MANILA, Philippines – The pro-life group Buhay will get 3 seats in Congress after the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Thursday, June 20, said it has issued a certificate of proclamation to its 3rd nominee. 

It’s the only party-list group that got the maximum 3 seats in the House of Representatives.

The group Magdalo, meanwhile, got a second seat, Comelec chair Sixto Brillantes Jr told reporters in an interview.

Brillantes explained that based on their updated computations, a pending Supreme Court petition will no longer affect the seats for Buhay and Magdalo.

He said the Comelec is still finalizing the canvass for party-list groups, and will likely be finished by June 25 at the latest.

On June 5, the Supreme Court issued a status quo ante (SQA) order against a Comelec resolution disqualifying the party-list groups Senior Citizens and Abang Lingkod.

Both groups garnered enough votes to win seats in the House of Representatives. The SC ordered the Comelec to reserve seats for them, “held in abeyance,” until the high court decides on the merits of their case.

In May, the Comelec proclaimed 53 “initial winners” in the party-list race, making room for nominees who may get seats in Congress due to petitions before the SC. – Rappler.com