Comelec may not be able to declare dominant majority and minority parties

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) may not be able to declare the dominant majority and minority parties in the coming May 10 elections in view of the status quo order by the Supreme Court (SC) over the merger of the Nacionalista Party (NP) and the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC).

Comelec Chairman Jose Melo said they could not proclaim which political parties should become the dominant minority and dominant majority since the issue concerns the computation of their respective membership.

“It might be a bit difficult for the SC, at this point, to decide (regarding the coalition) so we might not have dominant majority and minority (parties),” he said.

Melo noted the SC would go on recess, so it has only one week to deliberate on the issue.

Melo explained that under Republic Act 9369 or the Poll Automation Law, the fifth and sixth copies of the election returns (ERs) would be given to the dominant majority and minority party, respectively.

If there are no dominant parties named, the political parties might have to rely on the Comelec reports on election results posted on its website, he said.

Dominant parties are also entitled to their own data servers on election day while watchers would be given priority access in crowded polling precincts.

The Comelec had approved the application of NP and NPC to become a coalition to boost its chances of becoming a dominant minority party.

Apart from the NP-NPC, the Liberal Party (LP) and the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino are also bidding to get this title.

On the other hand, the administration Lakas-Kampi-CMD is the lone political party that applied to become the dominant majority party.

In determining the dominant parties, the Comelec takes into consideration the number of members, those who are incumbent and those who are running for any elective post in the coming elections. 

The LP, for its part, hailed the SC for its decision preventing the Comelec from implementing the NP-NPC alliance.

LP standard-bearers Senators Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and Manuel “Mar” Roxas II said the high court’s decision levels the playing field among legitimate political parties vying to get the dominant minority party status in the May 10 elections.

Roxas, LP president, said Comelec “bent backwards” in accommodating the NP-NPC merger despite its patent illegality.

He said the NP-NPC alliance was unilaterally declared by a handful of officials and members without concurrence of the NPC’s national convention. – Sheila Crisostomo, Delon Porcalla, Christina Mendez