By JIAN ZHARESE JOEIS SANZ

MANILA – Youth groups reiterated the demand for the disqualification of Duterte Youth in a protest action, March 25.

Youth coalition Kabataan Tayo ang Pag-Asa filed an urgent motion before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) aimed to resolve the 2019 petition seeking to nullify Duterte Youth’s registration as a party-list candidate. 

In an interview with Bulatlat, one of the original petitioners, Aunell Ross Angcos, cited their justifications behind the call for Duterte Youth’s cancellation. “First, material misrepresentation. What they did was, under oath, they declared that Ronald Cardema was the representative of the youth party-list. However, it was proven through the Comelec ruling that he was not eligible to hold the position. “

“Second, they did not publish their list of nominees, which is one of the requirements to be considered an official and legitimate party-list running in the 2019 elections,” Angcos further explained. 

It can be recalled that in 2019, a petition was filed to nullify the partylist’s registration and disqualify Cardema from representing the partylist. Though the Comelec disqualified the then-first nominee Cardema who was then already more than 30 years old, the call for Duterte Youth’s nullification has remained unresolved for five years and six months.  

The grounds for Duterte Youth’s cancellation as per the petition included false representations from  four out of five of its nominees; support for the unlawful and violent war on drugs of former president Rodrigo Duterte; and the partylist’s bogus representation of the youth sector. 

The Duterte Youth partylist was also one of the 86 out of 156 partylists falsely representing marginalized sectors as shown by a report from Kontra Daya. 

Sofia Trinidad, president of the National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP), and national co-convenor of Kabataan Tayo ang Pag-Asa, blamed disinformation as for the three-percent increase voter’s preference for the Duterte Youth partylist, as reflected in Tangere’s recent survey. 

KTAP National Convenor Brell Lacerna echoed the same sentiment, emphasizing that allowing bogus party-lists like Duterte Youth to participate in the 2025 midterm elections undermines the integrity of the electoral process.  

“The existence of Duterte Youth will only further deceive and exploit the youth, serving as a blatant disregard for our country’s respected electoral system,” Lacerna stated.

For Lloyd Manango, national chairperson of League of Filipino Students (LFS), the youth aims to vote for a partylist who would genuinely represent the calls for authentic free education.  “So, when young people choose a party-list, they should look at its uncompromising stance on the right to education—specifically, genuinely free education.” 

He also added the importance of seeking a progressive partylist. “And of course, there must be militancy in youth representation. We know that the youth is one of the underrepresented and marginalized groups in society. So, we cannot have a party-list where youth representation is merely submissive or unable to stand firm in a space like Congress, which is usually dominated by pro-administration lawmakers.”

Angcos stressed that the youth’s votes should go to party-lists that genuinely represent the youth sector. (AMU, RVO)