Another case filed vs Cardema

MANILA, Philippines — Youth leaders have filed another criminal complaint against former National Youth Commission head Ronald Cardema for “material misrepresentation.”

The case against Cardema, whose bid to withdraw his nomination as Duterte Youth Partylist’s first nominee was recently accepted by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) en banc, was filed by youth leaders Abigail Aleli Tan of Youth Act Now Against Tyranny, Sean Angelo Thakur of UP Diliman University Student Council, and Michael Navarez of Millenials PH last November 26.

According to the youth leaders, Cardema and the partylist attempted to present themselves as representatives of the youth sector during the midterm elections last May.

The complaint, the youth leaders said, seeks to hold “a fake youth partylist that wishes to use public office for personal interest” accountable.

Cardema’s qualifications were questioned as he was already 34 years old during the midterm polls when the law states that a youth party-list representative should only be 30 years old on the day of the elections.

INQUIRER.net has reached out to Cardema for a comment but has yet to receive a response as of posting time.

The House of Representatives on Tuesday called on the Comelec to proclaim nominees of Duterte Youth and Senior Citizen party-list groups as winners in the midterm elections, citing disenfranchisement of voters.