Ronald Cardema

Ronald Gian Carlo Lapitan Cardema (born April 12, 1985) is a Filipino government official who serves as the chairman of the National Youth Commission (NYC) of the Philippines.

As a military youth leader, Assistant Secretary Ronald Cardema served as the high school corps commander of Maquiling School in Los Baños, Laguna, as ROTC class president in the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) ROTC unit, and as the UP Centennial ROTC corps commander in the University of the Philippines Diliman during the 100th year of the state university.

He also served as high school class president, was a member of the University Student Council (USC) Volunteer Corps, and was the champion in the YMCA National Quiz Bee Competition in Baguio City, where he won out of 76 contestants from all over the Philippines, and served as supreme commander (president) of the UP Vanguard Fraternity, the more than 100-year old military cadet fraternity of the University of the Philippines.

He served as a political affairs officer in the Philippine House of Representatives and also as a political consultant to 17 Members of the Philippine Congress. He was also appointed consultant in the National Security Council and in the Office of the President (OP). He is the national chairman of the Duterte Youth Movement and is also the secretary-general for Luzon of the Tapang & Malasakit Alliance (Alliance of all Duterte Groups & Supporters under Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte).

He is a military reservist under the National Capital Region-Regional Community Defense Group (NCR-RCDG), Army Reserve Command (ARESCOM), Philippine Army. He was awarded a plaque of recognition by the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in 2016 for helping the military organization lobby for the return of the Mandatory ROTC Program and for recruiting many Members of the Philippine Congress to the AFP Reserve Force.

He strongly supports the call of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte for the return of the mandatory ROTC program or military conscription for the millions of Filipino youth to boost the strength of the AFP Reserve Force and in preparation for the many typhoons, earthquakes, and other national emergencies in this disaster-prone country.

Career
Cardema is known for his ardent support of President Rodrigo Duterte. He founded the Duterte Youth in 2016 to support the Duterte's presidential campaign.

First National Youth Commission stint
Cardema was appointed as chairman of the National Youth Commission by President Rodrigo Duterte on August 23, 2018. He resigned in May 2019 to vie for a seat in the House of Representatives.

Substitution
In 2019, the Duterte Youth itself vied for party-list representation in the House of Representatives. It won a seat in the 2019 elections. Their five official nominees were as follows from 1st to 5th: (Ducielle Marie Suarez, Joseph de Guzman, Benilda de Guzman, Arnaldo Villafranca, and Elizabeth Anne Cardema). However, all five nominees withdrew and Ronald Cardema hemslef who was also National Youth Commission chairman at the time filed a substitution in a bid to fill in the seat himself. In relation to Cardema's bid, factors whether he filed substitution in time before polls closed on May 13 and whether he is qualified to represent the Duterte Youth in the House of Representatives were put into dispute.

Six of the seven members of the Comelec decided to give "due course" or deliberate further on Cardema's bid and four others accepted the withdrawal of Duterte Youth's five initial nominees. Only Election Commissioner Rowena Guanzon expressed dissent who argued that the three original nominees of ages 31 to 36, and also Cardema who is 34 years old, are not eligible to represent the party-list as a representative of the youth sector as per Section 9 of the Republic Act No. 7941 given that nominees should be aged 25 to 30 on election day. The commissioner also views the filing of the withdrawal of the original nominees at 5:30pm on May 12, 2019, a Sunday, as invalid since its contrary to Resolution No. 8665 which states that filing should be done on a regular working day during office hours. Cardema defended his eligibility insisting that the party while it represents the youth, also represents professionals in general as well.

Cardema's bid was criticized by Senator Panfilo Lacson who said that the Duterte Youth partylist and its leader "are one of the many reasons" that the party-list representation system has become a "joke".

Disqualification
On August 5, 2019, the first division of the Commission on Elections (Philippines) (COMELEC) canceled his nomination as the party-list representative of Duterte Youth by a vote of 2–0. The decision was concurred by commissioners Rowena Guanzon and Marlon Casquejo, while Commissioner Al Parreño was away on official businesses. The cancellation stemmed from Cardema's claim that he was eligible for nomination on his Certificate of Acceptance and Nomination, which the COMELEC deemed "material misrepresentation" because of the 25- to 30-year-old age requirement as set out by the Party List Law. A certificate of the proclamation will not be issued to Cardema and he shall not be able to seat in the House of Representatives of the Philippines. The COMELEC also disagreed with Cardema's claim that the organization represented professionals, stating, "“Records would show that the Respondent started to highlight the professionals only after the filing of a petition against him questioning his eligibility to represent the youth sector. Pursuing such afterthought would not be enough to comply with the express mandate of Party-list law which requires changes in affiliation should be done at least six months before the election to be eligible for nomination.”

On February 12, 2020, the COMELEC in a ruling ruled with finality the disqualification of Ronald Cardema's nomination of the party-list group, Duterte Youth. The ruling that junks the motion for reconsideration (MR) filed by Cardema, noted that Cardema's own filling of his withdrawal as the first nominee being ineligible to sit as a youth sector representative tantamounts to "acceptance of the ruling".

On October 13, 2020, the COMELEC granted Duterte Youth partylist nominee, Ducielle Marie Suárez, who is also Cardema's wife, a certificate of proclamation.

Second National Youth Commission stint
Cardema returned to National Youth Commission when he was appointed as commissioner by President Duterte in August 2020 after his failed bid to fill Duterte Youth's seat. He was appointed as NYC chairman once again on January 17, 2022, succeeding Ryan Enriquez.

In September 2022, Congress Representative Raoul Manuel called on Cardema to resign as National Youth Commission chair over allegations of corruption and misappropriation of funds at the commission.

General stance against Communists and other leftists
In the early part of Duterte's presidency in 2016 when the leader was still friendly with Communist rebels and had leftist appointees to his Cabinet, Cardema reached out to the Communist Party of the Philippines for possible project cooperation with the Duterte Youth, including the creation of a paramilitary group. However he later became anti-communist and "losing faith with the CPP" after the Pandi housing project occupation and continued rebel offensives despite government peace negotiations.

Antonio Parlade Jr. of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) considers Cardema as a credible critic of the Makabayan bloc of the House of Representatives.

Cardema in 2019 advocated the revocation of government scholarships for students that have links to the Communist Party of the Philippines, New People's Army, and the National Democratic Front.

Mandatory military service
Cardema is an advocate of reviving the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program as a mandatory military service for Filipino college students. He believes that the program promotes "nationalism, discipline, and preparedness among young Filipinos that can easily be tapped by the government to help the country in times of need". He likewise advocates for Citizens Army Training (CAT) for high schoolers and scouting for elementary schoolers.

Personal life
He is the son of Ronald Cardema and Luz Lapitan. Cardema is married to Ducielle Suarez.