Disqualification of El Shaddai-backed party-list group sought

A disqualification case has been filed with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) against the El Shaddai-backed Buhay party-list group for allegedly being a "religious sect." The petitioners, self-described activists James Mark Terry Lacuanan Ridon and Mary Joan Guan, also said that Buhay — or Buhay Hayaan Yumabong — does not represent a marginalized sector. "Allowing Buhay’s continued registration and its nominees to sit in Congress deny the right to political participation and representation of the true party-lists representing the marginalized and the underrepresented," the two said in their nine-page petition filed Monday night. Ridon claims to be a student leader and human rights advocate while Guan claims to be a feminist activist who is currently executive director of the Center for Women's Resources. Buhay is faring well in the recent elections, ranking third among 187 groups with 1,249,555 votes, according to the latest Comelec tally. The top two are Ako Bicol Political Party with 1,522,986 votes, and the Coalition of Associations of Senior Citizens in the Philippines with 1,292,182. In their petition, Ridon and Guan cited Section 6 of the Party-list System Act or Republic Act 7941 that allows for the removal or cancellation of registration of any national, regional or sectoral party, organization or coalition that is "a religious sect or denomination, organization or association organized for religious purposes." "[This is] being blatantly disregarded by the continued registration and non-disqualification of Buhay which is clearly a religious organization," the petitioners said. RA 7941 defines the party-list system as “a mechanism of proportional representation" in the election of representatives to the House of Representatives. It says that party-list organizations shall be ranked from highest to lowest based on the number of votes they garnered during the elections. The 1987 Philippine Constitution provides that 20 percent of the seats in Congress be allotted for the sectoral representatives. Buhay claims to be a “pro-life advocacy group" which supposedly seeks to represent unborn babies, children, mothers, the sick, the elderly, the disabled, and all those who cannot protect themselves. It listed El Shaddai leader Mike Velarde as its fifth nominee for the 2010 automated polls. It likewise nominated the charismatic leader's son, Mariano Michael, as its first representative. The Comelec disqualified Buhay in 2001 for supposedly being an extension of El Shaddai. The Supreme Court, however, reversed the decision for lack of evidence in 2003. — KBK/RSJ, GMANews.TV