Among the top-ranking groups in the latest party-list vote count are three newcomers. At least two of these party-list groups have been linked in some way to the Arroyo administration – with one having openly endorsed a local candidate from Kampi, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s party, in the recently-concluded senatorial and local elections. Meanwhile, three more are linked with the religious sector.
BY ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO
Bulatlat
Election Watch
Vol. VII, No. 17 June 3-9, 2007
The contest for seats for party-list representatives is so far being dominated mostly by groups that have served in the past three Congresses. But among the top-ranking groups in the latest party-list vote count are three newcomers.
At least three of these party-list groups have been linked in some way to the Arroyo administration – with one having openly endorsed a local candidate from Kampi, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s party, in the recently-concluded senatorial and local elections. Meanwhile, three more are linked with the religious sector.
The party-list system is a product of the 1987 Constitution, which provides that “marginalized and underrepresented” sectors of society shall be given representation in Congress. The 1987 Constitution has a provision that representatives from party-list groups are to be allotted 20 percent of the total number of seats in the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of Congress.
For three consecutive terms under the 1987 Constitution, representatives from the labor, peasant, urban poor, indigenous cultural communities, women, youth, and other sectors as may be provided by law – except the religious sector – were selected or elected to fill half of the seats allocated to party-list representatives.
Republic Act No. 7941 was passed in 1995 as the enabling law for the constitutional provision for a party-list system. The law also adds the elderly, the handicapped, veterans, overseas workers, and professionals to the list of sectors that party-list groups are supposed to represent.
The Constitution provides that for a party-list group to qualify to send a representative to Congress, it must win at least two percent of the total votes cast for party-list groups – or about 269,793 for this year’s elections. Depending on the number of votes it gains, every party-list group can send a maximum of three representatives to Congress.
There are 91 party-list groups competing for seats at the House of Representatives this year.
Based on the canvass by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) as of 3 p.m., June 1, the top 16 contenders in the party-list race are as follows, in order of ranking: Buhay Hayaang Yumabong (Buhay or Let Life Grow) – with 1,111,674 votes; Bayan Muna (People First) – 920,848; Citizens Battle Against Corruption (Cibac) – 727,863; Gabriela Women’s Party (GWP) – 575,112; Association of Philippine Electric Cooperatives (APEC) – 475,499; Advocacy for Teacher Empowerment Through Action, Cooperation and Harmony Towards Educational Reforms (A TEACHER) – 444,113; Akbayan – 428,586; Alagad (literally, Agent) – 403,880; Butil Farmers Party (Butil or Grain) – 398,375; Bagong Alyansang Tagapagtaguyod ng Adhikaing Sambayanan (Batas) – 370,781; Cooperative-National Confederation of Cooperatives (COOP-NATCCO) – 349,466; Anakpawis (Toiling Masses) – 348,193; Abono – 333,419; Agricultural Sector Alliance of the Philippines (AGAP) – 308,664; Alliance of Rural Concerns (ARC) – 294,764; and An Waray – 273,430.
Buhay and Bayan Muna are now assured of three seats each, while Cibac and GWP will each be able to send two based on the latest count. The others in the top 16 are all assured of one seat each.
Winning newcomers
The newcomers among the top 16 party-list contenders are A TEACHER, Abono, AGAP, Batas, and ARC.
A TEACHER’s nominees are: Mariano Piamonte, Jr., Ulpiano Sarmiento III, Carolona Porio, Nenita Habulan, and Juliet Cortuna.
Piamonte is a former president of the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP), while Sarmiento was a member of its National Board and a former undersecretary at the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS, now Department of Education or DepEd).
The CEAP advocates among other things “government and NGO (non-government organization) support” to its “small member schools” on “issues affecting Catholic education.”
Art. II, Sec. 6 of the Constitution provides for the separation of church and state as an “inviolable” policy.
Meanwhile, Porio was executive director of the Fund for Assistance to Private Education (FAPE). Habulan is a professor at De La Salle University (DLSU), Manila; while Cortuna is a self-described “health and wellness guru.”
Abono and ARC are among 22 party-list groups listed by the poll monitoring group Kontra Daya as “Malacañang and AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) fronts.”
Abono’s nominees are: Roberto Raymund Estrella, Francisco Emmanuel Ortega, Ramon Morden, Rosendo So, and Fatima Almazan.
Accredited by the Comelec on Sept. 21, 2006, Abono claims to represent the peasants of Northern Luzon – from which it draws the bulk of its membership – as well as the rest of the country. The group was supported in this year’s elections by Pangasinan governor-elect Amado Espino, Jr., a member of Kampi, and also reportedly by reelected and incumbent House Speaker, Jose de Venecia.
Its second nominee, Francisco Emmanuel Ortega, is a son of La Union governor-elect Manuel Ortega, who is with the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) which is led by businessman Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco, Jr. The Ortega family has lorded over La Union for decades.
Meanwhile, ARC’s nominees are: Narciso “Archie” Santiago III, Oscar Francisco, Kashmir Leyretana, Basilio Propongo, and Isidro Suedad. While claiming to also represent peasants, ARC has as its first nominee a son of Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, who is closely allied with Arroyo.
AGAP registered with the Comelec on Jan. 16, 2007. Its nominees are: Nicanor Briones, Cesar Cobrador, Rico Geron, Albert Roque Lim, and Victorino Michael Lescano. Its first nominee is a known opponent of what he describes as the “anarchic importation of pork,” which he says adversely affects 80 percent of the country’s hog raisers.
The nominees of Batas are: Daniel Razon, Melanio “Batas” Mauricio, Jr., Jose “Jay” Sonza, Ariel Pacis, and Olivia “Bong” Coo.
Razon, Mauricio, and Sonza are all popular broadcasters – with Mauricio being a known lawyer as well. Coo earned fame for her victories as a member of the Philippine Bowling Team.
Mauricio, Sonza, and Coo all ran – unsuccessfully so – for senator in 2004 under the Alyansa ng Pag-asa (Alliance of Hope), a coalition headed by then presidential candidate Raul Roco who died a few months after that year’s elections.
Buhay
The rankings of Buhay and Bayan Muna have surprised many – considering that while Buhay consistently ranked in the top ten based on all credible opinion surveys during the campaign period, it never quite came close to Bayan Muna which was shown to have the potential of getting anywhere from 12 percent to as much as 27 percent of votes.
Buhay has two sets of nominees to the 14th Congress. The first set is composed of Hans Christian Señeres, Hermenegildo Dumlao, Antonio Bautista, Victor Pablo Trinidad, and Eduardo Solangon, Jr. Rene Velarde, Ma. Carissa Coscolluela, William Erwin Tieng, Melchor Monsod, and Teresita Villarama make up the second set of nominees.
Señeres and Velarde represented Buhay in the 13th Congress. Señeres is a son of lawyer Roy Señeres, who is a former ambassador and was also chairman of the National Labor Rleations Commission (NLRC), while Velarde is a son of Mike Velarde – leader of the charismatic group El Shaddai.
The elder Señeres is a known opponent of Arroyo and called for her ouster in 2005 following the surfacing of the “Hello Garci” tapes – in which a woman with a voice similar to the President’s is heard instructing a poll official – widely believed to be former Comelec commissioner Virgilio Garcillano – to rig the 2004 polls. He was arrested together with former Defense Secretary Fortunato Abat and former Budget Secretary Salvador Enriquez in December 2005 after an attempt to declare a “revolutionary government” at the Club Filipino. The elder Señeres, together with Abat and Enriquez, all served in the government of former President Fidel Ramos.
The elder Velarde, meanwhile, serves unofficially as the “spiritual adviser” of Arroyo, although he has voiced some criticism of some of her government’s measures like the push for charter change.
In the 13th Congress, the younger Señeres and Velarde were known for bills seeking to protect the rights of the unborn.
The younger Señeres voted against the first impeachment complaint against Arroyo, which was filed in 2005, but voted in favor of the second impeachment complaint a year later. The younger Velarde, meanwhile, voted in favor of both impeachment complaints.
Villarama, who is in Buhay’s second set of nominees for the 14th Congress, is the wife of Bulacan Rep. Wilfrido Villarama – a known Arroyo ally.(Bulatlat.com)
