The Party Balloons

The Party Balloons

(Interpretative feature on why more and more party lists clamor for a congressional seat on the upcoming 2010 elections)

ATS, ALON, ATONG PAGLAUM, BIGKIS, BUTIL, COFA, FIRM 24-K, IVAP, ORAGON, PACYAW – these are neither foreign words nor regional dialects. These are the names of some the party-list groups running for a congressional seat come the national elections in 2010. And we have 150 more in the line.

My aunt has been complaining about the long list of choices for the party-list post, and she was surprised that she could only vote for one. When asked which party-list she voted for last election, she said she can no longer remember. “Honestly, I do not know what these [groups] are for,” she said in admittance.

Suddenly, the congressional run has been a moist land for party-lists to sprout like mushrooms. And just like mushrooms, more likely, lots of people do not really knowwhat to call them. And in this danger, and be reminded that some mushrooms are also poisons.

What party-list?

According to a Pulse Asia survey conducted on January 2010, “nearly seven out of ten” Filipinos are unaware of the party-list system. Since 2004, where Pulse Asia started the same survey, this election period has been the lowest awareness mark they got.

In 2007, there were six out of ten Filipinos who knew about the party-lists with a concentration in Metro Manila. And I bet my aunt is one of those seven rather than the other six.

The 1987 Constitution, Article 6, Section 5, states that 20 percent of the congressional seats are for ‘sectoral representatives’ or the party-lists. By ‘sector’, we mean the ‘marginalized and underprivileged’ members of the society such as the ‘labor, peasant, urban poor, indigenous cultural communities, women, youth…except the religious sector.’

From its inception, these sectoral representatives were selected. Until the 1998 elections, where the enabling law was passed, party-lists were voted on a national scale.

Two percent

This has been the magic word – or number – for party-list hopefuls. As mandated by RA 7941, two percent of the votes guarantee a party-list one seat in congress. This two percent, as the minimum requirement, is called the threshold.

“The two percent threshold, actually a little too high, is necessary to avoid fragmentation of the lower house. If a lower threshold is given, anybody could make a party-list and run for a seat,” said Philippine Government and Politics Professor Crisline Torres of UP Diliman. Similarly, too many parties mean more room for disagreeing which will make it hard for our law makers to pass laws, she added.

However, in April 2009, Justice Antonio Carpio of the Supreme Court implemented a new way of seat distribution for party-list representatives, dubbed as the “Carpio formula”. Opting to maximize all the 20 percent of the entire congressional seat allotted for party-lists, even the parties that did not meet the threshold were entitled to one seat in congress.

“He, in a skewed sense, abolishes the concept of threshold which we do not want to happen,” Torres said. As a result, parties such as Bantay Party-list, a party for security guards, whose representative General Jovito Palparan, controversial for his human rights cases in his execution of Oplan Bantay Laya 1 and 2 under the Arroyo administration, and the balut vendors’ party – Kasangga Party-list – represented by no other than but the the sister of the First Gentleman, Ma. Lourdes Arroyo.

No wonder, even the cockfighters (sabungeros) are aiming for a seat in congress as the Alyansa ng mga Sabungero Party-list filed candidacy in Comelec for the 2010 elections, according to a news. “I was thinking, if I choose to run for congress and ask all my students since I started teaching to vote for me, I could be Representative Torres in no time.”

Repress(entation)

The problematic calculations and distribution of seats governing party-lists is just one of the problems its system faces. With the declining awareness of the party-lists system and over 150 party-lists in line, questions of genuine representation have been raised.

Pseudo-party-lists have been tagged ‘bogus party-lists’ and that some of the party-lists were not really for sector’s but for Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s representation, a multi-sectoral poll watchdog Kontra Daya claims.

Among the ‘Malacañang backed’ parties that Kontra Daya exposed were Batang Iwas Droga (BIDA), Adhikain ng mga Dakilang Anak ng Maharlika (ADAM), Agbiag Timpuyog Ilocano (AGBIAG), Babae para sa Kaunalara (BABAE KA), League of Youth for Peace and Development (LYPAD), and Kalahi Advocates for Overseas Filipinos (KALAHI).

Similarly, presidential son Mikey Arroyo runs as the representative of the Ang Galing party-list, a party that deems to represent security guards. More administration bets fill the line-up for this ‘party’ in the party-lists as Department of Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes admits that he will be the front man of the transport sector party, 1-Utak, among others.

After the decision of GMA to run for congress, rumors of her intentions to stay in power by converting the congress into a parliament where she would take over and be voted as prime minister. By holding such position, she would be immune from all the allegations and cases filed against her. There is a possibility for this scenario since the majority of the lower house representatives have been filled by pro-administration allies and if luck is on their side, the real party will just be starting.

Party clowns

With Mikey representing the security guard’s, Malou Arroyo for the balut vendors and Reyes for the drivers – are party-lists still representing the oppressed minorities of the society?

Same questions have been raised such that tha Commission on Elections (COMELEC) released Resolution 8807 saying that a nominee must be “one who belongs to the marginalized and underrepresented sector/s, the sectoral party, organization, political party or coalition he seeks to represent; and able to contribute to the formulation and enactment of appropriate legislation that will benefit the nation as a whole.”

But still. COMELEC seems to come clean. Disqualification protests and petitions for party-lists undermining Resolution 8807 cannot come from the commission itself. This action is left by the commission on the hands of the citizens with a five-day expiration date after March 26. Since then, those clowning over and acting ‘marginalized’ will have to leave without the happy face.

Trip to Jerusalem

Whether for the representation of the marginalized or not, of selfish or selfless intentions, a party-list representative are no different from district representatives. Both are entitled of “pork barrel” or the multimillion Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) given to congressmen each year to fund government projects in their districts.

As Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz said in a newspaper interview, “There is a big attraction for the pork barrel. That would mean that the P75- to P100-million pork barrel will be at the disposal of very few people."

And just like a real party, bags of “gifts” have been making rounds around its attendees similar to that exposed by Pampanga Governor Ed Panlilio in October 2007 – another ‘perk’ someone in a seat could enjoy. It is not surprising then that the coming elections will be a Trip to Jerusalem – too many players, too little seats.

Sources:

Chua, R. (2010, March 26) Comelec: Party-list nominees must 'belong' to sectors they represent. ABS-CBNnews.com. Retrived from http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/03/25/10/comelec-party-list-nominees-should-belong-sectors-they-represent

Flores, M. (2010, February 23) The party-list system: why we must care. The POC.net. Retrived from http://www.thepoc.net/voters-education/4245-the-party-list-system-why-we-must-care.html

Merueñas, M. (2010, September 18) Will it fly? Cockfighters’ party-list bid ruffles feathers. GMA News.tv. Retrived from http://www.gmanews.tv/story/172497/will-it-fly-cockfighters-party-list-bid-ruffles-feathers

Valmero, A. (2010, March 24) 38 party-list groups funded by Malacañang, says Kabataan party-list. Inquirer.net. Retrived from http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20100324-260654/38-party-list-groups-funded-by-Malacaang-says-Kabataan-party-list

Villacorta, C. (2009, April 28) Small Means Marginalized? Cenpeg. Retrived from http://www.cenpeg.org/IA%202009/IA/IA_06_s2009.html

________. (2010)Pulse Asia's January 2010 Pre-election Survey for Party-List Group Preference. Pulse Asia. Retrived from http://www.pulseasia.com.ph/pulseasia/story.asp?ID=705