Kontra Daya prods Comelec to resolve complaints against Cardema
by Leslie Ann AquinoPoll watchdog group Kontra Daya has called on the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) to already resolve the pending complaints against the Duterte Youth party-list of disqualified nominee Ronald Cardema.
“Now that the nation is free from the underhanded tactics of Cardema, the challenge remains for the Comelec to act on the pending complaints directed against the Duterte Youth party-list,” the group said in a statement.
To note, a “Petition to Cancel Party-List Registration and/or to Declare Nullity of its Registration” has also been filed versus Duterte Youth at the poll body.
Kontra Daya said the recent resolution of the Comelec en banc affirming the decision of its First Division declaring Cardema as ineligible as nominee of the Duterte Youth party-list showed that circumvention of the law is patently unacceptable.
Aside from circumvention of the party-list law regarding youth sector representation, the group said Duterte Youth has also been accused of misusing government funds during the 2019 election campaign.
“In utter disregard of House of Representatives rules, it even had the temerity to use the HOR logo in its tarpaulins as if it has already won. Cardema himself even used his position as the then chair of the National Youth Commission (NYC) to campaign for his party-list group as he engages in red-baiting the Makabayan bloc, particularly the Kabataan Partylist,” said Kontra Daya.
“There is reason therefore to call for the outright cancellation of the registration of Duterte Youth as a party-list group and consequently deny it a seat in the HOR,” it added.
Konyra Daya said the members of the HOR should not welcome a party-list group whose only specialization is “circumvention.”
Last February 5, the COMELEC ruled with finality the disqualification of Cardema as the first nominee of Duterte Youth after he was found to be overaged as a youth sector party-list representative, which requires its nominees to be between 25 to 30 years old.
Kontra Daya also urged the poll body to work with legislators in amending Republic Act No. 7941 or the Party-List System Law.
According to the group, there is a need to ensure that a new law will provide that incumbent officials and their relatives would be disqualified as nominees; members of political clans and big business would not coopt party-list groups either as financiers or as nominees themselves; losing party-list nominees would be included in the one-year ban in being appointed to government positions; and that nominees truly come from the marginalized and underrepresented, not from the rich and powerful.
“Amid various issues plaguing the country right now, party-list representation also needs to be addressed to ensure that the voice of the voiceless would be heard in Congress and beyond,” Kontra Daya said.