EDITORIAL - Failed experiment

As the 52 winning party-list organizations were officially proclaimed yesterday, Commission on Elections Chairman George Garcia renewed his call for the amendment of Republic Act 7491, the Party-list System Act.

RA 7491 paved the way for the bastardization of the party list as envisioned by the framers of the 1987 Constitution, who had wanted the system to give marginalized sectors proportional representation in the House of Representatives.

Citing RA 7491, several Supreme Court rulings on cases challenging the qualifications of party-list groups or their nominees led to the current sorry situation wherein party-list organizations can represent anything and everything, including major political parties, religious groups and wealthy business interests.

Also based on RA 7491, a party-list nominee need not be considered marginalized or even be a legitimate member of the sector represented by the organization. A billionaire, for example, can represent security guards or delivery riders. A group can even claim to represent all sectors, with no focus on any specific segment of the population, interest or activity.

Compare this with the constitutional provision that created the party list, which mandated that one-half of the party-list seats shall be allocated to “the labor, peasant, urban poor, indigenous cultural communities, women, youth, and such other sectors as may be provided by law, except the religious sector.”

The provision, however, also specified that the sectoral allocation was good only for three consecutive terms from the ratification of the Constitution in 1987. As soon as the period lapsed, RA 7491 was enacted in 1995, opening the floodgates to the use of the party list as a backdoor to the House for one and all, with the original intent of marginal representation tossed out the window.

In previous elections, the Comelec had tried to disqualify party-list groups for not adhering to the intent of the constitutional provision. But the Supreme Court, citing RA 7491, reversed the Comelec. Today, even political dynasties have gained control of the party list.

Garcia is not the first Comelec official to call for an amendment of RA 7491. The Comelec in fact has been trying to get Congress to pass laws not only amending the party list but also regulating campaign finance. The Comelec has also supported calls for the passage of an enabling law defining and prohibiting political dynasties, as provided under the Constitution.

Unfortunately for the nation, every Congress has consistently ignored electoral reforms that might hinder lawmakers’ political and family fortunes. And the party list has become a failed experiment in marginalized representation. With political will, it can still be corrected, but this is a big question mark at this point.