Comelec to tackle Duterte Youth seats

Comelec on Friday said discussions on who will take over the three congressional seats won by the embattled party-list group Duterte Youth will be held this week.

In an ambush interview, Comelec chairperson George Garcia said the commission en banc will meet on Thursday to decide who will be proclaimed.

He clarified, however, that Comelec will not yet enforce the cancellation of Duterte Youth’s registration pending the final decision of the Supreme Court.

“We will not act yet on the implementation of the decision because there is what we call a period of finality,” Garcia explained.

In the last elections, the Gabriela party-list ranked 55th. It lauded Comelec’s decision affirming the cancellation of Duterte Youth’s registration, describing it as an “initial victory” for groups opposing the abuse of the party-list system.

Comelec on Friday canceled the registration of the Duterte Youth party-list, voting 5-1-1. Comelec said there is no prescriptive period in the cancellation of the registration of party-list organizations.

The group’s proclamation was suspended in May, along with Bagong Henerasyon. While the suspension remained for Duterte Youth, Bagong Henerasyon was later proclaimed in June.