Commission on Elections (Comelec) chief George Garcia on Tuesday addressed the controversy surrounding the suspension of two winning party-lists — Duterte Youth and Bagong Henerasyon (BH) — saying he welcomes any move by either group to challenge the poll body’s decision before the Supreme Court.

In an interview over radio, Garcia emphasized that the party-lists have not been disqualified, but their proclamation has been put on hold due to pending cases before the Commission.

“To be clear, I did not participate in the decision to suspend the proclamation of the two party-lists because I had a prior professional relationship with them,” Garcia said in Filipino. “But these two party-lists have pending cases, and that is the cited reason for the suspension. Let’s make it clear — suspension of proclamation does not mean they didn’t win. They won. But the National Board of Canvassers decided not to proclaim them until the cases are resolved.”

Garcia said the Comelec remains committed to resolving the complaints before 30 June, the date when all proclaimed party-list representatives are expected to assume their seats in Congress.

“It means the cases can still be resolved before 30 June. If they are dismissed, we will immediately proclaim them,” he said. “We must resolve these before 30 June, so the mandate given to them by the people is not wasted. In fact, this process is better than proclaiming them first and then canceling their accreditation afterward. That would be more painful.”

Garcia underscored that the Comelec retains jurisdiction over all national and local winners until 30 June, allowing the Commission to act on disqualification or cancellation issues during that period.

He also responded to statements from the Duterte Youth and BH party-lists expressing outrage over the suspension, particularly the plan of Duterte Youth to bring the matter before the Supreme Court.

“The Duterte Youth mentioned filing a case with the Supreme Court, and if BH also chooses to do so, they are very much welcome. Although we are committed to resolving these cases before June 30, no one can stop them from seeking redress from the Supreme Court, especially if they feel their rights have been violated. That is their legal option,” Garcia said. “There are many legal remedies available to them.”

The suspension of the proclamation was first announced Monday during ceremonies held at Manila Hotel Tent City, where Comelec proclaimed other winning party-lists in the 2025 midterm elections. Duterte Youth, which received over 2.3 million votes and placed second among 155 party-lists, and Bagong Henerasyon, which garnered over 319,000 votes, were the only groups withheld from proclamation.

Duterte Youth's case dates back to September 2019, when petitioners Reeya Beatrice Magtalas, Abigail Aleli Tan, Raainah Punzalan, and Aundell Ross Angcos questioned the party-list’s registration. They argued that Duterte Youth failed to comply with constitutional requirements.

Despite having answered these issues in the past, Duterte Youth Chairperson Ronald Cardema slammed the Comelec’s decision as “grave abuse of discretion.”

“We already answered all that to the Comelec in 2019, [those] superficial issues that have no truth,” Cardema said in Filipino. “We already won seats after winning the 2019 and the 2022 elections, and now that millions of Filipinos voted for us, on the very day of the proclamation, they are saying that they will hold the proclamation first because the allegations against us are serious.”

“If it is that serious, why didn’t you decide immediately after our last hearing in 2019?” he added.

Cardema’s earlier nomination was invalidated by Comelec due to age disqualification — he was beyond the required 25–30 age limit for youth-sector nominees under the Party-list Law.

BH cries foul

Meanwhile, Bagong Henerasyon expressed shock over the suspension, saying they were not notified of any case filed against them.

“Bagong Henerasyon has not received, seen, or even heard anything about this alleged case. How can we be held accountable for an accusation that we do not even know about, has no name, no formal details, and no identity?” the party-list said in a statement sent to the DAILY TRIBUNE.

The group called the suspension a violation of due process and filed an urgent motion before Comelec for their immediate proclamation.

“Until such complaint is properly publicized and due process is provided, the suspension of our proclamation and the nullification of the over 319,000 votes is not only an injustice but a violation of the Constitution,” the statement read.