right to defend himself and the case shall be submitted for resolution.

“You are hereby warned that failure to comply with this subpoena shall be considered as waiver of your right to present your defense and the case shall be considered submitted for resolution based on the evidence on record,” the subpoena said.

The complaint was filed against the former Duterte Youth official by Michael Navarez, Abigail Aleli Tan and Sean Angelo Thakur.

They alleged that Cardema committed material misrepresentation by stating under oath in his Certificate of Nomination and Acceptance (CONA) that he is qualified to be representative of the youth sector.

On September 13, he filed his Notice of Withdrawal as the First Nominee of the organization which was accepted by the Comelec en banc.

The Duterte Youth Party-list won a seat in the House of Representatives after getting a total of 354,629 votes in the May 2019 polls.