EDITORIAL - Nothing but a farce

Who are these "marginalized" people? Robert Aventajado, the presidential adviser who allowed the Abu Sayyaf to pocket up to $20 million in ransom for kidnapping foreigners last year, is representing the Bagong Bayani Organization. Edward Serapio, Joseph Estrada’s legal counsel who now faces the charge of plunder, is a nominee of the Sports and Health Development Foundation. Estrada’s former interior secretary Ronaldo Puno represents the Philippine Local Autonomy Movement. Two police generals identified with Estrada – Romeo Acop and Jewel Canson – are nominees of Bantay Bayan and Mamamayan Ayaw sa Droga or MAD, respectively. Even the son of former police chief Panfilo Lacson, Ronald Jay, is a nominee of the Kabataan ng Masang Pilipino.

All these men are nominees of groups that are among the 162 organizations accredited by the Commission on Elections under the party-list system. And you thought the system was designed to give marginalized sectors such as fisherfolk and the urban poor a voice in legislation. Since the system was introduced, however, it didn’t take long for some quarters to learn that it provided a back-door entry to the House of Representatives. Come May you may be surprised to find actor Richard Gomez among the neophyte congressmen. Gomez is also a nominee of MAD.

The party-list system has become a joke, but it can be painful for taxpayers to laugh. Party-list representatives enjoy the same perks and pork barrel as regular congressmen. Which means taxpayers could end up paying even for the meals of Congressman Serapio’s secretaries.

If the system has turned into a farce, Joseph Estrada is enjoying a good laugh. The deposed president may just succeed in putting enough people in Congress to create trouble for the administration until 2004. So what if they gained entry through the backdoor?

The only hope here is that people will again be so confused by the system only a handful of parties will get the required number of votes. In the meantime, lawmakers seeking re-election should take a closer look at the party-list law for some much needed amendments.