Comelec has yet to set number of House seats for 10 winning party-lists

Congressional seats allotted for 10 winning party-list groups to be proclaimed on Monday have yet to be determined, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said on Friday. The number of seats to be awarded to the 10 party-list groups "will still be discussed by the en banc," Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal told reporters in an interview on Friday. The poll body has yet to receive all votes cast for the party-list system since election failure were declared in seven municipalities of Lanao del Sur, two municipalities of Basilan, and one municipality of Sarangani. Special polls have been scheduled on June 3. Votes obtained by party-list groups to be proclaimed on Monday are more than enough to assure them at least one seat in Congress, Larrazabal said. "The votes (of the party-list groups) are more than the minimum number of votes required to obtain a seat," he said. Under the Party-list System Act (Republic Act 7941), 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. The same law indicates that no more than three seats will be awarded to a party-list organization. According to the last tally of party-list votes released by the Comelec, the ten leading party-list organizations are:

• Ako Bicol Political Party — 1,522,986 votes
• Coalition of Associations of Senior Citizens in the Philippines — 1,292,182 votes
• Buhay Hayaan Yumabong Party-list — 1,249,555 votes
• Akbayan Citizen's Action Party — 1,058,691 votes
• Gabriela Women's Party — 1,001,421 votes
• Cooperative Natcco Network Party — 943,529 votes
• 1st Consumers Alliance for Rural Energy (1-CARE) — 768,829 votes
• ABONO — 766,615 votes
• Bayan Muna — 746,019 votes
• An Waray — 711,631 votes

Only Ako Bicol and 1-CARE are not incumbent party-list groups. The Comelec en banc was supposed to proclaim the first 10 winning party-list groups last week but the recent inquiries being conducted by the House of Representatives on alleged poll irregularities have prevented them from doing so. The poll body then moved the proclamation to Monday, May 31. The Comelec also plans to proclaim the rest of the party-list winners once the special elections are concluded, he said. "We just need to complete it... importante yung una muna yung 10 will be proclaimed (what's important is that the first 10 will be proclaimed)," he said. The Comelec also plans to resolve disqualification cases that have been filed against some nominees of party-list groups. "These we will have to be resolved in a speedy manner," he said. The 1987 Philippine Constitution provides that 20 percent of the seats in Congress be allotted for the sectoral representatives, including those from marginalized groups. - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV