Comelec admits failure on partylist info campaign

The Commission on Elections has admitted that it is lacking in its drive to properly inform the public about the party-list system.

Comelec regional election attorney Lionel Marco Castillano said the commission is saddened that until now, not all in the voting public know about how the party-list structure works in the country's political system.

He said they, however, are trying their best to correct their mistake on the lack of education to the voters on the representation of the marginalized sectors in Congress.

During the weekly Bee Forum: Comelec Hour at the Casino Español yesterday, the significance of the party-list system, the election guidelines for such parties and the sentiments of the parties' representatives were tackled.

Akbayan spokesperson Ernie Edralin said since the party-list system was adopted in the country, they have been educating the voters on the importance of such system, which is mandated under Republic Act 7941 in 1995 but was only implemented in the 1998 elections.

Bayan Muna Cebu provincial coordinator Arman Perez said while they are introducing politics of change, the local government units are lukewarm in accepting their members in the field.

He said many of their leaders and members were even liquidated while doing their works in the countryside.

Jaime Paglinawan, chairperson of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) in Central Visayas, shared the same views.

Under the party-list system, marginalized sectors in the society are given the chance to be heard in the House of Representatives. Voters will choose among the names of organizations participating in the party-list system and not the person.

Each organization has nominees who will sit in the Lower House if it able to get the required number of votes.

In every two percent of the total votes cast in the party-list system, the organization is entitled to have one seat in Congress. The representation is only limited up to three seats regardless of the percentage it got during elections.

Castillano cited a party-list group which received 17 percent of the total votes cast in the 2004 elections but got only three seats in the Lower House as mandated by the law instead of having at least eight.

The individual representative in the Lower House who completed three terms will no longer be allowed to sit, but the party can still participate in the succeeding elections with another set of nominees. - Gregg M. Rubio/LPM