Bill seeks ban on political butterfly

MANILA, Philippines - Four congressmen have filed a bill seeking to ban political butterflies, or those who switch political parties before, during or after elections.

Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, principal author of the proposed Political Party Development Act of 2011, said yesterday Congress should pass the bill soon so it could be taken up before the May 2013 national and local elections.

“We should take this up shortly after we resume session on May 9,” he said.

“Distinctively, the bill zeroes in on political balimbings by punishing them for their opportunistic transfer to other parties,” he said.

The measure proposes to bar political butterflies from running in succeeding elections. Political turncoats who get elected would lose their seats. With these penalties, Rodriguez said there would be no politician who would try to change political party affiliations.

“There will be loyalty to political parties and their advocacies, which in turn will bring about a strong political party system,” he said.

The bill also seeks to provide state subsidies to political parties, enough to help them sustain their electoral campaign expenditures on their own and promote voter education.

“With state subsidy, political parties and their candidates will no longer need big monetary contributions from corporations, personalities and power blocs,” Rodriguez said. “But they, however, are duty-bound to reveal to the Commission on Audit the details of campaign contributions they received and how these were used.”

In previous Congresses, then Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. proposed state financing of political parties.

The proposed political party system development law provides for strict guidelines in the accreditation of political groups by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

Groups seeking accreditation would be required to present their constitution and by-laws, political platforms, party principles, polices and general program of government, a verified list of national officers, and a list of regional, provincial, city, and municipal chapters.

It requires parties to set clear party membership policies and conditions that must include payment of membership dues and a prohibition against engaging in dirty politics.

“The payment of individual membership dues gives each member an equal right to participate in the direction and execution of party platforms and programs. It is the one internal democratic mechanism that assures each member that his or her stake in the party bears as much weight as the other members’,” Rodriguez said.

“Political parties must have definite penalties and sanctions for those who do not pay their dues or otherwise violate party principles and policies. There should be a disciplinary mechanism,” he said.

Rodriguez noted that although party rules require members to comply with certain conditions such as the payment of dues, violations are often ignored.

“With the reforms proposed in the bill, we hope that political parties could be professionalized and strengthened, and could become viable instruments of development and good governance,” he said.

The co-authors of the bill are his brother Maximo, who represents the party-list group Abante Mindanao, Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara, and Rep. Raymund Mendoza of Trade Union Congress of the Philippines.