OSG backs Comelec on Guanzon party-list substitution

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections did not commit grave abuse of discretion when it allowed former Comelec commissioner Rowena Guanzon as a substitute nominee for a party-list group for persons with disabilities (PWDs), the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) said yesterday.

The OSG made the statement during oral arguments before the Supreme Court (SC) as it defended the Comelec resolutions approving the withdrawal and substitution of nominees of the P3PWD party-list in June 2022.

This is in answer to a petition filed by the Duterte Youth party-list in June 2022 questioning the validity of the substitution, saying the deadline was set by Comelec Resolution No. 9366 on Nov. 15, 2021.

Substitutions due to the death or incapacity of the original nominees would have been allowed until midday on election day on May 9, 2022, the group said.

Assistant Solicitor General Maria Victoria Sardillo-Salom argued that it is within the Comelec’s authority to fix the deadlines, periods or dates to ensure the accomplishment of pre-election activities.

The Comelec’s rules and resolutions are also not allowed to “override” the Party-list System Act, she added.

Lawyer Christian Robert Lim, who represents P3PWD, said the issue of substitution was resolved when the SC ruled that no grave abuse of discretion was committed by the Comelec in allowing Ducielle Cardema to replace her husband Ronald Cardema post-elections as the representative of the Duterte Youth in the 18th Congress.