Comelec to raffle off list of qualified party-list groups

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) reported yesterday that it would include the 11 party-list organizations placed on status quo by the Supreme Court (SC) when it raffles off the list of qualified sectoral groups to determine their places in the official ballots.

In previous polls, the lists of party-list groups were printed alphabetically but the Comelec has observed that most groups took on names beginning with either the letter A or the number 1 to be on top of the ballots.

The poll body has decided to conduct a raffle to determine how each group should be listed on the ballots for the elections on May 13, 2013.

Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes said the poll body would have to include the names of the 11 party-list groups that were earlier disqualified if the SC has not issued a final ruling before the ballot printing starts.

The 11 groups are Ako Bicol; APEC (Association of Philippine Electric Cooperatives); 1CARE (1st Consumers Alliance for Rural Energy Inc.); ARC (Alliance on Rural Concerns); AKMA-PTM (Aksyon Magsasaka-Partido Tinig ng Masa); KAKUSA (Kapatiran ng mga Nakulong na Walang Sala); ARARO (Alliance for Rural and Agrarian Reconstruction Inc.); ARAL (Association for Righteousness Advocacy on Leadership); Alliance for Nationalism and Democracy (Anad); Philippine Guardian Brotherhood Inc. (1Bro-PGBI); Guardians Nationalist Phils. Inc (1Ganap/Guardians); Agapay ng Indigenous Peoples Rights Alliance Inc. (A-IPRA); Kaagapay ng Nagkakaisang Aguilang Pilipinong Magsasaka (Ako Agila); and Bantay.

“If we don’t include them, it would be like violating the status quo ante order of the SC,” he noted.

Brillantes added that in the event the SC upholds the disqualification of a group whose name is already printed on the ballots, the Comelec would not count the votes cast for them on Election Day.

The 11 groups are among the 92 party-list organizations barred by Comelec from joining the 2013 polls for having nominees that are not members of the marginalized sector and for multi-sector representation, among other reasons.

Of the 92 groups, 47 had their accreditation cancelled while 45 others were denied registration as party-list organizations.

Meanwhile, the Comelec is set to bid out not 80,000 but only 20,000 ballot boxes to be used in the 2013 polls.

Brillantes said they might be able to retrieve the ballot boxes used in the electoral protest filed by now Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas II against Vice President Jejomar Binay in the 2010 vice-presidential race.

He said they expect the Presidential Electoral Tribunal, where the case is pending, to grant their request to re-use the ballot boxes.

“That 80,000 (ballot boxes) are worth P200 million. What we propose is that we will take out the contents of three ballot boxes and put in just one box. If we do that we would be able to free about three-fourths or about 60,000,” he added.