SC names 7 more party-list solons

The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that seven more party-list organizations could take seats in the House of Representatives for garnering the required number of votes in the May 14, 2001 elections.

In a 42-page decision penned by Justice Artemio Panganiban, the High Court en banc ordered the Commission on Elections to proclaim one nominee each from Buhay Hayaang Yumabong (Buhay), the group identified with the El Shaddai Catholic charismatic movement, Anak-Mindanao (AMIN), Alyansang Bayanihan ng mga Magsasaka, Manggagawang Magbubukid at Mangingisda (ABA), Philippine Coconut Producers Federation Inc. (COCOFED), Partido ng Manggagawa (PM), Sanlakas and Abanse! Pinay.

The seven will join Satur Ocampo, Crispin Beltran and Liza Masa of Bayan Muna, Loretta Ann Rosales of Akbayan, Benjamin Cruz of Luzon Farmers Party (Butil), Ernesto Pablo of the Association of Philippine Electric Cooperatives (APEC) and Jose Villanueva of the Citizens Battle Against Corruption (CIBAC) in the House. Their terms end in 2004.

"The Court hopes that, with each bit of wisdom they learned and after the arduous journey they experienced in our one-of-a-kind Philippine-style party-list system, the marginalized and under-represented sectors of our country will be accorded ever-widening opportunities to participate in nation-building, so that they can help develop — in peace and harmony — a society that is just, humane, progressive and free," the SC said in its ruling.

Voting 12-1 with one abstention, the Supreme Court said the seven party-list congressmen passed the eight-point guideline instituted by the tribunal in its June 26, 2001 decision on the case.

The SC ruling directed the Comelec to make a factual determination as to which among the 162 party-list candidates passed the eight-point guideline requiring, among others, that the political party, sector, organization or coalition represent the marginalized and under-represented groups.

Of the 162 party-list groups allowed to participate in the 2001 party-list elections, the court found only 46 qualified under the eight-point guideline.

Of the 46, only 12 garnered at least two percent of the total valid votes cast for the party-list system, including Bayan Muna, APEC, Akbayan, BUTIL and CIBAC.

Still pending resolution is the issue on whether additional seats should be allocated for APEC, Akbayan, Butil and CIBAC, since Bayan Muna already has the maximum of three seats in the House.

The court used the formulas it set in the case "Veterans vs Comelec" to determine that the seven party-list groups were entitled to one nominee each for a seat in the House.

The SC excluded from the "total valid votes cast" the votes obtained by disqualified candidates.

With the winners identified, the court partially lifted its May 9, 2001 temporary restraining order (TRO) to enable the Comelec to proclaim the nominees of the seven party-list organizations.

The tribunal issued the TRO to stop the Comelec from proclaiming any winner during the party-list election until after the poll body complied with the order of the court to conduct summary evidentiary hearings on the qualifications of the participants in the light of guidelines issued by the tribunal.

The court said it took a while for the Comelec to provide the reports needed to determine the winners and the disqualified candidates.

Concurring with Panganiban were Chief Justice Hilario Davide Sr., Justices Josue Bellosillo, Reynato Puno, Leonardo Quisumbing, Consuelo Ynares-Santiago, Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez, Antonio Carpio, Renato Corona, Conchita Carpio-Morales, Romeo Callejo Sr. and Adolfo Azcuna.

Justice Jose Vitug dissented, while Justice Alicia Austria-Martinez did not take part in the deliberations.