Comelec OKs Akbayan, Bayan Muna party-list bids

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Tuesday allowed Akbayan partylist group and its rival sectoral organization, Bayan Muna, to participate in the 2013 mid-term elections.

Voting 4-2-1, Brillantes said the Comelec en banc decided to let both sectoral groups to run in the party-list polls next year.

Brillantes said he voted to disqualify the two groups, arguing that both should be considered political parties and multi-sectoral groups.

Several sectoral parties have asked the Comelec to disqualify both Akbayan and Bayan Muna for not representing the marginalized sector of society.

Militant group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), meanwhile, slammed the Comelec for its decision.

Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. claimed that the only reason the Comelec en banc allowed Akbayan to participate in the party-list election is because it is "Malacañang's favorite."

"We are aghast at the result of the voting of the Comelec allowing Akbayan to run in the partylist polls on 2013.This may be because Akbayan is truly Malacañang's favorite," Reyes said.

He noted that Akbayan's nominees are Palace appointees, hinting that Malacañang has a hand in the decision of the poll body.

"How can the 5 commissioners not see that Akbayan is a party in power that has influential Cabinet officials and has multi-million peso campaign donors from the country's ruling elite?... Seems that the Palace worked its "magic" on the Comelec, after Malacanang's repeated statements favoring Akbayan," Reyes said.

He added: "Malacañang has indeed been very vocal in its endorsement of Akbayan. We laud the two dissenters though for making a principled stand against Akbayan."

Reyes said that despite the setback, Bayan will continue to expose alleged anomalies involving Akbayan members and nominees.

"We shall continue to expose Aquino's favorite partylist group and the anomalies associated with their officials occupying posts in government, such as those in the National Anti-poverty Commission. We call on the voters to reject Aquino's favorite non-marginalized and over-represented partylist group," Reyes said.