Sectoral? Party list votes come from reg’l bailiwicks

Michael Bueza

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The past two elections show that a number of party-list groups rely not on sectoral allies but on votes from geographic bailiwicks of nominees

MANILA, Philippines – Party-list groups, elected at large, are supposed to represent specific sectors or advocacies. The past two elections, however, show that a number of those who participate in the exercise rely instead on votes from geographic bailiwicks of group officers and nominees to get seats in Congress.

A large chunk of votes for Buhay, the 2013 party-list election topnotcher, came from the National Capital Region and Region IV-A. It got a total of 800,511 votes in the two regions alone, or 63.23% of its total votes.

These also delivered for Buhay in 2010. It was the top party-list group in 9 NCR cities and the Southern Luzon provinces of Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal.

Buhay garnered 127,456 votes or 21.82% of all votes in Manila alone, where second nominee Lito Atienza was mayor from 1998 to 2007.

Atienza will join re-elected representatives Irwin Tieng and Michael Velarde Jr., the son of El Shaddai founder Mike Velarde.

Party List Regions Where It Placed First in 2013 Votes in Region Total Votes Received % of Total
AAMBIS-OWA Region VI 240,043 311,725 77.00%
Abante Mindanao Region X 296,574 465,989 63.64%
Abono Region I 595,120 767,645 77.53%
Ako Bicol Region V 710,562 763,103 93.11%
An Waray Region VIII 479,983 540,906 88.74%
Anak Mindanao ARMM 222,336 376,932 58.99%
Buhay NCR + Region IV-A (2nd) 800,511 1,265,992 63.23%
Butil Region III 296,662 438,601 67.64%
Kakusa Region IX 153,643 174,940 87.83%
Yacap Region XII 226,956 366,340 61.95%

 

Regional votes equals re-election

Sixth-placer Ako Bicol received 710,562 votes in Region V, the Bicol Region. It comprises a whopping 93.11% of its total votes.

Ako Bicol was the topnotcher in the 2010 elections. This year, it will have one less seat in the House.

An Waray topped in all 6 provinces in Region VIII, or Eastern Visayas, where the Waray ethno-linguistic group is based. It got a total of 479,983 votes in the region, equivalent to 88.74% of its total votes.

AAMBIS-OWA received in Region VI or Western Visayas a total of 240,043 votes – or 77% of its over-all votes. It also placed first in 4 provinces in the region: Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, and Iloilo.

AAMBIS-OWA is represented by Sharon Garin, daughter of incoming Rep Oscar Garin Jr and outgoing Rep Janette Garin, both of the first district of Iloilo.

Butil, which represents farmers, topped the polls in Region III (Central Luzon), known to be the country’s “rice granary.” It obtained 296,662 votes in the region, 8.76% of the total party-list votes in the region, and 67.64% of the group’s total votes.

Anak Mindanao (Amin) finally won in this year’s election, leveraged by the votes it received from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). It garnered 222,236 votes in the region, 27.24% of the votes there and 58.99% of its total votes.

Invaded by political dynasties

Political dynasties managed to “invade” the party list, sourcing votes from their bailiwicks.

Abono, another re-elected group, topped the polls in La Union, Pangasinan, and Tarlac. It received a total of 638,005 votes in these provinces, or 83.11% of the 767,645 total votes it received.

Its nominees are incumbent Reps Robert Raymond Estrella and Francisco Ortega II, scions of the powerful Estrella and Ortega clans in Pangasinan and La Union, respectively.

A bulk of the votes received by the LPG Marketers Association (LPGMA) came from Isabela, the home province of re-elected Rep Arnel Uy-Ty. The group received 170,573 votes in the province alone, or 46.06% of the 370,360 votes it got over-all.

Abante Mindanao (Abamin), represented by Maximo Rodriguez Jr, topped the polls in Misamis Oriental and Cagayan de Oro City, obtaining a combined 239,681 votes. This comprises 51.43% of the total votes it received over-all.

Abamin also placed first in the whole of Region X (Northern Mindanao) and the Caraga Region.

Rodriguez is re-elected as the party list’s representative. His brother, Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, is also re-elected.

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) is sending a representative to Congress again, thanks to its votes from Davao del Norte and North Cotabato. Votes from these two provinces total 145,491, or almost 39.44% of its total votes.

TUCP’s representative, Raymond Democrito Mendoza, is the husband of re-elected North Cotabato Gov Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza.

You Against Corruption and Poverty (Yacap) Rep Carol Jayne Lopez’s friendship and alliance with Sarangani Rep Manny Pacquiao worked in her group’s favor, as it garnered 220,213 votes from Sarangani and South Cotabato. This figure is already 60.11% of its total votes.

One re-elected group, the Agricultural Sector Alliance of the Philippines (Agap), got 54.76% of its over-all votes from Batangas. It received 35.90% of all votes in Batangas alone, two percentage points higher than the 33.03% it garnered in 2010.

Re-elected Agap Rep Nicanor Briones was the president of Limcoma Batangas Prime Inc from 2005 to 2007. Curiously, he filed in the 15th Congress two bills and one resolution specifically benefiting Batangas. 

Both house bills stayed at the committee level, while the sole resolution was adopted by Congress on second reading.

Winners in regions, provinces

Although it failed to reach the percentage treshhold to be re-elected, the Kapatiran ng mga Nakulong na Walang Sala (Kakusa), a group formed and supported by the Jalosjos clan, managed to place first in all 3 provinces in the Zamboanga peninsula.

In Region IX alone (including Zamboanga City, where it only placed fourth), it garnered 153,643 votes or 87.83% of its total votes.

Kakusa is founded by Romeo Jalosjos, a former Zamboanga del Norte representative convicted of rape in 1997. He was sentenced to two life terms, re-elected to Congress in 1998 and 2001 while behind bars, and was pardoned in 2009.

In Cagayan, the Agbiag party list topped the polls, getting 139,673 votes, or 39.72% of provincial votes. It would not be enough, however, for Rep Patricio Antonio, a former congressman of the 1st district of Cagayan, to be re-elected.

Ang Kasangga party list placed first in Aklan, receiving 85,770 votes or 45.78% of party-list votes in the province. It only received 0.71% of nationwide votes, but its outgoing representative, Teodorico Haresco Jr, will remain in Congress – this time, as the elected representative of the lone district of Aklan.

Two party-list groups representing the indigenous peoples, Katribu and ANAC-IP, also lost this year, but they placed first and second respectively in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR). Combined, the two groups received 18.60% of total votes in the region.

The Singsons of Ilocos Sur failed to enter Congress through the Agrarian Development Association (ADA). The group’s first two nominees as listed in the Commission on Elections (Comelec) website are Eric Singson and Eric Singson, Jr, both former representatives of Ilocos Sur. (The elder Singson is now elected as the province’s second district representative.)

ADA topped in Ilocos Sur, nonetheless, with 40% of the provincial votes going to them.

LGBT party list Ang Ladlad placed first in Abra, with 11.27% of the provincial votes. Its first nominee, Bemz Benedito, hails from the province.  

Finally, the Abang Lingkod, despite being disqualified by the Comelec a week before the May 13 elections, was No. 1 in Negros Occidental, with 28,194 votes, or 25.58% of votes in the province. 

Abang Lingkod’s first nominee, Joseph Stephen Paduano, is the former leader of the Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade (RPA-ABB). 

Its second nominee, Patrick Leonard Lacson, is an outgoing board member of the province and the son of GSIS Chairman and former Negros Occidental Gov Daniel Lacson Jr.

Abang Lingkod’s inclusion in the winning circle of party-list groups for 2013 is up in the air as of posting time. The court recently issued a status quo ante order ordering Comelec to revoke its disqualification of Abang Lingkod and another winning party list, the Senior Citizens. – Rappler.com

 

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Michael Bueza

Michael is a data curator under Rappler's Tech Team. He works on data about elections, governance, and the budget. He also follows the Philippine pro wrestling scene and the WWE. Michael is also part of the Laffler Talk podcast trio.