SEVERAL youth groups vowed to challenge before the Supreme Court the proclamation of Ducielle Cardema as the representative for the Duterte Youth Partylist.

In a joint statement, youth organizations led by the Youth Act Now Against Tyranny, student councils, and campus publications called the impending proclamation unconstitutional and an “absolute mockery of the country’s partylist system.”

“We, the real Filipino youth, are outraged by the nearing proclamation of Ducielle Cardema as representative of the Duterte Youth Partylist, a move which will legitimize a bogus youth partylist,” they said.

“Duterte Youth is unregistered, with several pending cases, per the Omnibus Election Code. Under this law, the partylist should have never been included in the 2019 ballots for failure to meet the minimum requirements of publication. This makes the proclamation of Duterte Youth both illegal and unconstitutional,” they added.

The groups claimed that Duterte Youth is not a real partylist with a clear constituency.

“By its name alone, Duterte Youth shows it does not serve the Filipino Youth. It is mostly led by non-youth individuals and is nothing but a cheap, lying and willing puppet of a regime that has lost the confidence and support of the Filipino youth,” the groups stressed.

The Commission on Elections confirmed that it issued a certificate of proclamation to Cardema two weeks ago.

In the 2019 elections, Duterte Youth won one seat in Congress but it has yet to have a representative at the House of Representatives because the Comelec disqualified its first nominee, Ronald Cardema, for being overaged.

The POST tried to get the side of Cardema several times but he has yet to reply as of posting time.