Comelec junks Bayan Muna petition against Ako Bicol

LEGAZPI CITY: The Commission on Election (Comelec) finally junked the petition filed by the militant organizations in Bicol led by Bayan Muna against the Ako Bicol (AKB), a homegrown regional political party in the province. In a 15-page decision written by Nicodemo Ferrer, the poll body dismissed the petition for disqualification filed by Bayan Muna against Ako Bicol in a resolution dated June 29 because of lack of merit.

“AKB has garnered the most number of votes for the party-lists groups. The electorate has spoken, majority of them from the Bicol Region. Their will should be respected and upheld. Finally, if there is still an iota of doubt as to the qualification of AKB, the same should be resolved in its favor,” Ferrer said in his decision.

The proclamation of the nominees of AKB, led by Christopher Co and lawyers Rodel Batocabe and Pido Garbin have been put on hold following the petition filed by Bayan Bicol supported by Bayan Muna on the grounds that the AKB and its nominees do not belong or represent the marginalized and underrepresented sectors.

Marites “Tessa” Lopez, spokesman of Bayan Bicol, filed a petition before the Comelec and sought the cancellation or removal of the registration and accreditation of AKB as a party under the party-list system of representation.

The Bayan Bicol petition, however, was dismissed by the Come-lec’s second division.

Ferrer said that with respect to AKB track record the petitioners did not allege nor have they shown any evidence to prove that it has worked for the benefit of the Co family or of the corporations they owned.

Bayan Muna and other militant groups in Bicol sought the poll body to disqualify and disenfranchise the Bicolano homegrown regional political party a week after the May 10 elections.

“On the contrary, AKB has shown that even before it was registered as a political party under the party-list system it has already been helping alleviate the plights of the Bicolanos especially those affected by the perennial typhoons that annually visited the region,” Ferrer said.

“AKB has been trying to erase poverty in the region through programs that make people self-sufficient and that it has been pushing for the development of Bicol. The fact that the chairman and some officers of AKB are big businessmen and rich people does not necessarily mean that the party does not represent the marginalized and underre-presented,” he added.

Earlier, the Bicol bloc led by Sen. Francis Escudero urged the Comelec to proclaim immediately the three nominees of Ako Bicol to uphold the rule of law and the voice of the Bicolano electorate.

Ako Bicol topped the elections in the partylist system of representation with more than 1.5 million votes nationwide with almost 1.1 million votes in the Bicol region alone. –RHAYDZ B. BARCIA, Manila Times