Guanzon hits refiling of Cardema’s nomination as ‘mockery’ of Comelec

Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / RICHARD A. REYES

MANILA, Philippines — Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Rowena Guanzon on Thursday slammed the Duterte Youth party-list for again naming Ronald Cardema as its first nominee, calling such a move a “mockery” of the poll body.

On Tuesday, Duterte Youth filed its new set of nominees for its party-list group, designating Cardema anew as its first nominee despite Comelec’s decision to disqualify him.

“Ewan ko diyan sino ba mga abugado ng mga iyan. Pero alam niyo ‘yung mga ginagawa nilang ganyan, they are making a mockery of the commission, hindi na ‘yan masaya,” Guanzon said in an interview with dzMM.

“Kapag ginaganyan niyo na ‘yung Comelec, hindi na ‘yan nakakatuwa. Iyong mga abugado namin naiinis na eh,” she added.

Guanzon said that it would be better for Duterte Youth to accept the decision of Comelec’s First Division to reject Cardema’s nomination bid.

READ: Comelec cancels Cardema’s nomination bid for Duterte Youth

The Comelec official then explained that if Duterte Youth will insist on Cardema’s nomination and the poll body would still deny its petition, the matter may still be raised before the Supreme Court, which might take three years to resolve.

In that situation, Guanzon noted, Duterte Youth may not receive its certificate of proclamation from Comelec, which means that the party-list group may not also take its seat at the House of Representatives for as long as the case remains pending at the high court.

During Wednesday’s press briefing, Guanzon said that no certificate of proclamation will be given yet to Duterte Youth Party-list following the disqualification of Cardema.

READ: No certificate of proclamation to be given to Duterte Youth yet – Guanzon

She then disclosed that she and her family received threats after the Comelec released a decision on Cardema’s case.

Guanzon also dared Cardema to publicly deny that he was behind said threats.

READ: Guanzon dares Cardema to publicly deny being behind threats

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