Party-list groups lose last bid in SC

It’s final: MAD, Lakas-NUCD, Promdi, Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) and the Veterans Federation Party (VFP) lost in the May 2001 party-list polls.

The Supreme Court (SC) thumbed down for the last time bids by these five party-list groups to be proclaimed winners in the polls and declared organizations that truly represent the marginalized sectors of society.

In a seven-page resolution, the SC justices held that recommendations made by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) are binding and conclusive on the high tribunal, which meant that the parties are not entitled to any seat in the House of Representatives.

"Indeed, absent patent error or serious inconsistencies, factual findings of the Comelec are conclusive upon this court," the SC told the five groups.

It further said that "movants (MAD et al) have not shown cogent reasons why we should set aside Comelec’s compliance report. The arguments that they raised merely refute, without adequate proof, the findings made by the Commission."

Citing five of its earlier rulings, the tribunal said the party-list groups failed to meet the guidelines it set last June 2001 to determine whether such organizations indeed represent the underprivileged sectors.

"The Court hereby affirms the findings of Comelec that MAD, VFP, Promdi, NPC and Lakas-NUCD have failed to pass the eight-point guidelines. Hence, they cannot be proclaimed winners in the last party-list election," the SC, meeting en banc, declared.

The Comelec’s findings, which were approved by the SC, concluded that Promdi, NPC and Lakas-NUCD do not represent the marginalized sectors while MAD was funded and assisted by the government and VFP is an "adjunct of the government."

So far, only five party-list groups — Association of Philippine Electric Cooperatives (APEC), Citizens’ Battle Against Corruption (Cibac), Luzon Farmers Party (Butil) and left-leaning organizations Akbayan and Bayan Muna — have met the requirements.

APEC and Cibac were proclaimed only last January while Butil, Akbayan and Bayan Muna were proclaimed in August 2001.

Nominees of APEC and Cibac will be joining Bayan Muna Reps. Satur Ocampo, Crispin Beltran and Liza Maza, Akbayan Rep. Loreta Ann Rosales, and geodetic and civil engineer Benjamin Cruz of Butil in the 12th Congress. Emmanuel "Joel" Villanueva, son of evangelist Eddie Villanueva of JIL, is Cibac’s nominee.

APEC is entitled to two seats in Congress, having garnered 5.36 percent of the total votes cast. A minimum two percent is needed to have one seat in the chamber. Cibac, for its part, obtained 2.13 percent of the total votes cast.

Bayan Muna garnered some 1.7 million votes and obtained 11.362 percent of the total votes cast, Akabayan came in second with 373,595 votes (2.5006 percent) and Butil was third with 329,920 votes (2.2083 percent).

Only the left-leaning Bayan Muna is entitled to three seats in the 210-member House of Representatives since the two others only got a small percentage of the total votes in the May 14 party-list election.