Comelec to rule on Akbayan accreditation this week

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday said it will discuss Akbayan party-list’s accreditation on Wednesday.

“We agreed to meet on Wednesday and we are supposed to finish all the existing (accreditations) already,” Brillantes said.

“Many are already asking us what is our decision for Akbayan so we decided in the en banc that we should discuss it,” Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento said.

Akbayan’s disqualification from the 2013 elections is being sought by poll watchdog Kontra Daya, claiming it is no longer marginalized and under-represented, having many of its members sitting in various positions in the Aquino administration.

Sarmiento, however, said he is not sure if they can come up with a decision on the same day.

“We will discuss it so we might have a decision already, although maybe not with a formal resolution yet on that day,” said Sarmiento.

Akbayan, for its part, said the current pressure on their party is simply a joint effort of the “right” and “left” wings of the country.

Akbayan said their rivals have “axes to grind” in seeking their disqualification.

“Given its success in mainstreaming progressive politics, it has attracted the ire of extremists from the left and right of the political spectrum,” Akbayan said in a statement.

The Comelec has disqualified 69 party-list groups from running in the May 2013 polls.

The accreditation of 45 groups was cancelled while 24 were denied registration as a party-list.

‘Nothing irregular’

Akbayan also insisted that there was nothing irregular with its campaign contributions and expenditures during the 2010 elections.

Akbayan said their campaign finances were “legitimate and all accounted for and is a non-issue at all.”

“To be exact, 95 percent of our funds are donations or contributions from other persons. We ensured that the contributions did not come from illegal, unscrupulous, or tainted sources,” Akbayan said.

President Aquino’s sisters  Kris Aquino, Ballsy Aquino-Cruz and Viel Aquino-Dee contributed a total of P14 million to Akbayan’s war chest of P112 million.

Akbayan also maintained it had filed its Statement of Contributions and Expenses (SOCE) with the Comelec as early as June 2010 as required by law.

The group added that 90 percent of its total campaign expenditures went to “radio and television advertisements to promote its important advocacies as a partner of Aquino in the 2010 presidential election.” – With Sheila Crisostomo