SC to tackle petitions of disqualified party-list groups today

MANILA, Philippines - The petitions of party-list groups belatedly disqualified from taking part in the May polls are set to be tackled by the Supreme Court (SC) today.

These party-list groups are the Confederation of Savings and Loan Associations Inc. (Consla), 1st Kabalikat ng Bayan Ginhawang Sangkatauhan (Kabagis), Pilipinas Para sa Pinoy (PPP), 1 Serve the People, Educational Development Services for Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (EDSA), Angat Ahon Magsasaka (AAM), Isang Kasambahay Po Inc. (1- Kasambahay Po) and Alliance of Concerned Transport Organizations Inc. (ACTO).

The SC dismissed the petition of Abante Bicol Oragon, Inc. (ABO) on  technical grounds.

ABO failed to submit a proof of service (registry receipts) of the petition on the Commission on Elections as required under the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure.

The petition was also insufficient in form as verification was based on personal knowledge and belief.

ABO failed to state material dates showing, among others, that the petition was filed on time.

Consla had questioned its disqualification for not supposedly belonging to marginalized sectors enumerated in the Constitution and party-list law.

In separate letters last week, Consla pleaded for urgent action from Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno and the 14 justices.

Retired Air Force Col. Ricardo Nolasco Jr., Consla president and nominee, said their seven million members nationwide comprised of enlisted police and military personnel, rank-and-file workers in the government and private sectors, market vendors, small-scale entrepreneurs, mine workers, and private and public school teachers have the right to be represented in Congress.

“Their members are engaged in labor intensive activities, have very limited or often denied access to financing from the formal banking sector, have no conventional forms of collateral, and have financing requirement mostly for short-term emergency and consumption loans, in relatively small amounts,” he said.

Nolasco said non-stock savings and loan associations are put up precisely to address the financial needs of marginalized low-income individuals and help uplift their socioeconomic welfare.

“Consla advocates that real genuine development must be focused on the needs of the Filipino people, their liberation from poverty, the delivery of genuine reforms towards a more balanced and equitable and sustainable socio-economic growth through NSSLAs,” he said.

Records showed the Comelec had registered and accredited Consla as a party-list group on Nov. 6, 2009.

However on Dec. 10, 2012, Consla’s registration and accreditation were cancelled for allegedly not representing a marginalized group.