MANILA, Philippines - After a delay, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) may finally proclaim the Ang Galing Pinoy party-list, whose nominee in Congress is presidential son and Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo, and three other organizations today.
Comelec Chairman Jose Melo said, however, that the poll body would only proclaim the three winning party-list groups but would not allow any of their nominees to assume their posts in Congress until their cases are resolved.
“We are thinking of proclaiming three party-list groups with questions over their nominees since the party won, although there are questions over their nominees,” Melo disclosed.
”But the number one nominee will not be allowed to sit until the challenge against the nominee is resolved,” he added.
Aside from AGP, the Comelec is set to proclaim the party-list group 1-UTAK, the Advocacy for Teacher Empowerment Through Action Cooperation and
Harmony Towards Educational Reforms (A Teacher); and Butil Farmers Party (BUTIL).
The nominees of these groups are perceived to be allies of President Arroyo.
Malacañang said it would not interfere with the actions of the Comelec on the proclamation of party-list groups and its nominees and urged all party-list groups to accept the decision on disqualification cases.
Deputy presidential spokesman Rogelio Peyuan said President Arroyo would have no involvement in the process now being undertaken by the Comelec.
Meanwhile, militant transport group Piston hailed the Comelec’s disqualification of the younger Arroyo and called on the poll body to make its decision final.
Other party-list organizations earlier questioned the qualification of the younger Arroyo and sought his disqualification from the party-list system.
Last Monday, the Comelec proclaimed 28 winning party-list organizations, including the AGP, which are entitled to occupy a total of 35 seats in the Lower House.
However, the poll body recalled its proclamation, claiming it “overlooked a pending motion for reconsideration against the poll body’s decision to junk the disqualification case against Arroyo.
Earlier, the Comelec’s second division ruled that Arroyo can become a nominee of the party-list after having “actively supported and advanced the projects and programs of the party.”
But AGP’s counsel, Romulo Macalintal, said the poll body committed a grave error when it recalled the pending proclamation of Arroyo’s organization since there is no pending disqualification case against the group.
“The disqualification case is against Arroyo and not against AGP. A party-list is different from its members, the disqualification of a member does not automatically disqualify the party,” Macalintal explained.
Macalintal further noted that the Comelec apparently gave in to “mob rule and public lynching” of Mikey when it proclaimed other party-list groups with pending disqualification petitions.
For his part, Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento explained that the questions against the nominees cannot impede the party’s proclamation.
“Once qualified, that cannot be questioned because the time for questioning has lapsed. What we can touch are the petitions questioning these nominees,” Sarmiento said in a separate interview.
Days before the May 10 polls, the Comelec’s second division junked the disqualification cases lodged separately by losing senatorial bets Satur Ocampo, Liza Maza and party-list group Bayan Muna, who argued that the presidential son does not belong to the marginalized sector. – With Edu Punay, Marvin Sy, Rainier Allan Ronda