Poll body told: Rush party-list regulations

A group urged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday to fast-track its rules and regulations on the manner of voting for party-list representatives to the 12th Congress next year.

Lawyer Zenaida Reyes, chairwoman of the Women’s Power Group which is aspiring for a seat in the House of Representatives, asked the poll body to immediately formulate the necessary information campaign to instill in voters the importance of selecting their party-list representatives to Congress.

Party-list representation is the constitutional process where sectoral, civic and political organizations are given the opportunity to be represented in Congress.

Voters may vote for one party-list organization from the category to which he belongs, and the duly-constituted leader of the elected organization will represent the organization in the House of Representatives.

Reyes, also the president of Circulo de Abogados, lamented that it may again be too late for voters to fully understand how they can select their party-list representatives in time for the May 2001 elections.

"In the 1998 elections, many voters nationwide were not properly informed and were confused on what really were the party-list groups that would represent them in the Lower House," Reyes said.

In 1998, the system was not all clear and most voters abstained, qualifying only 14 party-list groups to take seats in the House although the Constitution allows for 52 seats, she added.

More than 200 party-list groups are expected to participate in the May 14, 2001 polls and Reyes expressed hope that the public will be informed of party-list voting at the earliest possible time. — Sandy Araneta