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‘For over five years, [Duterte Youth has] benefited from inaction, securing seats in Congress despite a pending legal challenge to their very existence as a party-list organization,’ petitioners say in a statement
MANILA, Philippines – The roadblock to Duterte Youth’s third term in Congress comes in the form of a five-year-old petition pending before the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
Comelec on Monday, May 20, announced that Duterte Youth is one of the two groups whose proclamation it is suspending due to its pending cases.
The party-list group, which has long been criticized for echoing the repressive stance and rhetoric of its namesake Rodrigo Duterte, is facing at least two cases. One is a 2019 petition filed by youth leaders that seeks to nullify its registration for not going through the required process as stated in Philippine laws.
It is important to note that this petition is different from the one that led to the cancellation of former National Youth Commission chair Ronald Cardema’s nomination as party-list representative in the 18th Congress. This resolution was issued by the Comelec in August 2019.
The youth leaders — now represented by Kabataan Tayo ang Pag-asa (KTAP) electoral watchdog group — urged Comelec to act on case to cancel Duterte Youth’s registration that it claims has been submitted for resolution since January 2020.
“For over five years, they have benefited from inaction, securing seats in Congress despite a pending legal challenge to their very existence as a party-list organization,” KTAP said in a statement.
What happened between the filing in 2019 and Comelec’s announcement that it is suspending Duterte Youth’s proclamation? Check the timeline below.
2018
October 17, 2018
Duterte Youth submits its Certificate of Nomination and Acceptance (CONA) during the last day of filing for candidacies for the 2019 midterm elections.
2019
May 13, 2019
Duterte Youth joins the list of winning party-list groups after receiving 354,629 or 1.27% of total votes cast in the 2019 elections. The group ranked 21st and gets one seat in the then-incoming 18th Congress.
May 22, 2019
Comelec, sitting as National Board of Canvassers, proclaimed Duterte Youth as one of the 51 winning party-list groups following the 2019 polls. Election lawyers called the group’s proclamation following the polls as “easily the most unconstitutional act” by the Comelec in its 80-year history.
July 30, 2019
Duterte Youth begins its first term in Congress.
September 3, 2019
Youth leaders Reeya Beatrice Magtalas, Abigail Aleli Tan, Raainah Punzalan, and Aundell Ross Angcos file a petition before the Comelec seeking to cancel or declare null the registration of the Duterte Youth party-list group.
They argued that Duterte Youth’s registration should be declared void from the beginning since it was approved by the Comelec en banc without the publication of its petition and without proper hearing as required by the 1987 Constitution and Republic Act No. 7941 or the Party-List System Act.
September 27, 2019
Comelec issues an order requiring Duterte Youth to submit its answer.
October 8, 2019
Comelec receives Duterte Youth’s verified answer. Petitioners received a copy on the same date.
October 10, 2019
Petitioners filed their reply on the issue of jurisdiction.
October 22, 2019
Petitioners file a motion calling for a hearing on the case.
October 23, 2019
COMELEC acknowledges the verified answer of Duterte Youth. It then directed the petitioners to file their comment.
November 4, 2019
Petitioners submit their comment.
November 5, 2019
Petitioners file an urgent motion to set the case for hearing.
November 27, 2019
Petitioners again ask the Comelec to set the case for an immediate hearing.
December 6, 2019
Comelec sets a hearing for the case on December 18, 2019.
December 18, 2019
Hearing on the petition starts but petitioners said that Duterte Youth did not attend, adding that “petitioners’ counsel and the clerk of [Comelec] even waited for two hours, but [Duterte Youth] was a no-show.”
Comelec issused an order requiring the two parties to submit their respective memoranda within ten days before the petition is submitted for a resolution.
December 27, 2019
Duterte Youth asks Comelec to be allowed to adopt the special and affirmative defenses in their verified answer as their arguments and discussion instead of filing a memorandum.
December 28, 2019
Petitioners submit their memorandum before the Comelec.
2020
January 6, 2020
Comelec notes the manifestation. The order was signed by then-presiding commissioner Luie Tito Guia and received by petitioners on January 27.
February 18, 2020
Comelec issues another order noting the December 28 manifestation. This time it was signed by commissioner Socorro Inting. Petitioners received the new order on March 13.
2021
October 2021
Duterte Youth files its CONA for the 2022 national elections.
2022
May 12, 2022
Duterte Youth wins another term in the House of Representatives, with 602,196 votes or 1.64% of the total votes cast for the party-list race. The group earned one seat.
May 26, 2022
Comelec proclaims Duterte Youth as one of the 54 party-list groups to join the then-incoming 19th Congress.
2024
October 7, 2024
Duterte Youth files its CONA for the 2025 elections.
2025
March 25, 2025
The same petitioners – now represented by youth-led election watchdog Kabataan Tayo ang Pag-asa (KTAP) – files an urgent motion to resolve a 2019 petition seeking to cancel or declare nullity of the party-list registration of the Duterte Youth.
They said that an immediate resolution to the case is important as it “will not only be a precedent as regards the procedure in party-list registration, but their continued inclusion in the party-list elections even when it is not registered is unjust and unfair to the duly-registered party-list organizations.”
May 12, 2025
Duterte Youth wins its third consecutive term with 2,338,564 or 5.57% of total votes cast for the party-list race. It’s allotted two seats in the incoming 20th Congress.
May 18, 2025
Election lawyer Emil Marañon III, counsel of the youth-led watchdog, releases a statement arguing that Duterte Youth should not be included in the party-list proclamation due to the unresolved 2019 petition.
He called on the Comelec to act on the five-year-old petition before allowing Duterte Youth to join the incoming 20th Congress.
May 19, 2025
Comelec announces that it is suspending the proclamation of two groups – Duterte Youth and BH Bagong Henerasyon – due to their pending cases. The two were not included in 52 groups that were proclaimed winners in a ceremony by Comelec.
Comelec Chairperson George Garcia said the decision was based on the discretion of the National Board of Canvassers together with the poll body’s divisions handling the cases.
May 20, 2025
Duterte Youth has filed a petition with the Supreme Court, seeking a temporary restraining order against Comelec’s decision to suspend its proclamation. – Rappler.com
