SC asked to stop implementation of first-party rule

Militant party-list group Bayan Muna asked the Supreme Court yesterday to stop the Commission on Elections (Comelec) from implementing the First Party Rule in the allocation of seats in the House of Representatives for party-list groups that won in the May 14 elections.

Under the First Party Rule, the additional number of seats for a party-list group is based on the number of votes of the dominant or first party.

Bayan Muna, represented by Rep. Satur Ocampo, said it has always been against the implementation of the First Party Rule even when it got the highest number of votes in the 2001 and the 2004 elections.

The group said the First Party Rule violates constitutional provisions allowing a free and open party system to evolve according to the choice of the people under a democratic system.

“The party-list system of elections is one of the major innovations in our 1987 Constitution. The system gives the poor and the powerless in our society a fighting chance to elect representatives in Congress who will act as their real mouthpieces,” the group said.

“In a country like ours where vested interest reigns and may reign till kingdom come, this rare opportunity given by the Constitution to our less privileged should be re-examined so that the exercise of the privilege will not be diluted by undemocratic restraints,” Bayan Muna said.

They also argued that the Poll Body’s 2-4-6 formula contradicts the Constitution’s objective. “Its application has led to the woefully inadequate allocation of only 14 seats in 1998; 21 in 2001; and 24 in 2004 for the party-list system,” it said.

“In each instance, the allocation has always been less than half of the 20 percent provided under the Constitution.”

The Comelec, sitting as the National Board of Canvassers (NBC), recently proclaimed 13 winning party-list groups. Proclaimed winners were Buhay, Bayan Muna, Cibac, Gabriela, Apec, A-Teacher, Akbayan, Alagad, Butil, Coop-Natco, Anakpawis, Alliance for Rural Concern and Abono. All got the required two percent of the total votes cast for party-list representations.