2. Petition to Deny Due Course or Cancel Certificate of Nomination of Party-List Nominees (CR 9366, Rule 5)

Petition to Deny Due Course or Cancel Certificate of Nomination of Party-List Nominees

Concept

This is the remedy directed at a party-list nominee’s certificate of nomination. It concerns the nominee, not necessarily the registration of the party-list organization that submitted the nominee list. COMELEC administers election laws and decides questions affecting elections. (COMELEC Resolution No. 9366, Rule 5) (Art. IX-C, Sec. 2, 1987 Const.)¹

Governing provisions

Rule 5 of COMELEC Resolution No. 9366 governs the petition. The Party-List System Act supplies the requirements for party-list nominees and the rules on submission of nominee lists. Do not automatically apply the filing period for a petition to cancel an ordinary certificate of candidacy: that is a distinct remedy under Section 78 of the Omnibus Election Code. (COMELEC Resolution No. 9366, Rule 5) (Republic Act No. 7941, Sections 8–9) (Batas Pambansa Blg. 881, Section 78)

Requisites / Rules

• A party-list nominee must be a natural-born Filipino citizen, a registered voter, a resident of the Philippines for at least one year immediately preceding election day, able to read and write, a bona fide member of the nominating party or organization for at least 90 days preceding election day, and at least 25 years old on election day. A youth-sector nominee must be at least 25 but not more than 30 years old on election day. (Republic Act No. 7941, Section 9)
• A participating party-list group submits a list of at least five nominees within the period fixed by the Party-List System Act. Substitution of a nominee is limited by that Act; it is not an unrestricted opportunity to revise the list. (Republic Act No. 7941, Section 8) (Rivera v. COMELEC, G.R. No. 210273, 19 April 2016)²
• COMELEC election cases are heard and decided in division; motions for reconsideration of division decisions are decided by COMELEC en banc. (Art. IX-C, Sec. 3, 1987 Const.)³

Distinctions

A challenge to a nominee’s certificate is different from a petition to cancel the party-list organization’s registration. The nature of the action, rather than its incidental effect on a sitting House member, determines jurisdiction over a registration-cancellation case. It is also different from a Section 78 petition attacking a candidate’s certificate of candidacy for a false material representation. (An Waray Party-List v. COMELEC, G.R. No. 268546, 6 August 2024)⁴ (Batas Pambansa Blg. 881, Section 78)

Key doctrines

In a dispute over a party-list nomination, the authority of the person acting for the organization may be decisive. Internal party rules and procedures deserve respect, but COMELEC may investigate an intra-party dispute; in Sakahan, a person who misrepresented his authority as national chairperson could not validly put forward his nominee. (Sakahan v. Commission on Elections and Soliman Villamin, G.R. No. 262975, 21 May 2024)⁵

Bar tip

Identify what is being attacked: the nominee’s certificate, the organization’s registration, or an ordinary candidate’s certificate of candidacy. The choice determines the governing rules and avoids importing Section 78’s deadline into a nominee-certificate problem. (COMELEC Resolution No. 9366, Rule 5) (An Waray Party-List v. COMELEC)⁴ (Batas Pambansa Blg. 881, Section 78)