House endorses state subsidy to political parties

MANILA, Philippines - The House of Representatives has endorsed the grant of state subsidies to political parties with national constituencies.

The grant is part of Bill 6551, or the proposed Political Party Development Act of 2012, which the House has approved on third and final reading.

The bill seeks an initial funding of P500 million for political parties. The proposal is like the practice in the United States, where the two mainstream national political parties receive federal funding.

“We have to veer away from politics of patronage and money. We have to grow as a nation and focus our politics on issues and political platforms,” the bill’s authors said.

Among them are Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro City, Juan Edgardo Angara of Aurora, Maximo Rodriguez of the party-list group Abante Mindanao, and Raymond Mendoza of Trade Union Congress of the Philippines.

“We have to institutionalize and strengthen our political parties by introducing reforms in campaign financing through effective and transparent mechanism to level the playing field and eliminate opportunities for corruption,” they said.

The proposed state subsidy would be used for party development and campaign expenses, including party administration, recruitment, research, education and training of members, and outreach programs.

Also covered are operating and travel expenses, information dissemination, advocacy campaigns, and production and distribution of electoral paraphernalia.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) would be mandated to issue the necessary rules and regulations.

Accreditation of political parties entitled to state funding would be based on political representation, organizational strength, mobilization capability, performance, and track record.

Political groups receiving state subsidy would be subject to audit by the Commission on Audit (COA).

They would be required to submit sworn statements of their assets and liabilities to the COA, which would publish or make them available to the public six months before an election.

These groups may still receive contributions from private donors, which would be tax-exempt, but the Comelec would be tasked to strictly regulate such donations.

State funding for political parties had been the advocacy of former Pangasinan Rep. Jose de Venecia Jr., but the bill authorizing it had not been passed during his years of leadership in the House as speaker.