MANILA – A Commission on Elections (Comelec) commissioner clarified that the substitution bid of former National Youth Commission chairman Ronald Cardema as first nominee and representative of Duterte Youth party-list has yet to be approved.
Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon in a social media post on Tuesday evening said only the application for substitution of Cardema was given due course by the poll body.
“Not the substitution but his application for substitution was given due course. His substitution is not yet granted because there is a pending petition or opposition,” Guanzon wrote on her Twitter account.
The Bacolod City native Comelec official added that among the petition or opposition against Cardema was him being over 30 years old and cannot be a representative of a youth sector party-list.
Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said on early Tuesday that the poll body has issued a resolution giving due course to Cardema’s substitution bid along with four other nominees.
Comelec Chairman Sheriff Abas, Al Parreño, Marlon Casquejo, Socorro Inting, and Antonio Kho, Jr. voted in favor of the giving of due course, Guanzon dissented, while commissioner Luie Tito Guia abstained.
The Comelec granted the withdrawals of Cardema’s wife, Ducielle Marie Suarez; Joseph De Guzman, Benilda De Guzman, Arnaldo Villafranca, and Elizabeth Anne Cardema and gave due course to the nomination of the former NYC chair, Gian Carlo Galang, Catherine Santos, Kerwin Pagaran, and Sharah Shane Makabali as substitutes.
The nomination of Allan Kevin Payawal was denied because there were only five original nominees.
The Comelec has also directed the Duterte Youth party-list to publish its revised list of nominees in two newspapers of general nationwide circulation, shoulder the expense, and submit proof of publication./PN
