Comelec opens party list to 13 families

MANILA, Philippines – Thirteen organizations whose nominees come from the same families have been accredited for next year’s party-list polls, according to the complete list released by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Thursday, November 29.

They include Ang Mata’y Alagaan (AMA), whose first 3 nominees upon application are members of Supreme Court Justice Presbitero Velasco Jr’s family. Also on the list is Ako Ang Batang Sora Movement, Inc. (ABSI), which counts 3 relatives of Quezon City congresswoman Mary Ann Susano among the 5 nominees each group is allowed to have.

For the 2013, the party list has become a sort of family affair for 36 of the 289 groups that applied for inclusion (165 new applicants, 124 accredited in 2010). Each of these 38 have 2-3 nominees who are related to each other.

Organizations applying for accreditation for the party list have to nominate 5 persons each to represent them. For every corresponding percentage of votes that the group garners, it can send to the House of Representatives the nominees who are first on the list.

AMA’s Nominees 1-3 were Justice Velasco’s wife Lorna and children Tricia Nicole and Vincent Michael. The poll body said earlier the group had replaced the Velascos as nominees, although it wasn’t clear when the substitution was made and who replaced them.

ABSI has Congresswoman Susano’s nieces Vanessa Rose and Maricel Francisco as first and fourth nominees, and her nephew Michael Ryan Francisco as fifth nominee.

Eleven other groups, each with two related nominees, have been accredited by the Comelec for the 2013 party list. They are:

•Agrarian Development Association (ADA) – Former Ilocos Sur Rep. Eric D. Singson and his son, incumbent Ilocos Sur Rep. Eric G. Singson Jr.
•Agbiag! Timpuyog Ilocano Inc. (AGBIAG) – Patricio T. Antonio and Jose Antonieto M. Antonio.
•Agila ng Katutubong Pilipino, Inc. (AGILA) – Gil A. Valera and Elorde B. Valera.
•Ang Laban ng Indiginong Filipino (ALIF) – Current ALIF Rep. Acmad Tomawis’s sons Abdul (his political liaison officer) and Agakhan.
•Angkla: Ang Partido ng mga Pilipinong Marino, Inc. (ANGKLA) – Jesulito A. Manalo and Jose Miguel S. Manalo.
•Bagong Henerasyon (BH) – Incumbent BH Rep. Bernadette Cruz-Herrera Dy and her husband Edgar Allan D. Dy.
•Trade Union Congress Party (TUCP) – Incumbent TUCP Rep. Raymond Democrito C. Mendoza and his brother Michael Democrito. They are sons of TUCP president Democrito Mendoza.
•1 Alliance Advocating Autonomy Party (1 AAA Party) – Former Department of Transportation and Communications secretary and Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon D. Alvarez and Alfonso A. Alvarez.
•Aasenso Sa Barangay – LAKAS Inc. (ASBI-LAKAN) – Hermin E. Arceo and Ariel S. Arceo.
•OFW Family Club, Inc. (OFW FAMILY) – Former ambassador and National Labor Relations Comission chair Roy V. Señeres Sr. and his son Roy M. Señeres Jr.
•Padayon Pilipino (PADAYON PILIPINO) – Vladimir R. Elazequi and Natasha E. Elazequi.
Twenty-three other groups with 2-3 related nominees were already disqualified by Comelec.

They include the Alliance of Organizations, Networks, and Associations of the Philippines (ALONA), whose nominees are House Minority Leader and Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez’s children Danilo Jr. and Joanna, and in-law Alexis.

Also disqualified was the National Crusaders for Peace and Democracy Inc. (NCPD), whose nominees include retired police general Romeo Maganto and his children Faith and Rommel.

Comelec Resolution 9366, or the rules and regulations governing the 2013 partylist elections, does not specifically state that having relatives as nominees of a single party is a basis for disqualification.

Having a single family as source for a number of nominees, however, tends to go against the main criteria that a group has to represent and to have nominees belonging to marginalized sectors.

The Comelec on Thursday released a list of 79 accredited groups for the 2013 party-list race. –-Reynaldo Santos Jr., Rappler.com