Electoral protest vs Kabataan party list junked

MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET) has dismissed an electoral protest against the Kabataan party-list over the results of the 2019 elections, in which Kabataan ranked 51st.

In a six-page decision dated March 18, the HRET said the protestant, You Against Corruption and Poverty (Yacap) party list, “has no legal standing” to file the poll protest against Kabataan.

“Considering that protestant Yacap party-list has no legal standing to file this election protest, the instant election protest is dismissed without further proceedings,” the HRET said in its decision.

The tribunal said a protest “can only be filed by the candidates who obtained the second or third highest number of votes.” Yacap party-list ranked 58th place.

—Julie M. Aurelio