No to dynasty backdoor! Groups urge Comelec to disqualify Duterte Youth
Duterte Youth Party-list chairman Ronald Cardema (INQUIRER.net file photo)
MANILA, Philippines — Several groups on Tuesday urged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to disqualify the Duterte Youth party-list from the 2025 midterm elections and the party-list system.
Groups including Gabriela Youth, Anakbayan, and Kabataan Tayo ang Pag-asa sent letters to the Comelec, calling for its immediate action on the petitions for disqualification of the Duterte Youth.
The poll body suspended the proclamation of the party list on May 19 due to pending cases.
Duterte Youth Party-list ranked second in the party-list race with a total of 2,338,564 votes.
READ: Comelec suspends proclamation of Duterte Youth, BH party-lists
Gabriela Youth Spokesperson Franchesca Reyes said disqualifying the party-list from the elections is not just legal but “moral and just.”
“We recognize that persons who will [sit] in Congress will represent and come from our sector, and the seat of Duterte Youth is stolen from the youth and from women,” Reyes told reporters in an interview.
Reyes also said the petitioners recognize that the party-list system should not be a “backdoor” for political dynasties.
He believes “bogus” representations dismiss the real essence of party-lists, which is to represent the marginalized sectors in Congress.
“We reiterate and assert that the seats reserved [for] party-lists by the 1987 Constitution belong only to those that abide by the Constitution and by relevant laws, and, above all, were voted for by the sectors they claim to represent,” one of the petitioners’ letters reads.
It was signed by representatives from Gabriela Youth, Gabriela Women Alliance, Bahaghari PUP, Kilusan ng Manggagawang Kababaihan, Amihan National Federation of Peasant Women, and Salinlahi Alliance for Children’s Concerns.
READ: Comelec: Nat’l cases done June 30
The Comelec intends to resolve all the pending cases against national candidates and party-lists before June 30—the day when the elected officials and party-list representatives will assume office./apl/abc
