Comelec to proclaim 3 solons after DQ of Duterte Youth

Commission on Elections chairman George Erwin Garcia  (Noy Morcoso/ INQUIRER.net)

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will proclaim on Thursday the three representatives who will replace the Duterte Youth following the cancellation of the party-list’s registration, Comelec Chairperson George Erwin Garcia said. 

“[Tomorrow] po [ang] proclamation ng 3 papalit sa Duterte Youth. 1:30 p.m. sa Session Hall ng Comelec,” Garcia told reporters in a Viber message. 

Garcia, however, Garcia declined to name the party-lists that will benefit from the seat distribution.

The Duterte Youth party-list secured three seats after ranking second in the party-list race of the May 2025 midterm elections, garnering a total of 2,338,564 votes.

READ: Duterte Youth loses claim to 3 House seats

In an interview with reporters on Tuesday, Garcia said that the Comelec issued a certificate of finality after the Supreme Court did not issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) within 30 days after the Comelec en banc upheld the decision of Comelec Second Division to cancel the registration of Duterte Youth.

Duterte Youth on September 3 filed a petition for TRO before the High Court seeking to stop the Comelec en banc from cancelling its registration. 

Last August 29, the Comelec en banc dismissed the motion for reconsideration filed by the party-list, emphasizing that the appeal failed to raise substantial evidence in seeking to reverse the ruling of the second division. 

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

The second division cancelled the party-list’s registration based on a 2019 petition filed by youth leaders seeking to nullify its registration status due to lack of publication and hearing of party-list’s accreditation, which are mandated both by the Constitution and the poll body.

Meanwhile, during a Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum on Wednesday, Garcia said that the Comelec en banc would decide on the same day on who would benefit from the seat distribution.

 “Based on the latest decision of the Supreme Court on the case of Banat vs. Comelec, all seats must be filled and we will decide on this since the Duterte Youth vacated three seats,” said Garcia.

Garcia said that the en banc allot more seats to those who already got seats from the top of the list or distribute them to the three party-lists who ranked after Gabriela Party-list, which recently secured the 64th party-list seat in the House of Representatives.

The three party-lists after Gabriela are Abono, Ang Probinsyano, and Murang Kuryente. /gsg