AN OFFICIAL of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Monday, November 25, scored Duterte Youth party-list for attempting to assume the congressional seat it won in the last May 2019 polls even without the mandatory Certificate of Proclamation (COP).
In her Twitter account, Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon disclosed that Ronald Cardema and wife, Ducielle, have been making moves to gain a seat in the House of Representatives even in the absence of the COP.
"No party-list nominee can sit as representative without a Certificate of Proclamation. @COMELEC. But Cardema is circumventing this by submitting his list with wife’s name as number 2 nominee," said Guanzon.
"Ducielle Cardema requested the Secretary General to admit her as Member of the House of Representatives on the basis of the withdrawal of Ronald. Even without a Certificate of Proclamation!" she added.
Even the lawyer of Duterte Youth has earned the ire of the poll commissioner saying he/she must be disbarred for giving erroneous advice to his/her clients.
"Ang ayaw ko, mga abusado, pinagpipilit ang gusto kahit labag sa batas! Sino abogado nila? Dapat na disbar. (What I don't like are people who insist on what they want even if it is against the law. Who are their lawyers? Should be disbarred),” said Guanzon.
The poll official stressed that no party-list nominee can assume a House seat without being issued his/her COP by the Comelec.
"Duterte Youth has no Certificate of Proclamation from @COMELEC. Not one of them can sit as representative. That is the bottom line," she said.
Last September, the Comelec approved the withdrawal of the previous nominees of Duterte Youth as well as the subsequent nomination of new ones for the party-list group.
In the said set of nominees filed on August 6, the new nominees are Ronald Cardema, Ducielle Cardema, Guillermo Villareal Jr, Krizza Reyes, and Robert Garcia.
Subsequently, Ronald Cardema submitted his Notice of Withdrawal as the first nominee of Duterte Youth in the hope of hastening the issuance of the organization's COP by the Comelec.
During the May 13, 2019 elections, Duterte Youth won one party-list seat after getting a total of 354,629 votes. (HDT/SunStar Philippines)