‘If opposition groups can join party-list, why not GMA allies?’

Critics of President Arroyo do not have the monopoly of seeking a seat in Congress through the partylist system, a pro-administration lawmaker said yesterday.

House Majority Leader Prospero Nograles said yesterday his son Karlo and Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago’s son Narciso III are as much qualified as critics of Mrs. Arroyo to enter Congress as partylist representatives.

"There’s nothing wrong with sectors supporting the administration," he said.

"Party-list groups need not be identified with the opposition. If some support the administration’s economic and other policies, they are not automatically disqualified. There is no legal basis to disqualify them."

The same holds true for retired Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan, lawyer Raul Lambino who spearheaded the failed administration-backed people’s initiative to amend the Constitution last year, and other Arroyo defenders and loyalists, he added.

Nograles was reacting to the call of Akbayan Rep. Loretta Ann Rosales for the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to disqualify "fake" partylist groups, or those which she calls "Malacañang fronts and allies."

On the other hand, Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos said yesterday that some partylist groups have the wrong impression that association with the administration would disqualify a group from taking part in the congressional elections.

"Some got a different meaning (for partylist)… that if you talk in favor of the government, you don’t deserve to be a partylist," he said.

"It seems that partylist is supposed to be only for the opposition."

Speaking in Filipino to reporters, Abalos said that perception is wrong because the partylist system is meant to ensure that the marginalized and the underrepresented sectors of society are represented in Congress.

"Remember, you are there or you will be there to represent the sector which has been considered marginalized and underrepresented," he said.

"For instance, if I win for the sake of the farmers, I’ll review all laws that could somehow affect the farmers. It should not always be politics although politics could also have a bearing on the lives of a farmer."

Partylist groups must review their advocacy to ensure that they will serve their constituents, Abalos said.

Among the partylist groups which Akbayan wants to be disaccredited are Karlo Nograles’ Kalahi, Defensor’s son’s Alliance for Rural Concerns, Palparan’s Bantay and Alliance for Nationalism and Democracy, and Lambino’s Barangay Association for National Advancement and Transparency (Banat).

Tagged by leftist groups as "The Butcher," Palparan is being blamed for many of the more than 800 unexplained killings since President Arroyo assumed office in 2001.

Akbayan also said Agbiag, Babae Ka and Ahon Bayan are partylist groups associated with Malacañang.

Agbiag’s principal nominee is Assistant Secretary Marcelo Fariñas of the Palace’s Office of External Affairs. – With Sheila Crisostomo, Delon Porcalla