MANILA - Party-list organizations may still substitute their nominees even after May 9 but it has to be approved by the Commission on Elections, a commissioner said Thursday.

This, after former commissioner Rowena Guanzon traded barbs with Duterte Youth Party-list Rep. Marie Cardema over the former's supposed substitution for the Pamilya, Pasyente, at Persons with Disabilities (P3PWD) party-list.

• Comelec to 'enforce letter of law' on party-list substitution: spox
• Comelec yet to receive substitution docs for P3PWD party-list

"Legally there is a way in which a party-list organization can change their nominees and that is if all the nominees for example will withdraw or, well, will die and therefore the party-list will substitute all the nominees," Comelec commissioner George Garcia told ANC's Headstart.

"Theres a caveat. Whatever changes that may happen in the party-list, it will have to be approved the commssion en banc. We’ll still call for a hearing and it will be subject to our discretion."

• Duterte Youth set to occupy House seat after final Comelec nod

There is "no deadline" to substitution, Garcia said.

"According to Cibac vs Comelec, the party-list always has that discretion to change it anytime. In fact there was one instance before where they removed a nominee and the HOR recognized that part new nominee even without altering that nominee in the Comelec," he said.

"However, being the repository of these records, we still have the discretion whether to approve or grant such change. Technically yes everything can happen even after Nov. 15, even after May 9, 2022...It will be unfortunate naman if the party-list will not have any nominees."

Watch more News on iWantTFC