SC junks plea vs Duterte Youth

MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court (SC), meeting as a whole, upheld the decision of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) that allowed Ducielle Marie Cardema to represent the Duterte Youth party-list group in the House of Representatives.

In a one-page notice issued on Nov. 3, 2020 and released only yesterday, the justices dismissed the petition for review, with a prayer for a status quo ante order or writ of preliminary injunction, filed against the group represented by founder and National Youth Commission commissioner Ronald Cardema and his wife Ducielle and the Comelec.

The notice, signed by SC clerk of court Edgar Aricheta, said the petition failed to show that the Comelec committed grave abuse of discretion.

Last October, youth sector representatives led by Aunell Ross Angcos asked the SC to review and reverse the Comelec decision that allowed Duterte Youth party-list Rep. Ducielle to take a seat in the House of Representatives.

The petitioners asked the High Court to strike down the Minute Resolution 20-0382 as void from the beginning for being premature because it was issued by the Comelec as a whole without its Second Division first resolving other issues related to the case.

Minute Resolution 20-0382 contains the Duterte Youth’s certificate of proclamation that the petitioners claimed is illegal and unconstitutional because it is not even a duly registered party-list organization under the law.

The same resolution also allowed Ducielle to sit as a representative in the 18th Congress, replacing her husband, who was declared by the Comelec as ineligible as their party-list’s representative because he was overaged.

Under the law, a youth sector party list representative must be between 25 to 30 years old. Cardema is 34.

Ducielle said their camp will file libel charges against the petitioners and seek the disbarment of Emil Maranon, the lawyer who represented them.