Comelec: Gabriela to get 64th party-list seat

MANILA, Philippines — The Gabriela Party-list is set to occupy the 64th seat in the House of Representatives, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said on Sunday, September 14. 

Comelec Chairman George Garcia said the poll body had written to the House of Representatives, requesting the admission of a 64th party-list member to comply with constitutional requirements.

“If we are not mistaken, the Comelec will proclaim former Congresswoman representative Elago, who is the number one nominee of the Gabriela party-list,” Garcia said in Filipino, in an interview with DZMM. 

According to the Constitution, party-list representatives should comprise 20% of the total membership of the House of Representatives.

Article VI Section 5(2) says:

The party-list representatives shall constitute twenty per centum of the total number of representatives including those under the party list. For three consecutive terms after the ratification of this Constitution, one-half of the seats allocated to party-list representatives shall be filled, as provided by law, by selection or election from the labor, peasant, urban poor, indigenous cultural communities, women, youth, and such other sectors as may be provided by law, except the religious sector.

In this case, Garcia said the Comelec’s review revealed that the 63 party-list seats proclaimed in the 2025 elections represented only 19.8% of the House of Representatives.

“Because 63 is only 19.8%, while our Constitution states that the party-list should be 20% of the composition of the House of Representatives itself,” Garcia said in a mix of Filipino and English. 

During the 2025 elections, Gabriela received a total of 256,811 votes.