32 unaccredited party-list groups still on ballot

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Tuesday that the names of 32 party-list groups not accredited by the poll body to take part in next month's elections remain on the official ballots. Comelec chairman Jose Melo said the 32 groups were either not accredited outright or have pending motions for reconsiderations with the poll body or with the Supreme Court (SC). "They're on the ballot but they're not accredited as of this time... baka bigyan ng SC ng pagkakataon (but the SC might give them another chance) so we still retained them on the list," Melo told reporters in an interview. The unaccredited party-list groups as of posting time are: 1. 1- NET (denied December 2009) 2. AASCA (denied January 2010) 3. ABBA-AMA (motion for reconsideration denied March 2010) 4. ABO (motion for reconsideration denied March 2010, with 2nd MR pending) 5. ACMA (motion for reconsideration denied January 2010) 6. ACTS (motion for reconsideration denied April 2010) 7. AK (motion for reconsideration denied March 2010) 8. AKAP (motion for reconsideration denied January 2010) 9. AKAP TAO (dismissed February 2010) 10. AKI (dismissed February 2010) 11. ALNA (motion for reconsideration denied January 2010) 12. ALUM (motion for reconsideration denied) 13. ANG MINERO (motion for reconsideration pending) 14. ANG PADER (motion for reconsideration dismissed April 2010) 15. ANG SAMAKA (motion for reconsideration denied January 2010) 16. ANG TRABAHANTE (motion for reconsideration denied March 2010) 17. ANG TSINOY (motion for reconsideration pending) 18. APELA (motion for reconsideration denied January 2010) 19. AS (motion for reconsideration denied April 2010) 20. AVPAP (motion for reconsideration denied January 2010) 21. AWAT (motion for reconsideration pending) 22. BIDA (BINIGKIS) (motion for reconsideration denied January 2010) 23. DAMAYAN (motion for reconsideration denied February 2010) 24. EMMANUEL (motion for reconsideration pending) 25. FFW (dismissed February 2010) 26. NCCP (motion for reconsideration denied February 2010) 27. PFP (motion for reconsideration denied February 2010) 28. SAGIP (motion for reconsideration pending) 29. UCAP (motion for reconsideration denied January 2010) 30. UFS (motion for reconsideration denied February 2010) 31. UNLAD PILIPINAS (motion for reconsideration denied January 2010) 32. AKSI (dismissed January 2010) Melo said the 32 party-list organizations listed were denied accreditation due to some "deficiencies." The Party-list System Act (Republic Act 7941) defines the party-list system as "a mechanism of proportional representation" in the election of representatives to the Lower House. In a separate interview, Comelec spokesman James Jimenez explained that the unaccredited groups probably failed to show their constituency and track record of advocacy for the sector they seek to represent. He said one or two of them do not even supposedly represent a marginzalized sector. Jimenez further said that even if their names remain on the ballot, votes cast for them would not be factored into the computation of the votes for the party-list winners. "Those whose names are on the list but are not accredited, you're votes will be stray," he said. According to Section 11 of RA 7941, party-list organizations shall be ranked from highest to lowest based on the number of votes they garnered during the elections. It said that those who received at least two percent of the total votes cast for the party-list system shall be entitled to one congressional seat each while those who received more than two percent of the votes shall be entitled to additional seats in proportion to their total number of votes. However, each party-list organization shall not be awarded more than three seats in congress. Jimenez admitted that it will be difficult if some of the unaccredited groups were to be suddenly approved by the SC. He said they would have to go back to the election returns and other election records to recompute the party-list results. "The party-list system has always been complicated," he said. — RSJ, GMANews.TV