1-CARE tops party-list lottery

MANILA, Philippines - The 1st Consumers Alliance for Rural Energy Inc. (1-CARE), a group of electric consumers, will occupy the top slot for party-list groups in the official ballot of the May 2013 polls, based on a raffle conducted by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday.

Ironically, 1-CARE was the second party-list organization disqualified by the Comelec in a bid to eliminate groups that do not represent the marginalized and under-represented sectors of society.

The Comelec ruled in October that there is nothing in the party-list law that identifies electronic consumers as a sector that needs representation in the House of Representatives.

The group, however, managed to secure a status quo ante order from the Supreme Court (SC), which then made it eligible for the raffle.

If the disqualification is upheld by the high tribunal, the votes cast for 1-CARE will not be counted.

Joining 1-CARE in the top 10 slots are Arts Business and Science Professionals (ABS); Pasang Masda Nationwide Party; OFW Family Club, Inc.; Magdalo Para sa Pilipino; Alyansa ng Media at Showbiz (AMS); Abono; Bayani; Advocacy for Teacher Empowerment Through Action Cooperation and Harmony Towards Educational Reforms (A TEACHER); and Pilipinos With Disabilities (PWD).

The Malacañang-backed Akbayan Citizens’ Action Party was listed 117th while its rival Bayan Muna bagged the 79th slot.

Gabriela, on the other hand, will be number 54 while Kabataan got the 17th slot; Migrante, 96, ACT Teachers, 49 and Katribu, 32.

The top three winning groups in the 2010 polls – the Ako Bicol Party, Senior Citizens and Buhay – were listed 18th, 129th and 135th, respectively. 

Former presidential son and Pampanga Rep. Mikey Arroyo’s Ang Galing Pinoy landed 105th.

Immediately after the raffle, the Comelec announced that at least 13 groups should not have been included in the draw.

“Our resolution says that those new applicants, even if they are able to get status quo ante orders from the SC, if they do not get a mandatory injunction, we will not include them (in the raffle). Problem is in reading the resolution of the SC, they were not able to distinguish which are new applicants and which are existing,” Brillantes said.

He said that in securing “only” a status quo ante order, the new applicants will just go back to their original status, which is being a “mere applicant.” “

“We will discuss possibilities such as if we can simply adjust upward the positions to be vacated by those who were not supposed to be included in the raffle. I think there will be no negative reactions from the groups since the raffle was done at random anyway,” Brillantes said.  

SC upholds Comelec decision

Meanwhile, the SC has upheld the disqualification of the Organization of Regional Advocates for Good Governance Onward Nation-Building (Oragon) in the party-list polls in May.

In a two-page resolution released yesterday, the high court dismissed on a technicality Oragon’s petition questioning Comelec’s decision to deny its accreditation as a party-list group. 

The SC faulted Oragon for filing its petition late and also for failing to comply with requirements under the rules of court.

It held that petitioner failed to comply with Rule 64 and other related provisions of the Rules of Court, which could be a ground for the immediate dismissal of a petition.

The high tribunal stressed that Oragon failed to accompany its petition with duplicate original copies of the assailed ruling of the Comelec.

The SC also ruled that the Comelec committed no grave abuse of discretion, saying the poll body’s ruling is in consonance with existing laws and jurisprudence.

Earlier, the SC also dismissed a similar petition of the disqualified Kabalikat ng Bayan sa Kaunlaran (Kabaka) party-list group of Manila Rep. Amado Bagatsing.

Last Nov.13, the SC issued a status quo ante order sought by several groups disqualified by the Comelec. A total of 52 groups were covered by the halt order and were able to keep their slots in the poll body’s list.

At least seven more groups also made a last-ditch effort to secure a status quo ante order from the high court by filing petitions when the SC was already on break. – Shiela Crisostomo, Edu Punay