THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) announced that 47 of 51 winning party-lists in the last midterm elections have already received their certificates of proclamation, with four disputed cases still to be resolved. Eight of the party-list groups will have two seats each in the 18th House of Representatives, by virtue of their big number of votes; the 39 others will have one each.
This is the latest news about party-lists in the country, which had earlier drawn widespread publlc attention when President Duterte said in Cagayan de Oro City last June 12 that the party-list system has been used by millionaires to win seats in the House. “The rich people fund the party-lists,” he said. “They are named after laborers but the people behind it all are the millionaires.”
Article VI (Legislative Department), Section 5 (2) of the Constitution provides that “for three consecutive terms after the ratification of this Constitution (in 1987), one half of the sector allocated to party-list representatives shall be filled, as provided by law, by selection or election from the labor, peasant, urban poor, indigenous cultural communities, women, youth, and such other sectors, as may be provided by law, except the religious sector.”
It does seem that because of this listing of poor sectors of Philippine society, the party-list system was designed to give them an opportunity to be part of the House. But the law and the Constitution does not bar the rich from participating in the party-list system to push for causes such as greater benefits for senior citizens and teachers, and for the interests of regional groups like Bicolanos and Tausugs.
It would indeed be ideal if the party-list system could be developed as a means to include more poor people in the ranks of government, particularly in Congress, but it may take a constitutional revision. In the meanwhile, we will have to accept the new members of Congress who won their seats via the party-list system.
The party-list representatives in the House of Representatives have now organized themselves into a bloc, to have a greater say on issues in the House, including the ongoing search for speaker. The established leader of the new bloc is Rep. Michael Romero of 1-PACMAN (One Patriotic Coalition of Marginalized Nationals). He has been listed as the richest member of the House with a networth of R7.85 billion in his 2018 Statement of Assets Liabilities and Networth, while Sen. Cynthia Villar is the richest member of the Senate with R3.7 billion.
These recent news developments – President Duterte’s attack on the party-list system and its representatives in the House developing into a power bloc – have put the party-lists in the forefront of events in our political field. When the 18th Congress opens its session on July 22, with President Duterte delivering his fourth State of the Nation Address (SoNA), we look forward to further developments that are bound to have great repercussions in our politics and our government.
