Duterte Youth first nominee told to explain alleged misuse of surname
Commission on Elections Chairman George Erwin Garcia (INQUIRER.net file photo / NOY MORCOSO)
MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has asked the first nominee Drixie Mae Suarez Cardema of the Duterte Youth party-list to explain why she is allegedly using a different surname.
Drixie Mae declared her full name as “Drixie Mae Suarez Cardema” in her certificate of acceptance of nomination for the 2025 midterm elections.
Drixie Mae is the sister of Ducielle Cardema, wife of Duterte Youth chairman Ronald Cardema.
A recent online post claimed that the party-list’s first nominee is reportedly known by her peers as just “Drixie Suarez.
Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia on Tuesday said that the election body’s law department submitted a letter addressed to the first nominee.
“In the matter of seeking an explanation from the number one nominee, the law department decided to issue a letter addressed to them, instead of a show cause order. The law department already sent the letter and is awaiting a response,” Garcia told reporters in an online interview.
“The law department gathered all the documents they needed for further investigation, especially the ones submitted by the group or the nominee last time.” Garcia added.
Garcia also emphasized that the purpose of the issuance of the letter is to give the first nominee an opportunity to explain her use of the Cardema family name.
Garcia also assured the nominee that the Comelec will “always be fair, impartial, and will always be reasonable and just” in resolving the issue.
READ: Comelec to issue show cause order to Duterte Youth’s 1st nominee
Garcia previously said that the first nominee would receive a show cause order to explain the allegations.
When asked why the poll body issued a letter and not a show cause order, like originally planned, Garcia said that the Comelec does not want to make it look like she will be facing a formal case.
“The letter is technically the show cause order but the law department made it just a letter to show that this is neither directed against them nor there will be investigation for the purposes of criminal prosecution,” Garcia pointed out.
Garcia added that there will be no issuance of show cause order after as the poll body targets to resolve the issue after the pending disqualification case of the party-list itself.
READ: Duterte Youth asks SC to compel proclamation
The proclamation of the Duterte Youth party-list remains pending as it is facing a disqualification case before the Comelec.
In 2019, youth leaders filed a petition seeking to nullify the party-list’s registration status since the Comelec en banc approved it without the publication of its petition and without holding proper hearing on its application, which are mandated under the Party-list System Act.
The party-list ranked second in the recent midterm elections with a total of 2,338,564 votes.
