Duterte Youth continues red-tagging as they demand proclamation

The Duterte Youth partylist, which garnered the second-highest number of votes in the 2025 midterm elections, criticized the Commission on Elections for allegedly stalling their proclamation over what they described as “hao-shao” or baseless charges.

In a press conference in Quezon City, Duterte Youth Chairman Ronald Cardema slammed the Comelec for what he called “unequal treatment,” pointing out that other party-lists with pending cases were already proclaimed.

"Their cases are more serious because they were named, while the charges against us are baseless. So why do they have proclamations, and we don’t?” Cardema said.

At least two complaints were filed against the party-list, including a 2019 petition questioning Cardema’s age — which was above the 30-year-old cap for youth sector nominees. More recently, various student leaders from the University of the Philippines and the Polytechnic University of the Philippines accused Cardema of violating election rules for branding critics as terrorists.

"The group that filed the case against us, Kabataan Partylist, also has a pending case filed by the Republic of the Philippines, which cites their slain members as NPAs — so why were they proclaimed, and why is a baseless case against us being treated more seriously than one filed by the Republic itself?,” Cardema added, accusing Comelec of selectively recognizing winners.

Last Tuesday, Duterte Youth filed a petition for certiorari before the Supreme Court, seeking a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the Comelec’s National Board of Canvassers (NBOC) for withholding their proclamation.

Comelec Chairman George Garcia said that they are aiming to resolve cases involving Bagong Henerasyon (BH) Partylist and Duterte Youth Partylist.

Despite the dismissal of the disqualification of the BH partylist, Garcia said that there is no date on its proclamation yet.

Atty. Ferdinand Topacio, counsel for Duterte Youth, said they are expecting the Supreme Court to issue a mandatory injunction before 30 June.

"They should resolve it. If the Comelec withholds the declaration after 30 June, that would be a serious violation of duty." Topacio warned.