Comelec: No cases vs. party-lists not representing marginalized

Metro Manila, Philippines - An election watchdog report that more than half of the party-list groups in the May elections do not represent the marginalized is speculative pending any disqualification case, the Commission on Elections said.

The group Kontra Daya has flagged 86 out of 155 party-list groups for their supposed connections to political clans, businesses, the police and military, as well as for cases of corruption, dubious advocacies, and inadequate information.

“Walang isa mang nag file ng petition to disqualify or disaccredit a party-list organization or political party dito sa amin. Wala rin pong nakafile na kahit isang petition laban sa isang nominee ng isang party-list,” Comelec Chairman George Garcia told NewsWatch Plus on Friday, Feb. 14.

[Translation: No petition has been filed to disqualify or disaccredit any party-list organization or political party with us. There is also not a single petition filed against any nominee of a party-list.]

“At this point, everything is speculative at wala pong [and there is no] hard and fast rule when it comes to evidentiary matter at acceptability as evidence to merit cancellation of accreditation,” he added.

Garcia said Comelec accredited only 43 new party-lists for the midterm elections out of more than 200 applicants. He said all complied with Article 6, Section 5 of the Constitution, which states that party-list representatives shall constitute “labor, peasant, urban poor, indigenous cultural communities, women, youth, and such other sectors as may be provided by law, except the religious sector.”

He said a 2013 Supreme Court ruling expanded the scope of party-list groups to include not just the poor and marginalized, but also underrepresented sectors. The ruling also allowed individuals outside these sectors to serve as representatives, as long as they have advocated for the sector. It is entirely up to the party-list to choose their representatives, Garcia added, quoting the high court.

“So kung ikaw ay lalaki pwede kang mag represent ng kababaihan, ikaw ay kabataan, pwede kang mag represent ng nakatatanda, kung ikaw super super bilyonaryo pwede kang mag represent ng mahihirap, urban poor, o mga magsasaka basta meron kang proven advocacy,” Garcia said.

“Yan ang sabi ng Supreme Court, no choice ang Comelec but to enforce the decision of the Supreme Court,” he added.

[Translation: So if you are a man, you can represent women; if you are young, you can represent the elderly; if you are a super wealthy billionaire, you can represent the poor, urban poor, or farmers, as long as you have a proven advocacy. That's what the Supreme Court said, and the Comelec has no choice but to enforce the decision of the Supreme Court.]