Poll exec defends decision on Mikey Arroyo case

An election official who voted in favor of Mikey Arroyo’s return to the House of Representatives this time as a party-list representative on Wednesday defended his decision. According to Commission on Elections (Comelec) commissioner Armando Velasco, the poll body cannot dictate to a particular party-list group whom it should pick as nominee to the chamber. “Ang [may] control dito is the party-list (The control should be with the party). You have to give the party [the right] to choose," he told reporters in an interview Wednesday. Arroyo’s party, Ang Galing Pinoy (AGP), claims to represent security guards and tricycle drivers. Velasco said the party-list law, which several lawmakers want reviewed, only requires a nominee to be a member of the party-list group. He said the nominee does not need to belong to the marginalized sector the group represents. “Sabi ng batas it is enough na kailangan member ka ng party (The law says it’s enough that you are a member of the party)," he said. But according to Comelec Resolution 8807, party-list groups are required to submit documentary evidence proving that their nominees “truly belong" to the marginalized and underrepresented sector they seek to represent. Aside from Velasco, Comelec commissioners Nicodemo Ferrer, Lucenito Tagle, and Elias Yusoph also signed the en banc resolution allowing Arroyo to sit as AGP representative. Those who dissented were Rene Sarmiento and Gregorio Larrazabal. Sarmiento said he respects the decision of his fellow commissioners. He, however, maintained that a party-list nominee should belong to the marginalized sector the group represents or else he should be disqualified. Sarmiento heads the Comelec First Division, which recently disqualified two nominees of the Ang Kasangga party-list for not being micro-entrepreneurs, which the group claims to represent. The Comelec en banc decision allowing Arroyo to sit as party-list representative may still be appealed with the Supreme Court. - KBK, GMANews.TV