SC orders Comelec to let ANAD join 2013 polls

CEBU, Philippines - The Alliance for Nationalism and Democracy (Anad Partylist) has claimed victory in the disqualification case it filed against the Commission on Elections.

During a court hearing yesterday, the Supreme Court ordered the Comelec to stop disqualifying Anad Partylist from participating in the 2013 elections.

The SC extended the status quo ante order to Anad Partylist and five other partylist groups.

Anad Partylist Rep. Pastor Alcover Jr. welcomed the development.  Anad Partylist filed its motion for reconsideration before the SC after it was disqualified by the Comelec from participating in the 2013 elections.

Alcover earlier said they will employ all legal means as he called on his followers and members to stay calm with the recent developments.

Alcover said that their move to go to the SC already has precedent as some partylist groups earlier disqualified questioned the decision of the Comelec.

The partylist was among the 19 disqualified last Wednesday for being merely “advocacy” groups rather than sectoral representatives.

Anad, an anti-communist group said to be linked to the military, garnered 297,984 votes in the 2010 elections.

Election watchdog, Kontra Daya, claimed that Anad was an “adjunct of the government,” supposedly receiving funding and support from the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Kontra Daya listed Alcover as among the multimillionaires in Congress with a net worth of P5.45 million in his 2011 statement of assets and liabilities.

The Anad Partylist expresses deep concern against the Maoist Communist Party of the Philippines’ ‘dictatorial’ scheme on how the government should conduct itself, particularly with regards to partylist groups’ accreditation for the 2013 mid-term polls.  —(FREEMAN)