Delisted OFW party-list group storms Comelec

About 40 members of overseas Filipino worker (OFW) group Migrante International on Monday stormed the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to petition their delistment as an accredited party-list allowed to participate in the 2010 national elections. “Sana magkaroon ng hearing, sana makapag-argue kami (We hope that there will be a hearing; we hope that we will be able to argue our case)," Julius Garcia Matibag, legal counsel for Migrante, told GMANews.TV before the party-list filed their opposition to the Comelec resolution delisting the group. Earlier, the Comelec delisted Migrante and 24 other party-list groups after they failed to get at least two percent of the votes cast in the last two elections.

The poll body cited as basis Section 6 (8) of the Omnibus Election Code, stating that the poll body may “motu propio" (by its own volition) remove or cancel the registration of any national, regional, or sectoral party, organization, or coalition on a number of grounds. One of the Comelec's basis for striking Migrante out is the “failure to participate in the last two (2) preceding elections or failure to obtain at least two per centum (2%) of the votes cast under the party-list system in the two (2) preceding elections for the constituency in which it has registered." But Migrante’s counsel argued that the group is not covered by the grounds for disqualification cited because the group participated only in the 2004 elections but not in the 2007 polls. “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," Connie Bragas-Regalado, chairperson of Migrante, told GMANews.TV. According to Regalado, the Comelec decision was “politically motivated." “We think our delistment is politically motivated because we are a progressive party-list group that is critical of the policies of the government for its forced migration strategies," she said. Comelec Chairman Jose Melo, however, belied the allegation. “Hindi naman ganoon. Alam mo, kung minsan parang sore losers sila, eh, dahil natanggal sila (Not really, they’re just being sore losers because they did not meet the two percent [requirement]," he told GMANews.TV. Melo said that Migrante is free to contest the decision of the poll body. Groups stricken off the list may file their verified opposition to the resolution until October 26. “They can file a motion for reconsideration but (they shouldn’t) go to the media and complain, that’s the wrong forum," Melo added. Should the Comelec rule against them, Matibag said they would seek a temporary restraining order from the Supreme Court so the group could file a manifestation of interest to participate in 2010 polls. The Comelec is still deliberating on the requests for accreditation of more than 200 groups wishing to participate in the May 2010 party-list elections. Since the party-list system began in 1998, no OFW group has succeeded in winning a seat in the House of Representatives. - GMANews.TV