Migrante, Sanlakas protest delistment from party-list roster

Members of two militant organizations on Tuesday stormed the office of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Manila to protest the poll body's decision to strike them off the rolls of party-list groups that could take part in the 2010 elections. Migrante International and Sanlakas members who picketed in front of the Comelec office in Intramuros, claimed that the poll body's decision was unconstitututional. “One need only read their unfounded, downright illegal, and outrageous resolutions lately to realize how the Comelec is so bent on turning away as many organizations as it can for the 2010 elections," said Migrante sectoral party chairperson Connie Bragas-Regalado. Migrante and Sanlakas were among the 25 party-list groups that were delisted by the Comelec after they failed to get at least two percent of the votes cast in the last two elections. The Comelec based its decision on Section 6 (8) of the Omnibus Election Code, stating that poll body “may motu proprio" remove or cancel the registration of any national, regional, or sectoral party, organization or coalition on a number of grounds. One of the grounds is the “failure to participate in the last two (2) preceding elections or fails to obtain at least two per centum (2 percent) of the votes cast under the party-list system in the two (2) preceding elections for the constituency in which it has registered." Unconstitutional? Migrante and Sanlakas, however, argued that they should neither be covered nor affected by the rules. Sanlakas Representative JV Bautista said that based on the Supreme Court ruling on Barangay Association for National Advancement and Transparency (BANAT) vs Comelec, the two-percent threshold in the distribution of additional party-lists is unconstitutional. And with their votes, which is 189, 517 or 1.5 percent of the total votes cast for party-list reps in 2004, Bautista said Sanlakas should have been given a congressional seat, and exempted from delistment. The Comelec, however, stressed that the rule only covers party-list groups that were allocated seats in 2007 and not earlier. Sanlakas garnered only 0.62 percent of the party-list votes in the 2007 polls. For its part, Migrante said it should not be covered by the grounds for disqualification because the group did not participate in the 2007 polls. Migrante said it only participated in the 2004 elections where it gained 0.8644 percent of the votes. “In good faith, we said we will first strengthen the party-list. This time we think we’re ready because now our group has a wider coverage, we are even present in 23 countries," Bragas-Regalado earlier told GMANews.TV. She said her group had even submitted to the poll body a certification of their intent not to participate in the 2007 elections. Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal, however, stressed that as long as the party-list group did not reach the two-percent threshold for two preceding elections, it doesn’t matter whether or not they had earlier informed the Comelec that they would not run either in 2004 or 2007. “The two-percent threshold is the law," he told reporters in an interview. Migrante will seek a temporary restraining order from the Supreme Court to bar the Comelec from implementing its decision. Comelec Commissioner Lucenito Tagle said delisted groups that have filed a motion for reconsideration could still file their manifestation of interest to participate in next year’s elections while the poll body decides on their petition. “We’ll be resolving these petitions in due time," added Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento. According to the Comelec Clerk of Commission, a total of 10 party-list groups have either filed a motion for reconsideration or a verified opposition against their delistment. Meanwhile, the poll body is still in the process of deliberating on the other requests for accreditation of more than 200 groups wishing to participate in the May 2010 party-list elections. The filing of certificates of candidacy will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. from November 20 to November 30, 2009, and up to midnight of December 1, 2009, inclusive of Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays. - GMANews.TV