Proclaim party-list winners, Comelec urged

Members of the militant group Bayan Muna (BM) pressed the Commission of Elections (Comelec) yesterday to proclaim the winners in the last party-list elections.

BM topped the party-list elections with Mamamayan Ayaw sa Droga (MAD) at second place, and eight other groups each winning two percent or more of the total votes nationwide.

BM, MAD, and other party-list groups that received more than two percent of the total votes cast nationwide for the party-list sector are each entitled to a maximum of three seats.

Faith Bacon, BM national treasurer, told reporters yesterday the winning party-list representatives, which comprise 20 percent of all congressmen, must take part in the election of the Speaker.

BM members picketed the Comelec main offices in Intramuros, Manila yesterday to urge the commissioners to immediately act on a Supreme Court ruling to disqualify "non-marginalized" and government funded party-list organizations.

Reynaldo Lesaca, BM chairman, said in a statement Comelec Chairman Alfredo Benipayo and the six commissioners could face impeachment for failing to do their duties under the Constitution.

"If they cannot perform their constitutionally mandated duties, it is high time they step down or be removed from office," he said. "It has been more than a week now since the High Court ruling upholding the party-list system only for the marginalized and under-represented (sectors)."

Earlier, BM and Akbayan separately asked the Supreme Court to disqualify MAD and other "dubious" groups from being accredited as party-list groups.

BM and Akbayan accused MAD of being a government-funded group that does not represent any "marginalized" group.

Last week, BM urged the Comelec to decide first the cases of party-list groups, which are not respondents in any disqualification case.

Meanwhile, Commissioner Resurreccion Borra said Benipayo and his allies are determined to replace the Voters Registration and Identification System (VRIS) with a new modernization plan.

"This is a very serious and big challenge for Chairman Benipayo on how to handle and take proper action on his own modernization plan," he said.