party-list groups

SC declares invalid the rule banning party-list nominees who lost in previous election

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SC declares invalid the rule banning party-list nominees who lost in previous election

HIGH COURT. The Supreme Court building in Padre Faura, Manila.

Angie de Silva/Rappler

The Supreme Court says eligibility for public office should not be based on a candidate's failure to win in a previous election. It adds, a failed election performance is not a way to measure a person's ability to serve.

MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday, January 24, declared unconstitutional the provisions of the Party-List System Act and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) rules that ban candidates who lost in one election from being party-list nominees in the ensuing election.

The Court ruled in favor of Catalina Leonen-Pizzaro and Glen Quintos Albano, who were candidates for party representatives in the 2019 elections. They questioned the constitutionality of Section 8 of Republic Act No. 7941, or the Party-List System Act, as well as Sections 5(d) and 10 of Comelec Resolution No. 10717, which govern the submission of nominees for groups or organizations seeking representation in the party-list system.

The provisions prevented candidates for any elective office, or a person who lost a bid for elective office in the preceding election, from being included in the list of nominees in the next party list election.

The petitioners also argued that Congress did not have the power to augment the qualifications that Section 6 of the 1987 Constitution provides for the House of Representatives.

The SC declared invalid and unconstitutional the following phrases:

  • “a person who has lost his bid for elective office in the immediately preceding election” (Section 8 of the Party-List System Act);
  • “have lost in their bid for an elective office in the May 13, 2019 National and Local Elections” (Section 5d of Comelec Resolution No. 10717);
  • “or a person who has lost his bid for an elective office in the May 13, 2019 National and Local Elections” (Section 10 of Comelec Resolution No. 10717).

The Court found that the ban on losing candidates “violates the constitutional guaranty of substantive due process, as it effectively intrudes on the right of losing candidates in the immediately preceding elections from participating in the present elections.”

It is the SC’s opinion that eligibility for public office should not be based on a candidate’s failure to win in a previous election. The state should not use a failed election performance as a way to gauge a person’s ability to serve, the Court said.

But the Court did rule that Congress has the power to provide for the qualifications of party list representatives based on Section 5(1), Article VI of the Constitution.

Still, Congress must yield to the general limitations on legislation, particularly its duty to equal protection, the SC said.

The SC held that the questioned provisions must be struck down, “as no substantial distinction exists between candidates who lost in the immediately preceding election vis-a-vis those who won or did not participate therein.” – Rappler.com

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