40 percent of party-list groups may lose Comelec accreditation

MANILA, Philippines – More than 40 percent of registered party-list groups may lose their accreditation with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and would not be allowed to participate in the 2013 polls.

Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes said the groups have failed to prove that they genuinely represent the sectors they sought to represent and have continuously failed to show up during the hearings of the poll body.

Some groups, on the other hand, named nominees who seem not to belong to the marginalized and under-represented sector.

Brillantes noted that the dismissal of the groups is part of the efforts to cleanse the party-list system, which has served as a back-door entry by government officials, affluent individuals and military and police officials to Congress.

The Comelec has been closely screening the 124 registered party-list groups and 165 others with pending applications for accreditation that are looking to participate in next year’s elections.

The poll body is also scrutinizing the nominees submitted by each of these groups.

The first casualty in the Comelec’s clean-up campaign is Ang Galing Pinoy (AGP), the party-list group of Rep. Mikey Arroyo, which was delisted for failing to submit evidence of compliance or even attend Comelec hearings.

A Comelec insider claimed that Bagong Henerasyon (BH) may suffer the fate of AGP. Its nominees seem not to belong to the sector of marginalized women and youth, which the group sought to represent.

BH had named its founder, Quezon City Rep. Bernadette Cruz-Herrera Dy, as its first nominee while the second nominee is her husband Edgar Allan Dy.

The third nominee is Katherine Rose Gancayco, while the fourth nominee is Redentor Tuazon, senior deputy administrator for operations at the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.

The fifth nominee is Daciano David Palamo, who belongs to the agriculture staff of the National Economic and Development Authority.