Party-list groups to Comelec: Proclaim us

MANILA, Philippines – Seven party-list groups are asking the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to now proclaim them despite petitions seeking their disqualification.

In an urgent appeal to the poll body, the party-list organizations said they have to be proclaimed since members of the incoming 15th Congress would begin their term of office at noon on Wednesday.

They said the delay in their proclamation would be equivalent to disenfranchising seven million Filipinos who voted for them in the May 10 elections.

Ako Bicol, a new party-list group, topped the party-list elections with more than 1.5 million votes. It will most likely be entitled to the maximum three congressional seats allowed a party-list organization.

Other groups pleading for proclamation include two other newcomers, 1st Consumers Alliance for Rural Energy, LPG Marketers Association (LPGMA), and Citizens Battle Against Corruption.

They said the Comelec should let the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal handle the pending disqualification cases against them.

Those who filed the cases claim these groups do not represent marginal sectors as required by the Constitution and the law governing party-list organizations.

They also alleged that some of these organizations are dummies of the Arroyo administration.

The Comelec loses jurisdiction over the complaints the moment it proclaims the party-list groups.

The poll body has proclaimed more than 10 party-list organizations, giving several of them two seats each in the incoming Congress, including Bayan Muna and An Waray, which were among the top 10 winners.

Also in the top 10 was Buhay (Buhay Hayaan Yumabong), the group identified with Bro. Mike Velarde of El Shaddai.

Buhay wants the Comelec and the Supreme Court to limit the groups to be represented in the legislature to those that obtained at least two percent of the votes in the party-list elections as required by the party-list law.

If it would have its way, outgoing Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel Arroyo and former energy secretary Angelo Reyes would not be qualified to sit as party-list representatives since the sectors they claim to represent did not obtain two percent.