SC stops exclusion of 4 party-list groups

MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court (SC) stopped the Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday from implementing its decision disqualifying four party-list groups from the midterm polls in 2013.

In full-court session, SC justices voted to grant the petitions of Ako Bicol (AKB), Association of Philippine Electric Cooperatives (APEC), 1st Consumer’s Alliance for Rural Energy Inc. (1CARE) and Alliance for Rural Concerns (ARC) for the immediate issuance of either a temporary restraining order (TRO) or status quo ante (SQA) order.

In the same order that was confirmed by a member of the high court to The STAR, the high tribunal also consolidated the four petitions and directed the Comelec to answer them by filing a comment within 10 days from receipt of notice.

The SC order means that pending final resolution of the main petitions, the Comelec should include the four organizations in the roster of party-list groups set to be finalized next month for printing in the ballots starting Jan. 20.

The order does not mean that the petitioners have already won their case and may join the May 2013 elections since the high court has yet to rule on the merits of their petitions after deliberations.

The SC public information office, however, has not confirmed this as of press time, saying they have not yet received this information from the office of Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno, who implements a “dignified silence” policy in the high court.

Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. said the poll body is ready to abide with the TRO but will still question the rationale behind the SC ruling.

“I think there is no urgency in stopping us since we have yet to begin the configuration and printing of official ballots so if they decide immediately on the cases, we can still include their names in the official list if we are ordered by the Court,” Brillantes said.

He however noted that the SC decision would not affect the Comelec’s efforts to purge the list of party-list groups and they would continue to disqualify unqualified groups from participating in the next party-list race.

The four party-list groups that sought immediate action of the SC cited urgency due to a plan of the poll body to finalize the list of party-list groups.

The high court heeded the call and acted on their petitions when it resumed session yesterday after a two-week holiday recess.

In its petition filed last Oct. 30, AKB argued it would be deprived of their fair chance to prepare for a nationwide campaign should the high court fail to enjoin Comelec from disqualifying it and eventually grant its petition.

Through lead counsel, retired SC justice Vicente Mendoza, the group cited the plan of the poll body to finalize next month the list of candidates for the printing of ballots starting Jan. 20, 2013.

The three other petitioners cited the same ground in seeking the issuance of TRO or SQA. APEC filed its petition last Nov. 6, 1-CARE last Nov. 8 and ARC last Monday.

Petitioners accused Comelec of grave abuse of discretion either by arrogating into itself the legislative power by imposing new definition of “marginalized and underrepresented sectors” or ignoring earlier rulings of the high court that upheld their qualifications as party-list groups. They all argued the poll body had no jurisdiction over the issue.

They also alleged violation of their constitutional right to due process, saying they were not given ample time to challenge their disqualification before the poll body.

AKB topped the party-list elections in May 2010 with 1,522,986 votes and earned three seats in the House of Representatives now occupied by Reps. Rodel Batocabe, Christopher Co and Alfredo Garbin Jr.

The Comelec disqualified the group because its accreditation is for a regional political party and not for party-list and also for redundancy of the functions of district representatives.

APEC got 313,689 votes in 2010 polls and earned one seat now occupied by Rep. Ponciano Payuyo.1-CARE, on the other hand, won two seats in Congress – Reps. Michael Angelo Rivera and Salvador Cabaluna III – after garnering 768,829 votes in the same polls.

APEC and 1-CARE were both disqualified because they represent electric consumers, which the Comelec said are “not among the marginalized and underrepresented sectors as defined under Republic Act 7941 or the Party-list System Act.”

ARC won a seat in the 2007 polls occupied by former Rep. Narciso Santiago III, son of Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago. It was delisted also supposedly for not belonging to the 12 specific groups listed in Republic Act 7941 (Party-list System Act): labor, peasant, fisherfolk, urban poor, indigenous cultural communities, elderly, handicapped, women, youth, veterans, overseas workers and professionals.

Insidious communist move

Meanwhile, some 15 party-list groups with nominees in the House of Representatives shut down their offices yesterday to protest what they said was the insidious campaign by the leftist Bayan Muna to have them stripped of accreditation before the Comelec.

Among the groups that shut their main offices in the House and their satellite offices in the provinces for a week were An Waray, AKB, APEC, A Teacher, Alyansa ng mga Grupong Haligi ng Agham at Teknolohiya para sa Mamamayan (Agham), Agricultural Sector Alliance of the Philippines (AGAP), Association of Laborers and Employees (ALE), Alagad, Aangat Tayo, Abante Mindanao, 1 Ang Pamilya, Alliance for Nationalism and Democracy (ANAD), Bagong Henerasyon, Citizens’ Battle Against Corruption, Coop-Natcco, Senior Citizen, and Youth Against Corruption and Poverty (YACAP).

The party-list lawmakers said Bayan Muna and other leftist groups like Kontra Daya have been campaigning and filing disqualification petitions before the Comelec against nearly all party-list groups, including new ones.

An Waray party-list Rep. Florencio Noel, who led the protest, said those seeking assistance in their respective offices were pointed to the nearest Bayan Muna office

“They (Bayan Muna and allied party-list groups) are the only ones who can represent all kinds of sectors in the country, and all other party-list groups, like us, are bogus,” Noel said sarcastically.

“So our assistance, and bills filed and passed are all bogus, as well as all those who voted for us. They think they are the only ones that can do good, that is, if they are really doing good,” he said.

Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Teodoro Casiño, who is on his last term, has filed his candidacy for senator but is so far trailing in the surveys.

“I put in my office, all solicitation please proceed to Bayan Muna offices,” Yacap party-list Rep. Carol Jayne Lopez said. “They said they are the only ones who can help the poor. Now, let’s see.”

Another party-list lawmaker, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said there had been persistent reports that Bayan Muna and other leftist party-list groups have been channeling their pork barrel funds to communist rebels.

“They want to dominate the House and party-list system because they lost over P400 million in pork barrel funds to fund the communist insurgency when they lost some seats in the last elections,” the lawmaker said.

“Don’t you wonder why the NPA continue to thrive aside from extortion?” the lawmaker added. – Paolo Romero, Mayen Jaymalin, Fred Padernos, Edu Punay (The Philippine Star)