BILANG PILIPINO | Popular personalities abusing party-list system

BILANG PILIPINO | Popular personalities abusing party-list system – analyst

October 11, 2021 , 09:43 PM

By Clarist Zablan

(October 11, 2021) – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) needs to tighten up the criteria for evaluating party-lists and prevent more influential personalities from taking advantage of the electoral process intended to represent marginalized sectors, a political analyst said.

University of the Philippines professor Jean Encinas-Franco called for a review of the party-list system, observing politicians and celebrities are abusing the system for their own personal gains rather than truly representing the underprivileged Filipinos.

“Ibahin yung paraan ng pagboto ng party-list, pati yung pag-field ng kanilang members, pati kaukulang na hindi ganon kadali para marehistro nila yung sarili na lalaban sa party-list,” Encinas-Franco said.

“Saka dapat mayroon ka ring parang kahapon ka lang finorm tapos ngayon andyan na. That goes for all ano ha parties. Dapat man lang even before the elections, mayroon ka na, I don’t know, two years, three years saka yung walang threshold.”

About 270 organizations filed last week certificates of candidacy (COCs) for party-lists, putting into spotlight new groups, which Commission on Elections (Comelec) spokesman James Jimenez described as “a joke.”

He said about 100 of these groups have been scratched from the list.

Supporters of President Rodrigo Duterte have been organizing party-list groups as a way for the administration to remain in power after the president steps down next year.

For instance, groups like “Mothers for Change” led by Duterte’s popular blogger Mocha Uson, surfaced even if she is not a mother. Another group, “Ang Kumadrona” is led by ex-senator Joey Lina, who is not a midwife; actress turned politician Nora Aunor is running under “Nora A Partylist” and a spokesman for Metro Manila Development Authority Celine Pialago is running under “Malasakit Movement.”

Although the party list system was created to provide representation to marginalized and underrepresented sectors such as laborers and persons with disabilities in the Congress, a Supreme Court ruling in 2013 allowed party lists to nominate members who do not belong to the marginalized sectors they supposedly represent.

Franco told Comelec to carefully review the track record and background of the nominees and the sector they said they represent.

“Tignan mo kung nagma-match yung background ng nominees sa supposed adhikain ng political party. Tapos tignan mo kung ang nominees ba ay kamag-anak lang ba ‘to ng politiko o dati lang ba itong traditional politician tapos lumipat lang sa party-list. Then you can already see,” she said.

Comelec’s Jimenez said most of the party-list groups which filed candidacies will be disqualified.

“Marami po diyan ang magdidisqualify, in fact, marami na na-disqualify ang Comelec,” Jimenez said in Cignal TV’s One News channel’s Agenda. “Out of the more than a hundred new applicants, we’ve already disqualified a significant number pero under appeal pa lahat.”

(MM | With reports from Marianne Enriquez, News 5)

Privacy Statement

Our Privacy Commitment

TV5 Network Inc. values and respects your privacy. We are committed to safeguarding your personal data in compliance with Republic Act No. 10173 or the Data Privacy Act of 2012 and its implementing rules and regulations.

We have developed a Privacy Policy that adopts and observes appropriate standards for personal data protection. While our Privacy Policy sets out the general principles governing the collection, use, and disclosure of our users’ personal information, our Privacy Commitment seeks to inform you more about TV5’s privacy practices.

Why do we collect your personal information (as applicable)?

We may collect and maintain basic information about you as site user of TV5 sites for the following purposes:

To deliver news and updates on current events, sports, esports and entertainment;
To share livestreams of news and sports events;
To understand our viewers’ needs and preferences;
To meet legal and regulatory requirements; and
To perform other processes or disclosures that are required to comply with pertinent laws, rules, or regulations.

Where do we get your personal information?

There are several ways we collect your personal information.

Information that you personally provided.

Most of the personal information we have are those that you have provided us when you:
- Register to our programs or services;
- Inquired, filed a complaint or requested for our services;
- Took part in our research and surveys; and/or
- Became our Partner, Vendor, Contractor or Supplier.

Information we collect during your engagement with us

We also collect information as you use our products and services, like:
- Viewing our websites;
- Activities that are being tracked by our website cookies;
- Calling our hotline;
- Using our apps, websites, and self-service channels and portals; and/or
- Joining our promos, prize raffles, or rewards and loyalty programs.

Information we collect from other sources

Other means of collection of information may be through:
- Our market research initiatives;
- When you visit and use our websites and mobile application; and
- Subsidiaries, affiliates, and third-party business partners to whom you have given consent to share your information to us.

When do we disclose personal information?

There may be instances when we are required to share the information you provided us. In such cases, we ensure that your personal information will be disclosed on a confidential manner, through secure channels and in compliance with the Data Privacy Act and other privacy laws.

We will never share, rent, or sell your personal information to third parties outside of TV5 except in special cases where you have given consent, and in cases described in our privacy policy.

In some instances, we may be required to disclose your personal information to our agents, subsidiaries, affiliates, business partners and other third-party agencies and service providers as part of our regular business operations and for the provision of our programs and services. This means we might share your information with our service providers, contractors, and professional advisers who help us provide our services.

How we protect your personal information

The integrity, confidentiality, and security of your information is important to us. We have implemented technical, organizational, and physical security measures that are designed to protect your information from unauthorized or fraudulent access, alteration, disclosure, misuse, and other unlawful activities.

We also put in effect the following safeguards:

We keep and protect your information using a secured server behind a firewall, encryption and security controls;
We keep your information only for as long as it is necessary for us to (a) provide the products and services that you avail from us, (b) for our legitimate business purposes, (c) to comply with pertinent laws, and (d) for special cases that will require the exercise or defense of legal claims;
We limit the access to your information only to qualified and authorized personnel who are trained to handle your information with strict confidentiality;
We undergo regular audits and rigorous testing of our infrastructure’s security protocols to ensure your data is always protected;
We promptly notify you and the National Privacy Commission when sensitive personal information that may, under the circumstances, be used to enable identity fraud are reasonably believed to have been acquired by an unauthorized person; and
We let you update your information securely to keep our records accurate.

TV5 will not collect, use, or disclose your personal information for any purpose other than the purpose that you may have given your consent for.

What are your choices?

We make sure that we have your consent to continue to collect, use, and disclose your personal information for the purposes that we have identified. We want you to know that you may object or withdraw your consent and/or edit your consent preferences at any time.

If you wish to have access to the personal information in our custody or if you think that the personal information you provided is incomplete, or otherwise inaccurate, you may get in touch with our Data Protection Officer through the contact details provided below. In some instances, we may request for supporting documents or proof before we effect requested changes.

Data Protection Officer
TV5 Network Inc.
Reliance corner Sheridan Streets
Mandaluyong City
tv5dataprivacy@tv5.com.ph

What happens when there are changes in our Policy?

From time to time, we may update our privacy policy and practices to comply with changes in applicable laws and regulatory requirements, adapt to new technologies and protocols, and align with the best practices of the industry.

You will be provided notices if the changes are significant and, if we are required by law, we will obtain your updated consent.