House Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers Partylist Rep. France Castro and ACT Teachers Partylist Rep.-elect Antonio Tinio welcomed the Commission on Elections Second Division’s decision to cancel the registration of Duterte Youth Party-list, urging the Comelec en banc to uphold the ruling so that deserving party-list groups can be proclaimed before June 30.
The Comelec Second Division voted 2-1 to cancel Duterte Youth’s registration following a 2019 case filed by youth leaders who alleged that the party-list’s registration was approved without proper proceedings mandated by the Party-list System Act.
“We welcome this long-overdue decision by the Comelec Second Division. The Duterte Youth party-list was never formed to uphold the genuine interests of Filipino youth – it was established as a red-tagging organization designed to benefit the Duterte family and their political machinery,” Rep. Castro stated.
“Ang Duterte Youth ay hindi tunay na kinatawan ng kabataan. Ginawa lamang ito upang palakasin ang pampulitikang makinarya ng pamilyang Duterte at gawing sandata laban sa mga progresibong organisasyon ng kabataan,” she added.
Rep.-elect Tinio emphasized the importance of upholding the decision at the en banc level to ensure genuine representation in the party-list system.
“We urge the Comelec en banc to uphold this decision so that truly deserving party-list groups like Gabriela Women’s Party can be proclaimed before June 30 and hit the ground running in serving their constituents,” Tinio said.
“Kailangan nating siguraduhin na ang party-list system ay maglilingkod sa tunay na interes ng mga sektor na dapat nitong kinatawan, hindi sa mga pampulitikang pamilya na gumagamit nito para sa kanilang sariling kapakanan,” he concluded. #
