Party-list reps back amending party-list system

MANILA, Philippines — Ranking party-list lawmakers have expressed support to calls for amendments in the Party-list Law and system to prevent abuses by some sectors criticized by President Duterte earlier this week.

Deputy Speaker and BH party-list Rep. Bernadette Herrera and Assistant Majority Leader and Ang Probinsyano party-list Rep. Alfred delos Santos agreed with the President’s pronouncement that some quarters abuse the system to advance their interests in government.

“There’s really a need to amend the party-list system. But we need to clarify the definition of ‘marginalized’ because it’s a misconception that the representative should belong to the same sector they represent in Congress. There are really things that need to be amended in the system, but it will take a long process because of many opinions,” Herrera stressed during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum last Wednesday.

Herrera explained that the party-list system has already gone through a lot since its introduction in the 1987 Constitution, including a review by the Supreme Court.

She argued that party-list groups and representatives have proven how they can advance the interests of their respective sectors in Congress, citing the laws she pursued for the welfare of children and women that her party-list represents.

Delos Santos agreed with this opinion and said that the party-list system is sometimes abused but “majority of our representatives remain legitimate in fighting for causes for our respective sectors.”

Delos Santos added that while he personally believes “there are sometimes other party-list group who misuse” their power, “I still see that a good majority of the party-list lawmakers are really representing the sectors that they represent.”

“Like the Constitution, the party-list system needs to be updated. But the criteria for representation should have nothing to do with status in life. As long as you have the experience to represent your sector, you can be a party-list representative,” Delos Santos pointed out.

Meanwhile, the Makabayan bloc slammed the President for again accusing their party-list groups of being fronts of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

Gabriela party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas said the President’s latest “red-tagging remarks” against their group could be his “desperate last-ditch attempts to silence progressive groups in the run-up to 2022 polls.”

“We see nothing but desperation in Duterte’s recycled red-tagging claims against Gabriela party-list and the entire Makabayan bloc, especially as it was issued a few weeks before the May 9 polls. Instead of solving the problem of rising oil prices, he keeps on red-tagging us,” Brosas said.

Brosas believes that the latest statement from the President could “signal a new wave of harassment and threats against Makabayan bloc and our supporters.”

“We will never allow this. Duterte and his cohorts in the NTF-ELCAC should stop endangering the lives of civilians who are merely espousing the politics of change by the Makabayan,” she added, referring to the task force to end local communist armed conflict. – Delon Porcalla