THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) has cancelled the registration of the Duty to Energize the Republic through the Enlightenment of the Youth Sectoral Party-list Organization, more commonly known as the Duterte Youth Party-list.
In a decision promulgated on June 18, 2025, the Comelec Second Division granted the petition filed in 2019 by Reeya Beatrice Magtalas, Abigail Aleli Tan, Raainah Punzalan, and Aunell Ross Angcos against the Duterte Youth Party-list on the grounds of non-compliance with the jurisdictional and continuing requirements for the registration of party-list groups, organizations, or coalitions.
The Comelec ruled that the registration of Duterte Youth is void ab initio (from the beginning) due to its failure to comply with the jurisdictional requirements of publication and hearing, which ensure transparency, accountability, and public participation.
“Duterte Youth cannot merely hide under the convenient excuse that the commission had not required it to publish its petition for registration or that the commission has not set a hearing, as it reflects poorly on the party’s commitment to transparency and accountability. It should have demonstrated good faith compliance with the law and the constitution as an earnest performance of its duty to the electorate,” the ruling stated.
The Comelec also noted the party-list’s violation of Section 2 and Section 2(3), Rule 2 of Comelec Resolution No. 9366 when it fielded ineligible nominees and used the machinery of the National Youth Commission to promote their candidacy, respectively.
It said that while the party-list organization has the freedom to choose its nominees, that freedom has its limits.
“Unarguably, Section 9, RA (Republic Act) 7941 listed the qualifications of party-list nominees, including the highly disputed age qualification of at least 25 but not more than 35 years of age on the day of the election,” the decision reads.
“Thus, when Duterte Youth deliberately accommodated its overaged candidate just a few hours before the 13 May 2019 National and Local Elections, arguing that it has all the freedom to choose whoever it chooses as nominee, its bona fide intent to represent the youth sector becomes clouded with doubt. To stress, it is the nominee who has to qualify in representing the sector, not the other way around. The sector cannot be tailored to fit the nominee's profile,” it added.
The Comelec earlier deferred the proclamation of the Duterte Youth Party-list due to the pending case.
The Duterte Youth Party-list was among the top three that garnered the most votes in the recently concluded party-list elections.
However, Comelec Chairperson George Garcia said the ruling is not yet final, as the Duterte Youth may still file a motion for reconsideration. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)