THE camp of the Duterte Youth Party-list has gone to the COMELEC to block and oppose the intention of the P3PWD Party-list to participate in the 2025 Midterm Elections after it filed a “Manifestation of Intent to Participate” (MIP).
According to the Duterte Youth camp, P3PWD violated the COMELEC rules by not following the deadline for the submission and publication of the MIP.
P3PWD is led by former COMELEC Commissioner Rowena Guanzon.
The camp insists that, aside from the communists, P3PWD considers those who do not follow the law as enemies.
“You know, she was once a COMELEC Commissioner. They are the ones who set deadlines, right? So, as a former commissioner of the COMELEC, you know how strict the commission is about deadlines, right? Why wouldn’t you comply? The deadline to be eligible to participate in the 2025 elections was December 29, 2023. If you want to participate in the election, you need to submit a manifestation of intent to participate, or MIP. They didn’t submit by the deadline on December 29, even though many others did. They can’t say they didn’t know or use any other excuse. So, they didn’t submit. Did they submit on the first working day or the first working week of January? No, they didn’t. It took them almost two weeks to submit,” according to Ronald Cardema, Chairman, Duterte Youth PL
The camp also insisted that P3PWD also failed to comply the order of the COMELEC regarding the publication of the MIP.
“The COMELEC, being kind, gave leeway in May, instructing you, P3PWD, to publish your MIP. So, the COMELEC ordered to publish the MIP, including the order they’re supposed to publish, but former Commissioner Guanzon didn’t publish it either,” Cardema added.
It can be recalled that there was a confrontation between Duterte Youth and Guanzon, where the camp questioned the delayed substitution made by the latter in the previous election.
“This has become a pattern for Commissioner Guanzon, being a former commissioner of COMELEC, she thinks she doesn’t need to follow COMELEC’s rules anymore, and she is above the law, exempted from its application. This kind of practice by Commissioner Guanzon should be stopped. She also did this with the substitution of party-lists, which is now under litigation in the Supreme Court where we also questioned her failure to adhere to COMELEC’s regulations,” Atty. Ferdinand Topacio, Legal Counsel stated.
Meanwhile, a Multiparty Democracy Summit was held at the headquarters of the Comelec in Intramuros, Manila, in preparation for the first-ever parliamentary election in BARMM in 2025.
This was attended by around 9 political parties interested in participating in the elections.
They received an orientation on the COMELEC’s rules for the elections, where one of the commission’s calls was for a peaceful election.
“Hopefully, they will just fulfill their duties and avoid being defiant to our regulations, steering clear of traditional irregularities like vote buying, what we call terrorism violations, and the intimidation or coercion of our fellow citizens. Perhaps the people of Bangsamoro deserve peace and fair elections so that, at least to some extent, once and for all, we can see that a fair and credible election in Bangsamoro is possible,” said Atty. George Garcia, Chairman, COMELEC.
The COMELEC issues a warning to those who will violate the elections.
“This is a stern warning. Do not test the patience and the limit of the patience of the Commission on Elections. We will never hesitate to use the full powers of Comelec under the constitution just to ensure no lives are sacrificed,” Garcia added.
Meanwhile, the COMELEC plans to extend the accreditation deadline for political parties interested in participating in the BARMM elections, which is currently set on June 7.
