MANILA, Philippines — The Duterte Youth Party-List has taken its fight to the Supreme Court, filing an urgent petition to overturn two Commission on Elections (Comelec) resolutions that cancelled its registration and barred it from taking a seat in the 20th Congress.

Duterte Youth brings Comelec cancelation battle to Supreme Court

The petition filed by the Calabia Law Office, challenges Comelec’s resolutions dated June 18 and Aug. 29, 2025. The poll body, siding with private petitioners, had canceled the party-list’s accreditation on grounds the group said were "procedurally flawed and unsupported by evidence."

The Duterte Youth, registered as the Duty to Energize the Republic Through the Enlightenment of the Youth Sectoral Party-List Organization, named Comelec and four individuals—Reeva Heatrice Magtalas, Abigail Aleli Tan, Razinah Punzaian, and Aunell Ross Angcos—as respondents. It is asking the Supreme Court to issue a Temporary Restraining Order, a Writ of Preliminary Injunction, or a Status Quo Ante Order to stop the enforcement of the cancellation while the case is pending.

In its petition, the group alleged Comelec committed “grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction,” arguing that the assailed resolutions were “contrary to law and jurisprudence” and effectively disenfranchised more than 2.3 million Filipinos who voted for them in the last elections. The petition also invoked the doctrine of laches, contending that the challenges raised against the group’s registration were filed too late and should have been barred.

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To underscore urgency, Duterte Youth filed a Motion for Special Raffle to ensure the immediate assignment of the case to a member of the Court. The group argued that without prompt judicial intervention, the issue may become moot once the new Congress convenes, causing “grave and irreparable injury” to both the organization and its constituents.

Lawyer Khristian Calabia, the group’s counsel, expressed confidence in their case.

“We are very confident po and we've filed the petition and all of our arguments are stated in our petition,” he told reporters after the filing. He clarified that the current action was distinct from a previous petition, which dealt only with the suspension of the proclamation of winning party-list groups, while this one directly assailed the cancelation of Duterte Youth’s registration.