‘Only 9 party-list petitions should be returned to Comelec’

MANILA, Philippines – Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno said that only 9 – and not all 54 petitions – filed by party-list groups disqualified by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) – should be remanded to the poll body.

In her dissent in Paglaum vs Comelec, Sereno said the petitions of the 9 party-list groups should be reconsidered because they were disqualified for failing to prove they were from marginalized and underrpresented sectors.

In its April 5 decision, the Supreme Court said that political parties do not have to represent the said sectors to participate in the party-list elections.

The rest of the party-list groups, on the other hand, were disqualified because of lack of track records.

The 9 party-list groups include the following:

1. Alliance for Rural and Agrarian Reconstruction Inc. The group claims to represent landless farmers, indigenous people and Bangsamoro people, but Comelec said its nominees and majority of its members do not belong to these sectors. The party’s advocacy for the “development of the rural sectors” may also include those who are not marginalized.

2. Agapay in Indigenous People Rights Alliance (A-IPRA). A-IPRA failed to prove that its 5 nominees are indigenous people.

3. Aangat Tayo. Five of their nominees are not from the youth and elderly sectors.

4. A Blessed Partylist. Three of its 7 nominees are not farmers or fishermen from Region XI, which the group said it wants to represent. None of them are also registered voters in Region XI.

5. Action League of Indigenous Masses. Only one nominee was able to prove that he’s a member of an indigenous tribe. Some of the nominees – a businessman, lawyer and estate developer – also do not belong to the marginalized.

6. Butil Farmers Party. Butil was not able to prove that “agricultural and cooperative sectors” are marginalized. 

7. Adhikain at Kilusan ng Ordinaryong Tao Para sa Lupa, Pabahay, Hanapbuhay at Kaunlaran. Nominees failed to prove that they are from the marginalized sector.

8. Akbay Kalusugan Inc. Its 5 nominees included lawyers, a retired government employee, and a secretary.

9. 1-United Transport Koalisyon. The sectors it aims to represent have conflicting interests – drivers’ concerns are about wages, while operators want profits. 

New SC guidelines

The SC said that national, regional and local political parties could now qualify for the party-list system as long as they do not field candidates for legislative districts. 

For sectoral organizations, they may either be “marginalized and underrepresented” or lacking in “well-defined political constituencies.” The SC said that it is enough that “their principal advocacy pertains to the special interest and concerns of their sector.”

Sereno disagreed with the majority decision of the high court. She said the party-list system should only be confined to the marginalized and underrepresented sectors as social justice was the foundation of the 1987 Constitution.

Sereno quoted Cecilia Muñoz-Palma, president of the 1986 Constitutional Commission (Concom), who said the charter “is a document which in clear and unmistakable terms reaches to the underprivileged, the paupers, the sick, the elderly, disabled, veterans and other sectors of the society.”

Sereno also quoted one Concom member, Serafin Guingona, who said the Constitution “provides that Congress shall give the highest priority to the enactment of measures that would reduce social, economic and political inequalities.”

“I believe that the ponencia (decision) may have further marginalized the already marginalized and underrepresented of this country. In the guise of political plurality, it allows national and regional parties or organizations to invade what is and should be constitutionally and statutorily protected space,” she wrote.

“What the ponencia fails to appreciate is that the party-list system under the 1987 Constitution is not about mere political plurality, but plurality with a heart for the poor and disadvantaged.”

Justice Antonio Carpio, who penned the SC decision, quoted Concom member Christian Monsod, who said however that “the partylist system is not synonymous with that of sectoral representation.” 

Carpio also cited the opinion of Concom members Wilfrido Villacorta and Jaime Tadeo, who agreed during 1986 deliberations that United Nationalist Democratic Organization or UNIDO – the main political party then – could join the party-list system, as long as they field candidates from sectoral lines. – Rappler.com