AMENDMENTS ARE IN ORDER

The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) has now posted in its website the list of all party-list nominees for the May 2025 mid-term elections for the purpose of not only informing the public but ostensibly to allow the people to scrutinize the nominees and possibly file petitions for the cancellation of their nominations if they are not qualified.

But will the voting public have ample opportunity to really dissect and inspect closely all the 156 registered party-lists and their nominees – almost all registered and declared party-lists have a minimum number of ten nominees listed with some having twenty nominees listed under two factions with each faction having ten nominees – considering that they are only allowed five days upon the publication of such list of party-lists within which to file a
petition for cancellation of nomination?

Is the voting public even interested to scrutinize the nominees, except perhaps those who have direct relationships or are intensely interested in the career of those particular nominees and believe they are not qualified, since what is required of them during election day is simply to cast two (2) votes, one for their congressional district representative and the other vote for their choice party list. It must also be stressed that only registered voters are
allowed to file a complaint questioning the ability of a party-list nominee and not just any Tom, Dick and Harry.

Also do the voters themselves really understand what the party-list system is all about? Are they convinced that
voting for a particular party-list is in the best interest of everyone as embodied in Section 2 of Republic Act 7941 otherwise known as the Party-List system act which provides, “The State shall promote proportional representation in the election of representatives to the House of Representatives through a party-list system of registered national, regional and sectoral parties or organizations or coalitions thereof, which will enable Filipino citizens belonging to
marginalized and under-represented sectors, organizations and parties, and who lack well-defined political constituencies but who could contribute to the formulation and enactment of appropriate legislation that will benefit the nation as a whole, to become members of the House of Representatives.

Towards this end, the State shall develop and guarantee a full, free and open party system in order to attain the broadcast possible representation of party, sectoral or group interests in the House of Representatives by enhancing their chances to compete for and win seats in the legislature, and shall provide the simplest scheme possible.” Or as some experts claim, there is a need to reform the party-list system in the country considering that per their observation the system has already been abused by politicians and big-businesses.

An election watchdog Kontra Daya came out with a statement previously in 2022 that some party list groups are, “identified with political clans and big businesses, as well as for having incumbent local officials, connections with the government and military, unknown or unclear advocacies and representations; and pending court cases and
criminal charges”. So if reforms are needed for the party-list system then the public should clamor Congress to institute said reforms by amending the law R.A. 7941 to make it more in accordance with its stated purpose and motive.

For those who have the time and opportunity you can go over the entire 156 party-list groups to discover how
parties, sectors and organizations have identified themselves for the chance to have a seat and representation in the House of Representatives. You might be surprised to learn that a sector, organization or party is sometimes represented not only once but even a couple times. In fact there is a Nanay party-list group which presumably
represents the women sector, although there is no Tatay party-list group, aside from the Nanay ng mga Kababaihan at Kanilang mga Kasangga sa Lipunan (KABABAIHAN), Mothers for change (MOCHA), GABRIELA, and Babae Ako Para sa Bayan Inc. (https://comelec.gov.ph/php-tpls-attachments/2025NLE/ PressReleases/ CertifiedList_PLGwithNominees_2025NLE.pdf)

If the government and the people want reasonable and relevant laws then it must demand from Congress that the law on Party-list groups be amended to reflect a more responsive party-list system that is insulated from abuse and
corruption. For instance one suggestion is to provide a better definition of what a sector, organization or party is allowed under a party-list group since the present definition under Section 3 of the R.A. 7941 seems too broad and general. Another suggested amendment is in the refusal and/or cancellation of registration of a party-list group as provided in Section 6 of the said law, which has to include those politicians or big businesses that seek to corrupt
party-list groups for their own vested interests. There is so much more that can be done to improve the said law on the party-list system but to emphasize amendments are in order.

Amianan Balita Ngayon