Reversal of SC ruling on Abang Lingkod party-list sought

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has sought the reversal of a Supreme Court (SC) ruling ordering the proclamation of Abang Lingkod as among the winning party-list groups in the May 13 polls.

Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes said the poll body already filed a motion for reconsideration before the high court, citing its original position that Abang Lingkod is not qualified to participate in the last party-list elections.

“We also cited in our motion the dissenting opinions of four justices, which to us is the correct decision,” Brillantes said.

Earlier, the SC ordered the Comelec to recognize the qualification of Abang Lingkod as a party-list organization and to proclaim their winning nominees according to the votes that the group obtained in the May 13 polls.

Abang Lingkod is expected to get one of the 58 allocated seats for party-list groups in the House of Representatives after getting 260,215 votes in the elections.

But the Comelec maintained that until Abang Lingkod gets a final ruling from the High Court, the poll body would not proclaim the party-list group as a winner.

“We don’t let Abang Lingkod take its seat because the decision of the Supreme Court is not yet final,” Brillantes said in Filipino.