Palace urges Comelec to step up info drive on party-list system

Malacañang on Friday urged the Commission on Elections to step up its information drive on the party-list system, a day after a survey showed three of five Filipinos remain clueless about it. Deputy presidential spokesman Gary Olivar said it is unacceptable that people are still unaware of the party-list system of representation, which was implemented during the 1998 elections. "Dapat in those years alam na ito ng ating mga kababayan. Kung kulang ang kaalaman ng publiko dapat magpursigi ang Comelec sa bagay na yan (If in those 20 years our people have remained ignorant about the party-list system, the Comelec must exert extra effort to remedy that)," Olivar said in an interview on dzXL radio. He said the Comelec can do this by beefing up its voters’ education efforts. “Ang payo natin magpatuloy maging mas masigasig sa voters education ang Comelec (We advise the Comelec to exert more efforts in voter education)," he said. On Thursday, pollster Pulse Asia released the results of a survey showing that three of five Filipinos are still "not aware" of the party-list system. [See: 6 of 10 Pinoys unaware of party-list system — Pulse Asia] According to a Pulse Asia survey conducted on 3,000 adults from March 21 to 28, almost six in 10 registered voters — or 58 percent — “still have not heard or read anything about the party-list system." Although the level of awareness in the party-list system last March (42 percent) has increased from last February’s ratings (38 percent), the figure is still “significantly lower" than the figures at about the same period in the 2007 party-list elections, which Pulse Asia pegged at 53 percent. — LBG/RSJ, GMANews.TV