The Supreme Court dismissed the petition filed by a number of individuals questioning the legality of the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) ruling in favor of the Duterte Youth Party-list.

In a resolution dated Nov. 3 and made public on Tuesday, the court resolved “to dismiss the petition for failure to sufficiently show that the Commission on Elections committed grave abuse of discretion in rendering the challenged minute resolutions which, on the contrary, appear to be in accord with the acts and applicable law and jurisprudence.”

The petition against the party-list had been filed by individuals — Aunell Ross Angcos, Raainah Punzalan, Reeya Beatrice Magtalas, Raoul Danniel A. Manuell, and Abigail Aleli Tan.

In October, the Comelec, in a 4-1 vote, granted the organization a certificate of proclamation which entitled its nominee, Ducielle Cardema, to sit in the lower house as a representative for the group.

Ducielle replaced her husband and the party-list’s first nominee, former National Youth Commission chairperson Ronald Cardema.

In August 2019, the Comelec’s First Division canceled Ronald’s nomination, saying he is not qualified to be a party-list nominee of the youth sector.

Under Sec. 9 of Republic Act No. 7941 or the Party-List System Act, a candidate who is more than 30 years old on Election Day is not qualified to be a party-list nominee of the youth sector.

Cardema has admitted that he is already 34 years old. (PNA)