MANILA – The Duterte Youth party-list once again nominated former youth commission chairperson Ronald Cardema in a new set of nominees submitted before the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
Cardema was listed as the first nominee in the Certificate of Nomination with his wife Ducielle Marie Suarez as second nominee followed by Guillermo Villareal Jr., Krizza Reyes and Robert Garcia.
Comelec earlier this week ruled against Cardema’s nomination due to overage required for the youth-based party-list.
Suarez was one of the Duterte Youth party-list’s original nominees during the campaign period until Cardema submitted his application as its nominee a day before the 2019 midterm elections.
Cardema earlier said his fellow nominees withdrew from the elections out of fear of left-leaning groups, which prompted him to petition for a substitute representative.
Meanwhile, Comelec commissioner Rowena Guanzon called for an investigation on Cardema’s oath in his certificate of nomination that said he was qualified to be a representative of the youth sector.
“Cardema has admitted during the hearings and in his documents that he is already 34 years old,” Guanzon said. “If the law department recommends that there is probable cause, the complaint would be submitted to the Comelec en banc for approval.”
“If the banc approves it, information will be filed against him for violating the Omnibus Election Code and it will proceed as a criminal offense in the court,” she added.
Under the Party-list System Act, a nominee of the youth sector must not be more than 30 years old on the day of the elections./PN
