BILANG PILIPINO | Party-list elections still ‘hijacked’ by rich, powerful forces, says watchdog

March 3, 2022 , 03:35 PM

(March 3, 2022) – Nearly 70% of the party-lists running in the 2022 elections have ties to political clans, big businesses, and the government, an analysis by an election watchdog showed on Thursday, exposing the persisting problems hounding the country’s party-list system.

Some 120 out of 177 party-lists seeking a seat at the House of Representatives have links with rich and powerful forces, according to Kontra Daya. It registered an uptick from the 62 out of 134 party-list groups flagged during the 2019 midterm elections, corresponding to around 46%.

“(The Commission on Elections) should explain why it continues to allow dubious groups to hijack the party-list system, depriving marginalized groups from having a voice at the House of Representatives,” said Kontra Daya in a statement.

Kontra Daya said at least 44 party-lists are controlled by political clans while 21 others have links to giant corporations. Also, at least 34 party-lists were flagged for not having any clear advocacies while around 32 groups have reported connections with the government and the military.

Some have also been tagged for fielding nominees who are incumbent local officials. At least 19, meanwhile, are facing court cases or criminal charges.

ACT-CIS, the top-ranking party-list in the 2019 midterm elections, was one of the groups flagged by Kontra Daya, citing the privilege speech of Sen. Ping Lacson that included the names of Rep. Eric Yap and nominee Edvic Yap in the bribery scandal at the Bureau of Customs under the term of former chief Nicanor Faeldon in 2017.

ACT-CIS Rep. Jocelyn Tulfo, the second nominee, is the wife of senatorial candidate Raffy Tulfo. He is the brother of fourth nominee Erwin Tulfo and former Department of Tourism secretary Wanda Teo, who was involved in a P60 million advertisement controversy. The Office of the Ombudsman junked the graft case last year.

IPEACE Epanaw, which presents itself as an advocate of indigenous peoples, was also flagged by Kontra Daya for its track record of red-tagging. Some of its nominees held positions at the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).

Kontra Daya added that at least two other party-lists also have nominees linked to the NTF-ELCAC, namely Mothers for Change and Abante Sambayanan, led by former Presidential Communications Operations Office official Mocha Uson and self-declared former rebel Jeffrey Celiz, respectively.

Some of the other party-lists flagged by Kontra Daya include Wow Pilipinas, 4Ps, BHW, and Duterte Youth.

“Kontra Daya calls on journalists and fact-checkers to investigate whether there are party-list groups funded or supported by the government,” urged Kontra Daya.

Party-lists were originally created to ensure a proportional representation of marginalized sectors in Congress. The Supreme Court, however, ruled that groups can join the party-list race even without representing any marginalized sector, a decision that many have long criticized.

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