A MOTION for reconsideration (MR) has been filed at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) appealing the decision of its First Division to dismiss the disqualification complaint against the Bagong Henerasyon (BH) party-list group.
Comelec chairman George Garcia, in an interview, said petitioner, Russel Geronimo, has asked the poll body to reconsider and reverse the ruling of the Comelec First Division.
The move further delays the proclamation of BH as a winning group in the May 12 party-list race.
“An MR has been filed (against BH). So we will immediately raffle this to a ponente so that we can evaluate what the petitioner is saying in his MR,” Garcia said.
The Comelec First Division last Friday dismissed the petition to disqualify the BH party-list group in the May 12 polls, citing the failure of the petitioner to comply with mandatory requirements, such as his failure to furnish a copy of the petition to the respondent through personal service, his failure to attach a copy of the group’s certificate of nomination-certificate of acceptance of nomination (CON-CAN).
Garcia said it is still uncertain when the BH party-list, which is entitled to one seat after getting 319,803 votes in the last elections, will be proclaimed.
“Their proclamation is still unsure because we don’t know yet if the MR filed has merit,” he said, adding that it is also possible for the Commission en banc to overlook the issue on technicalities.
“It was dismissed on technicality, but the Commission may also decide based on the actual merits of the case,” Garcia said.
In the petition filed last May 14, BH party-list was accused of abusing state resources after it allegedly put up a campaign material in a barangay hall, wherein the barangay chairman is one of the party-list nominees.
In relation to the case of the Duterte Youth party-list group, Garcia said the petitions pending against the group is “complicated” and more difficult to resolve compared to the case of the BH party-list.
“The issues with Duterte Youth consider a lot of aspects. Why was the party-list allowed to run in 2019, 2022, and 2025? They said this also goes into the very heart on the issue of accreditation,” Garcia said.
In 2019, a petition was filed against Duterte Youth for allegedly failing to meet the publication requirements for party-list groups and their nominees.
Prior to the 2025 polls, Duterte Youth was also accused of violating the Comelec’s policy against red-tagging, bullying, and harassment.
“These cases were looked into by the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC), and prompted it to suspend their proclamation,” said Comelec spokesman John Rex Laudiangco in a televised public briefing.
The proclamation of Duterte Youth was suspended by the NBOC despite getting 2,338,564 votes in the May 12 polls, and thus, entitling it to three seats in the House of Representatives.
Garcia said he has been informed that the cases against Duterte Youth is close to being resolved by the Comelec Second Division.
“As far as I know, they already have a resolution on the matter. Let’s just wait for the decision… It’s just going through the process,” he said, as he assured the group and the public that the case is being prioritized considering that it has been pending for years.
“All the Comelec wants is to dispose this case. We want this over and done with so that we’ll finally know the fate of this party-list,” he said.
