Duterte Youth appeals revoked registration before Supreme Court

Facade of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. | PHOTO: Official website of the Supreme Court

MANILA, Philippines — The Duterte Youth party list asked the Supreme Court on Wednesday to stop the Commission on Elections (Comelec) from canceling its registration.

In a 34-page petition for a temporary restraining order (TRO), Duterte Youth challenged two Comelec resolutions—one issued by the Second Division on June 18, which canceled its registration, and the other from the Comelec en banc on Aug. 29 that affirmed the Second Division’s resolution and dismissed the group’s motion for reconsideration.

READ: Comelec en banc upholds ruling canceling Duterte Youth’s registration

The first Comelec resolution was based on a petition filed in 2019 by youth leaders who sought to nullify Duterte Youth’s registration status on two grounds. They claimed it was approved by the poll body en banc even though the party list’s petition was not published first in at least two newspapers of general circulation, and there was no proper hearing held on its application for accreditation. Both procedures are mandated under the Party-list System Act.

Duterte Youth secured three seats in Congress after ranking second in the May 2025 elections, in which it garnered more than 2.3 million votes.

The group’s proclamation, however, was suspended due to the pending cases against it before the Comelec.

Material invasion

According to Duterte Youth, the poll body’s decision caused a “material and substantial invasion” of the party list and the “sovereign will” of more than 2.3 million Filipinos to be represented by their chosen representative in the 20th Congress.

“The Honorable Supreme Court’s prompt action and speedy judicial intervention is of utmost importance to prevent the case from becoming moot and in continuously causing injury to the petitioner and to millions of Filipinos who elected it,” read the group’s petition prepared by the Calabia Law Office.

Aside from the TRO, Duterte Youth asked the high court to issue a preliminary injunction to maintain the status quo and bar Comelec from enforcing its resolutions.

The party list also asked the Supreme Court to grant its petition for certiorari and nullify the poll body’s resolutions for allegedly having been issued with grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction.

The two resolutions, it added, were “barred by laches for being contrary to law and established jurisprudence.”

In upholding the Second Division’s resolution, the Comelec en banc earlier said that Duterte Youth’s withdrawal and substitution of party list nominees in the 2019 elections “undermined the spirit and intent of the party-list system and [mocked] the election processes, ultimately violating laws, rules, and regulations relating to elections.”

The Second Division had also cited the group for committing prohibited acts under the election law, such as the lack of bona fide intention to represent the youth sector, advocating violence, and getting assistance from the government.

The party list that ranked 55th in the May elections, meanwhile, again urged the Comelec to immediately proclaim it.

Gabriela’s appeal

“We challenge the Comelec to act with urgency and proclaim [Gabriela Women’s Party or GWP] now,” Gabriela secretary general Clarice Palce said in a statement on Wednesday.

“This is not just a matter of procedural justice but a crucial step in ensuring that the voice of the marginalized is heard and represented in a legislature compromised by vested interests,” she added.

The final seat for party list groups in the House of Representatives was given to Philreca, which ranked 54th in the midterm elections.

“We strongly implore the Comelec to not delay any further GWP’s proclamation. We need voices that will echo the demands of the people for accountability, not fake party-lists merely seeking to line their and their favored elites’ pockets,” Palce said. —WITH GILLIAN VILLANUEVA