Cardema as sudden Duterte Youth nominee? 'Period has lapsed,' Comelec says

MANILA, Philippines — National Youth Commission chairperson Ronald Cardema can no longer substitute as a nominee for his Duterte Youth party-list, the Commission on Elections said in a press briefing Friday.

"We have published rules for that, and the period for substition has already lapsed," Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said.

Under Section 18 of Comelec Resolution No. 3307-A:

"A party-list nominee may be substituted only when he dies, or his nomination is withdrawn by the party, or he becomes incapacitated to continue as such, or he withdraws his acceptance to the nomination...

No substitution shall be allowed by reason of withdrawal after the close of polls."

In a post on Thursday evening, Kabataan party-list said Cardema was pushing for his late placement as a party-list nominee. Duterte Youth, which Cardema heads, has his wife and another relative among its nominees.

"NYC Chair Cardema filed today an application for substitution of nominee for Duterte Youth Partylist, replacing his wife, Ducielle Marie Suarez Cardema," Rep. Sarah Elago said.

"Comelec should dismiss this petition outright. It is disallowed under the rules, and is an obvious circumvention of the law."

Philstar.com reached out to Cardema for comment on Thursday night but he has not responded as of this post.

Youth Act Now Against Tyranny likewise condemned the supposed filing, saying Cardema did not only "provide campaign machinery for Duterte-endorsed senatoriables and bogus party-lists, but also... systematically villified and campaigned against progressive candidates and genuine party-lists."

"The Filipino youth refuses to accept Duterte Youth as its representative in Congress. This party-list, whose mostly adult members are required to pledge allegiance to Rodrigo and Sara Duterte, will obediently say 'yes' to reviving mandatory [Reserve Officers Training Corps training], lowering the minimum age of criminal responsibility, continuing the fake war on drugs, approving charter change and death penalty, and further extending martial law in Mindanao," the group said.

'Not the first time'

While the Comelec resolution prohibits filing for substitution after the elections—the midterm polls were held on Monday—Jimenez said that this would not the first time that it has been done.

"Not by a long shot. People do that all the time," Jimenez said.

He said the Comelec has received Cardema's application but that he had not read it himself.

"I think so, but we will verify... the day it was received. We'll see, we'll see what happens. I have not seen it myself."

Even if Cardema's supposed application is accepted, he will be placed as the last nominee of Duterte Youth party-list, under the Comelec resolution and the Party-list System Act.

Gregorio Larrazabal, a former Comelec commissioner, agreed, saying the party-list cannot replace just one nominee. 

"Meaning, if the first nominee resigns, it’s the second who takes over the first spot, third becomes second, etcetera. The new entering nominee starts at the bottom...  at No.5," he said.

You cannot replace just one nominee.  Meaning, if the 1st nominee resigns, it’s the 2nd who takes over the 1st spot, 3rd becomes 2nd, etc.
The new entering nominee starts at the bottom..  at no. 5.@radyocomelec @COMELEC @jabjimenez #AskGoyo https://t.co/yIyHKGlb70

— Gregorio Larrazabal® ???????? (@GoyYLarrazabal) May 16, 2019

Although voters choose party-lists as sectoral representatives, it is up to the party-list who it will field as its nominees.

Cardema's crusade against 'radical Leftists'

Cardema, as head of the NYC, frequently issued press releases against activist youth groups that he claimed were New People's Army supporters.

He did not name the groups, but said in February that the government should revoke the scholarships of "all anti-government scholars, specifically those students who are allied with the leftist [Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army-National Democratic Front]."

The proposal earned him rebuke from some senators and a warning from Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra that "with all due respect, such proposal, if adopted, would effectively restrain the youth’s constitutional right to freedom of speech and expression."

READ: Youth commission chair 'corrects' own statement on 'anti-government' scholars

In a May 12 press release sent through his NYC email account, Cardema, who attended the Philippine Military Academy and later joined an activist groups, said "NPA Youth Cadres" should "prepare for Duterte Youth in Congress."

"If you are ready to die for the idea of an armed rebellion, prepare to be neutralized because Duterte Youth Party-list Leaders are also ready to die for what they believe in, they will strengthen this country and inspire the millions of Filipino youth towards nation-building and in the spread of a strong sense of nationalism," he said.

He said in the long-winded statement that "as national chairman also of the Duterte Youth, I will direct them in Congress to restore the death penalty for heinous crimes, for rapists, for NPA rebels and terrorists." 

He also said that the Duterte Youth will push for mandatory military training in tertiary and secondary educations "and make Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts mandatory in elementary schools and just like in powerful neighboring countries like Singapore, South Korea, China, and Japan, these millions of youthful citizens in our country will be mobilized for disaster response in preparation for the many typhoons and earthquakes that besiege our country."

"We will give all the Sangguniang Kabataan leaders honorariums and military ranks in the [Armed Forces of the Philippines] Reserve Force. We give awards to nationalistic youth organizations and we will jumpstart the use of citizen's arrest in every barangay, town and province of the country for vandalizers, 'manyaks' and rapists, criminals, drug addicts, and NPAs/Terrorists."

He said "radical leftists" should "prepare for us because we are also radical rightists." — with Jonathan de Santos