On Tuesday, October 27, the Supreme Court was asked to nullify the proclamation of Ducielle Marie S. Cardena as representative of the Duterte Youth Party-List in Congress.
A petition was filed questioning the Commission on Elections’ issuance of the Duterte Youth party-list despite the legal challenges implying that they were allegedly not registered to join the 2019 elections seeking to disqualify Cardena. This is due to the group’s failure to comply with the publication requirements mandated by the Constitution, Party-List Act, and the poll body itself. Sufficient publication is important for this is equal to letting the public know that there is a party-list applying for registration and everyone will be given a chance to oppose if they have the grounds. Only then will the COMELEC have the power to register political parties.
Technically speaking, they are a non-existent party-list according to law for they did not made it pass the initial part of the registration and therefore should not have joined the 2019 elections. All votes garnered by the party-list will be spoiled if they failed to abide by the law, for no amount of vote should exempt one from complying with the law and the Constitution. This is the first time that a non-candidate has been proclaimed and according to election lawyers, this is the most “unconstitutional act” done by the COMELEC in its’ 80 year history.
Aside from the allegation that they are not a registered party-list, another issue found objectionable about this group is the series of substitutions that took place, because at the very last minute Ronald Cardena decided to substitute for his wife as the representative. Why did the COMELEC allow him to substitute a few hours before the election, when the people won’t have the opportunity to know who the real nominee is? Thus, this is another violation because the public has the right to know who the nominees are. However, the COMELEC then declared Ronald Cardena as ineligible for the position due to his age. But yet, another substitution took place and the party-list decided that all eligible nominees will resign in order for Ducielle Cardena to take the spot back as nominee number one. According to law, you can only do this 3 months before the elections. It is clear that so many rules have been violated and yet the COMELEC chose to look past these series of illegalities. Why were they being exempted? Why are the rules bent when this party-list is involved?
It seems to be forgotten that at the end of the day, we are governed by the rule of law. We should learn to respect the party-list system and the Constitution. How are we going to trust institutions like the COMELEC or the Supreme Court if they themselves neglect such violations of law? What we expect from the COMELEC and all the appointees is for them to respect the law and the Constitution but based on their current acts it seems as though they have fallen short from these expectations. It won’t be a surprise if some people lose their trust to the COMELEC if they won’t be able to correct these mishaps.
If such agency of high value and importance continues to tolerate such violations then the people won’t feel secured and the sense of confidentiality in the following elections. This administration continues to risk the people and the public’s trust. No one should be above the law. – Laramie Edralin/The Freehand Opinion
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