Mga imbitasyon gidawat ni Corteza

The Alliance for Nationalism and Democracy is getting the lion’s share of votes in the province for party-list.

Based on the Cebu Province and Cebu City Commission on Election results, ANAD, an anti-communist group, got 54,145 votes in the province and 22,936 votes in Cebu City, grabbing a total of 77,081, which is 12.97 percent of the votes.

ANAD is represented in the House of Representatives by Pastor Jun Alcover, who during his high school days in Cebu City, was recruited by the New People’s Army.  He left the rebel movement in 1975.

“We are hopeful right now that we will be able to get more than the total of two percent votes cast for party-list representation,” Alcover said.

ANAD was followed by Abanse Pinay, a national movement of women’s organizations, which garnered 70,111 votes or 11.8 percent.

ANAD topped in the province while Abanse Pinay, which is represented by Teresa Fernandez, was number one in Cebu City.

Militant groups Akbayan, Bayan Muna, Gabriela and Sanlakas, which some government security and defense officials have labeled as a front for the Communist Party of the Philippines, ranked with fifth, sixth, seventh and 43rd in the ratings, respectively.

“Nakasabot na gyud ang katawhan nga inanay gi-reject na gyud ang mga communist party,” Alcover said regarding the number of votes they received.

Under the two-percent rule, a group that gets two percent of the votes cast for the party-list system is entitled to one seat in the House.  A group can have a maximum of three seats, or six percent of the votes.

However, the Supreme Court’s “Veterans Formula,” in its October 2000 decision in Veterans Federation Party versus the Commission on Elections, provides that the allocation of seats to party-list groups depends on the total number of votes garnered by the top party-list. — Garry B. Lao/BRP