Comelec on lookout for party-list groups with related nominees

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said yesterday that some party-list groups seeking to participate in the May 2013 midterm polls have nominees who are relatives.

Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes said that after reviewing the track records and background of party-list nominees, they found out that three to five groups have nominees belonging to the same family.

Although this is not enough reason to disqualify a party-list organization, Brillantes said it could still be a factor when the Comelec decides on the fate of these groups.

Poll watchdog Kontra Daya reiterated its call for the Comelec not to allow these groups to join the 2013 elections.

Kontra Daya added the poll body should exercise its authority to automatically disallow party-list groups that do not genuinely represent the marginalized and under-represented sectors of society.

The group said that naming family members as nominees should be a strong ground for the Comelec to cancel the accreditation of a registered group or deny the application for accreditation of a new party-list organization.

Kontra Daya has filed a petition with the Comelec seeking the disqualification of Bagong Henerasyon, which was founded by Quezon City Rep. Bernadette Cruz-Herrera Dy. She serves as the group’s first nominee while her husband Edgar Allan Dy is the second nominee. The group’s fourth nominee is Redentor Tuazon, senior deputy administrator for operations at the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.

The other party-lists are Agrarian Development Association (ADA) whose first and second nominees are former deputy House speaker Eric Singson and his son, incumbent Ilocos Sur Rep. Eric Singson Jr., and the Alliance of Organization, Networks and Association of the Philippines (ALONA), which had named Danilo Suarez Jr. and his sister Joanna, who alternated in the first nominee slots in the two sets of nominees that the group submitted to Comelec. Their father is House Minority Leader Danilo Suarez Sr., whose daughter-in-law Alexis Abastillas-Suarez was named third nominee.

Kontra Daya also listed Ang Mata’y Alagaan (AMA) whose first nominee is Lorna Velasco, the wife of Justice Presbitero Velasco. Their children, lawyer Tricia Nicole Velasco-Catera and Vincent Michael Velasco, are the second and third nominees, respectively.

The group argued that these organizations should be disqualified because they are just using the party-list system to create a political dynasty.

“They obviously just want to perpetuate themselves in power. They are limiting the nominees within the family so they should be red-flagged and not be allowed to run in 2013,” Kontra Daya added.

According to Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento, the poll body will be guided by the landmark decision of the Supreme Court (SC) on the case of Bagong Bayani vs the Comelec in judging the party-list groups.

The SC ruling issued in 2001 states that “it is not enough for the candidate to claim representation of the marginalized and under-represented, because representation is easy to claim and to feign.”