Comelec to purge list of political parties, party-list groups

In the effort to ensure an orderly conduct of the elections next year, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) announced its move to remove "dormant" political parties and party-list groups from the roster of registered political groups.

Comelec Education and Information Department (EID) acting director Arthur James Jimenez said the poll body is currently cleansing the list of registered political parties as part of the preparations for the forthcoming elections.

"There are moribund parties that are already not functioning so they have to be removed from the list," Jimenez said.

Jimenez added the Comelec en banc has also extended the Oct. 30 deadline for political parties and party-list groups to file statements showing that they have fielded candidates in the past two elections.

Political parties must also inform the Comelec if they obtained at least 10 percent of the votes cast and two percent for party-list groups as required in every election.

"Under the law, those who failed to participate in last two national elections and unable to obtain the required percentage of votes are considered dormant or inactive," Jimenez explained.

Political parties and party-list groups failing to file the report to the Comelec may face cancellation of their registration, Jimenez said.

Under the law, party-list representatives shall constitute 20 percent of the total number of members of the House of Representatives.

Under the 1987 Constitution, party-list organizations are voted to allow certain sectors to have a voice in the legislature that would otherwise not be adequately represented through geographical district.

Since 1998, each voter selects a single party-list organization.

Organizations that garner at least two percent of the total number of votes are awarded one representative for every two percent up to a maximum of three representatives.

In effect, there can be at most 50 party-list representatives though usually no more than 20 are elected since many groups fail to hurdle the required two percent minimum number of votes garnered nationwide.

There are about 28 party-list representatives elected at present.

Among them is Rep. Joel Villanueva of the Citizens Battle Against Corruption (CIBAC).

Villanueva, for his part, questioned the wisdom of the Comelec directive.

"As a representative of a legitimate party list who consciously considers each step to be within the boundaries of the law, I find it in bad taste that Comelec, of all agencies, would issue such statement at this time," Villanueva said.

"I take exception, especially coming from Comelec whose reputation is seriously questioned and doubted," he said.

Villanueva is the son of Bro. Eddie Villanueva of the Jesus is Lord Movement, who ran but lost to President Arroyo during the May 2004 elections. — With Jess Diaz