Akbayan seeks to disqualify Mikey as party-list nominee

Another progressive party-list group asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to disqualify nominees of controversial party-list Ang Galing Pinoy (AGP), including Presidential son and Pampanga Rep. Jose Miguel "Mikey" Arroyo, for failing to submit proof that it represents tricycle drivers and security guards as it claims. In a two-page letter to Comelec Law Department head Ferdinand Rafanan, Akbayan party-list Rep. Walden Bello and chair emeritus Loretta Rosales asked the poll body to immediately declare the disqualification of AGP’s nominees.

Comelec Resolution 8807 requires party-list groups to submit documentary evidence showing that their nominees "truly belong" to marginalized sectors they seek to represent in Congress. It said that the groups must submit a track record of the group showing the participation of the nominee in projects advancing the interests of the sector, proof that the nominees are advocates of the sector — either through declarations, speeches, written articles — and certification that the nominees have been members of the organization 90 days prior to election day. The AGP supposedly seeks to represent security guards and tricycle drivers. But in a letter to Rosales dated Tuesday, Rafanan confirmed that AGP did not submit documents that would prove their nominees represent the said sector. Earlier, GMANews.TV reported that no proof has yet been submitted indicating that Arroyo is a valid party-list nominee. GMANews.TV has already sent a text message requesting comment from Arroyo but no reply has yet been received as of posting time. "Ang Galing Pinoy is already in clear and flagrant breach of this requirement," said Bello and Rosales in their letter to Rafanan on Wednesday. The two Akbayan representatives said that they did not file a formal petition because the matter is administrative, because it involves the non-submission of documents required of party-list nominees. They said that they are leaving it to the Comelec to take action. "We expect that the commission will prove that only those who have satisfied the requirements are qualified to participate in the election," Bello told reporters in an interview. Resolution 8807 states that any nominee who does not possess all the qualifications of a nominee and who commits any act declared to be grounds for disqualification may be disqualified from continuing as a nominee. A petitioner is given five days after the last day of the filing of the list of nominees if the ground for disenfranchisement is the lack of qualifications. A petition to disqualify a nominee may also be filed at any time — even before the nominee is proclaimed — if he or she is committing an act that may be grounds for disqualification. Rosales, for her part, said that they will wait for the poll body to act on the matter before they make their next move. "Pag di nila inaksyunan, ang Comelec ang malalagay sa katatawa-tawang position sapagkat sila ang gumawa ng batas at kami ay sumusunod sa batas (If it doesn’t take action, the Comelec will be a laughing stock because it made the rules and we are only following those rules)," she said. Rafanan could not be immediately reached for comment. Akbayan also said that it "appreciates the efforts" of the poll body in formulating rules that help ensure proper representation in the party-list system. "We fervently hope that the commission will continue to take decisive action to faithfully implement the rules it has itself enacted in this regard," the group said in the letter. Earlier, militant party-list group Bayan Muna and Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo and Gabriela Rep. Liza Maza separately sought the disqualification of Arroyo from the 2010 elections, saying that he is not qualified to become the nominee of the Ang Galing Pinoy party-list. - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV