EDITORIAL - One more reason to review partylist system

Rep. Arnel Ty, one of the authors of House Bill 5312, which seeks a P400 million funding from government to jumpstart a new HIV/AIDS prevention and control program, is asking sexually active Filipino sailors to undergo tests for the disease.

On the surface, there is nothing wrong with Ty co-authoring the HIV/AIDS funding bill and asking sexually active Filipino sailors to undergo tests for the disease. Fighting the dreaded disease is a good and worthwhile advocacy for anyone.

What makes Ty’s advocacy look out of whack is the fact that he is a partylist congressman representing LPGMA, or the Liquified Petroleum Gas Marketeers Association, a specific sector that has got nothing to do with fighting diseases of any kind.

Of course, there is no prohibition banning any congressman from authoring or co-authoring a bill. After all, making laws is the primary function of all congressmen. But Ty became a member of Congress through a process called partylist representation.

Partylist congressmen are not elected generally but by only two percent of the vote to ensure that the allegedly marginalized sectors they ostensibly represent can have an easier time getting themselves represented.

While regular congressmen have to virtually fight tooth and nail to get themselves voted into office, all that partylist congressmen need do is belong to a supposedly underrepresented sector, obtain just two percent of all votes cast, and voila, they become honorable congressmen.

Because the process has been enshrined and recognized by law, there is nothing citizens can do anymore but go along with it. But at least the beneficiaries of this backdoor entry to Congress ought to keep their part of the bargain.

In other words, while they are not prevented from joining other advocacies, the main causes they should be espousing ought to hew closely to the concerns affecting the supposedly marginalized sectors they represent.

But of course there is not much that Ty can do by way of legislation for LPG sellers because they are a sector that can hardly be regarded as marginalized. In fact, they are very much in control over the lives of all Filipinos who need gas to cook their meals.