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MANILA, Philippines — Duterte Youth Chairperson Ronald Cardema repeatedly and falsely claimed that Kabataan Party-list was among the complainants who filed the disqualification petition before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) against his party-list in 2019.
In a statement on May 22, the Duterte Youth said, “Yung mismong nagfile samin ng kaso noong 2019, Kabataan PL at Gabriela PL, ay finile-an rin mismo ng disqualification at cancelation of registration sa Comelec.”
(The very groups that filed a case against us in 2019, Kabataan PL and Gabriela PL, were also themselves filed with disqualification and cancellation of registration cases before the Comelec.)
Duterte Youth also wrongly attributed the suspension of its 2019 proclamation to a disqualification petition filed by members of Kabataan Party-list.
“Sabi ng Comelec kasi pending pa ‘yung kaso ng mga Kabataan Party-list Members against us since 2019 kaya i-hold daw muna tayo,” the May 21 statement read.
(Comelec said our proclamation had to be put on hold because the case filed against us by Kabataan Party-list members in 2019 was still pending.)
Even before Duterte Youth elevated the case to the Supreme Court through a petition for certiorari, Cardema wrongly claimed Kabataan Party-list filed the initial disqualification case, arguing the group committed material misrepresentation.
Rating: This is false.
Facts
Duterte Youth is facing two disqualification petitions: one filed in 2019 and another in May 2025.
The 2019 case was filed by four private individuals — Reeya Beatrice Magtalas, Abigail Aleli Tan, Raainah Punzalan and Aunell Ross Angcos. They were represented by legal counsel Emil Marañon III.
The petition, the first to seek Duterte Youth’s disqualification, stemmed from the withdrawal of all five party-list nominees following their victory in the 2019 midterm elections.
After the withdrawals, Cardema attempted to substitute himself as the first nominee. However, he had already exceeded the 30-year age limit to represent the youth sector, resulting in his disqualification in August 2019 for material misrepresentation.
According to the Party-List System Act, a nominee of the youth sector must be 25 to 30 years old on the day of the election. Cardema was already 34 years old in 2019.
Cardema filed a motion for reconsideration despite not meeting the qualifications. Comelec’s decision was later upheld again in 2020, denying the motion.
The five private individuals also did not file the petition on behalf of any organization, and their May 15 motion asking Comelec to suspend Duterte Youth’s proclamation was not associated with Kabataan Party-list.
Meanwhile, the second disqualification petition was filed on May 8 by incumbent student regents from the University of the Philippines and the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, including the Youth Alliance for Climate Action Philippines (YACAP).
They argue that Duterte Youth violated election laws through widespread red-tagging of critics and student activists. The Comelec, however, only recognized this as a violation of the safe spaces resolution it issued during the 2025 midterm elections.
Why we fact-checked this
Duterte Youth has been dismissing the 2019 petition filed against them by diverting attention to Kabataan Party-list and other Makabayan bloc groups, calling out their red-tagging.
It also raised concern over the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict's (NTF-ELCAC) petition to cancel Kabataan Party-list's registration in 2021, which the party-list said remains unresolved due to "procedural and substantive flaws."
The task force, especially during the Duterte administration, has persistently labeled critics as members of subversive groups like the New People's Army and Communist Party of the Philippines.
The party-list, which was formed to support former President Rodrigo Duterte in 2016, was among the top-voted groups in the 2025 midterm polls.
It placed second with over 2.3 million votes, potentially securing three seats in the 20th Congress. However, the poll body heeded the recommendation of its supervisory committee to suspend its proclamation due to the two cases pending resolution.
Duterte Youth has also been criticized for only attending House hearings when they involve the Duterte family. It is also in favor of reinstating the death penalty.
