Ang Tsinoy party-list clarifies report on status

A party-list organization representing small entrepreneurs on Monday clarified that, contrary to an earlier report, their motion for reconsideration (MR) is still pending with the Commission on Elections (Comelec), which could still give them a shot in the May 10 elections. "We accept na hindi pa kami (that we are not yet) accredited, but our MR is still pending," said Carmelo Jun de Leoz, the first nominee of Ang Tsinoy group in a phone interview with GMANews.TV. De Leoz issued the statement after the Comelec listed Ang Tsinoy as one of the 32 party-list groups that are on the ballot but have been denied accreditation or have pending petitions for accreditation. De Leoz also corrected an earlier GMANews.TV report that said their motion had been denied by the Comelec. He said they filed the motion five days after the Comelec denied their petition for accreditation last January 15. He explained that the Comelec denied their petition because they supposedly do not represent a marginalized sector, adding that the poll body probably mistook them for a group of wealthy Chinese businessmen. “Tsinoy" is the colloquial Filipino term for “Chinese-Filipino." "Akala talaga nila tsinoy kami. If you can see for yourself, talagang mga maralitang entrepreneurs kami (They thought we were Filipino-Chinese, but if you can see for yourself, we are really struggling small-time entrepreneurs)," he said. De Leoz said they had already replaced their members whom they think do not represent a marginalized sector. "Hindi yun nakita ng Comelec (The Comelec did not see that)," he said. He also denied that they do not have constituencies in other regions as asserted by the Comelec in its decision. "Meron kaming na-produce na proof na we are in existence in other regions (We have proof that we are existent in other regions," he said, adding that they were able to get certificates from the field officers of the Comelec. Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said that votes cast for the 32 party-list, including Ang Tsinoy, would be considered as "stray". But he said that the votes for them would be counted and factored into the computation of the votes for the party-list winners should they suddenly be accredited. 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 those that 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. Each party-list organization, however, are not allowed more than three seats in congress.- KBK/HGS, GMANews.TV