SC upholds disqualification of Cocofed party-list

MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court (SC) has affirmed the disqualification of Coconut Producers Federation (Cocofed) in the party-list elections last May by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

In a decision penned by Associate Justice Arturo Brion, the high court ruled that the Comelec was correct in canceling Cocofed’s certificate of registration for failure to submit names of at least five nominees.

The SC said that such requirement is “mandatory” since the law uses the word “shall.”

“Cocofed has shown that it is able to comply with the five-nominee requirement after the elections; it should have explained its inability to comply prior to the elections,” the high court said through a summary released by its public information office.

“A party is not allowed to simply refuse to submit a list containing ‘not less than five nominees’ and consider the deficiency as waiver on their part,” it added.

The high court opted to still rule on the case despite Cocofed’s failure to win in the polls after garnering only some 100,000 votes.

It said the validity of the party-list’s status “remains a very live issue” and “not moot notwithstanding its failure to attain the required votes for a congressional seat in the 2013 elections.”

The Comelec cancelled Cocofed’s certificate of registration and accreditation after it submitted only two names of nominees and manifested to just submit additional nominees after the midterm polls last May 13.