Poll watchdogs question Comelec’s decision on party-list groups

MANILA, Philippines - Poll watchdogs Consortium on Electoral Reforms (CER) and Kontra Daya yesterday questioned how the Commission on Elections (Comelec) decided on the fates of the party-list organizations seeking to run in the 2013 elections.

CER executive director Ramon Casiple said he got “confused” when he saw the list of 79 groups allowed by Comelec to join next year’s polls.

“It seems the Comelec is not consistent with the criteria. For instance, the Comelec had rejected the group Courage because it is composed of government employees. But it allowed some teachers’ groups that also have members who are government workers,” he said.

While CER supports Comelec’s efforts to cleanse the party-list system, Casiple said the poll body should have made public the guidelines that it used in deciding on the petition of the groups seeking accreditation.

“We support the reason why Comelec is trimming down the list. But since we just hear them talking about some guidelines during interviews – there is no black and white – their selection process has become arbitrary. You would not know how they actually came up with the decision,” he said.

Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes on Thursday said 79 groups were allowed to run and five more groups will be named by next week to complete the list of qualified party-list organizations.

Kontra Daya, however, said some of the 79 groups are “clearly not marginalized or underrepresented.”

“We are appalled at the inconsistent ruling of the Comelec. They effectively shot themselves on the foot with this one. By allowing these obviously non-marginalized groups and nominees to run, Comelec is providing legal ammunition for the other non-marginalized groups that have previously been disqualified. Comelec appears to be playing with the whole disqualification process,” said Kontra Daya spokesman Joe Dizon.

The Comelec earlier rejected the application for accreditation of the Black and White political party, claiming that its nominees, who include singer Leah Navarro, are not marginalized.

But the poll body had approved some party-list groups whose nominees include relatives of politicians and even a member of the judiciary.

These include the Ang Mata’y Alagaan whose nominees are relatives of Supreme Court Justice Presbiterio Velasco; Bagong Henerasyon of Quezon City Councilor Bernadette Herrera-Dy; Agrarian Development Association (ADA) of the Singson family in Ilocos Sur; Alay Buhay whose top nominee is Wesley Gatchalian, brother of Valenzuela mayor and congressman Sherwin and Rex Gatchalian, respectively; Association of Labor and Employees whose leading nominee is Quezon City Rep. Catalina Bagasina, among the richest members of the House of Representatives, and Buhay Hayaan Yumabong (Buhay) whose nominees include El Shaddai leader Mike Velarde’s son Mariano Michael and former Manila mayor Lito Atienza.

By allowing these groups, Dizon said the Comelec is just giving previously disqualified groups the ammunition to question its decision on their cases.

“The law clearly states that only marginalized and underrepresented sectors are allowed to run in the party-list elections, and yet Comelec is not following this to the letter,” Dizon added.

Kontra Daya is now studying its next course of action in moving for the cleanup of the party-list system. 

Butil party-list, one of those delisted by the Comelec for the 2013 elections, accused the poll commissioners of marginalizing farmers further in disqualifying the group.

Butil Rep. Agapito Guanlao said farmer groups are up in arms over the “arbitrary” decision of the poll body.

“There is no logic to the decision of Comelec. How can they say that farmers are not marginalized? If farmers are not marginalized, who else would qualify?” Guanlao said.

“And if Comelec’s reasoning is that cooperatives are not marginalized, how come other cooperative groups were allowed to run as party-list organizations? Their ruling is so arbitrary,” he said.                   

Guanlao said they would question the decision before the Supreme Court on Monday and pray for a temporary restraining order and a status quo ante order against the Comelec ruling. – Paolo Romero, Evelyn Macairan