Comelec en banc disqualifies 5 more party-list groups

Reynaldo Santos Jr

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They were previously accredited but didn't represent the marginalized

MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Wednesday, December 5, announced the disqualification of 5 more groups from next year’s party list polls.

Although the following groups initially got the go signal of the divisions that reviewed their applications, Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr said that the en banc decided to bar them from the 2013 elections:

  • Confederation of Non-Stock Savings and Loan Associations Inc. (CONSLA)
  • Itinerant Vendors Alliance of the Philippines (IVAP)
  • 1 Pinoy Para sa Kalikasan
  • Empleyadong Nagtataguyod ng Bagong Anyo ng Kapaligiran (En Bank)
  • Partido ng Bayan ang Bida (PBB)

Brillantes singled out CONSLA, saying that the group represents money lenders, who are not among the marginalized sectors.

These groups were accredited for the party list in the past election, although they didn’t garner the minimum number of votes to get seats in the House of Representatives.

Rappler estimates that the Comelec en banc has disqualified 149 groups since October. In disqualifying these groups, the Comelec said that under Republic Act 7941 or the Party-List System Act, marginalized sectors cover only labor, peasant, fisher folk, urban poor, indigenous cultural communities, elderly, handicapped, women, youth, veterans, overseas workers, and professionals.

Aside from them, 31 more groups were disqualified by the Comelec en banc on Monday for failing to file a motion for reconsideration.

Eight of these groups filed a petition with the Supreme Court, which issued a status quo ante order that temporarily stopped their disqualification.

The Office of the Comelec Secretary (ComSec) said that more disqualification cases are to be heard, but failed to give the exact number of remaining cases. – Rappler.com

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