List of party-list groups out soon

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will likely release the official list of party-list groups participating in the May 2016 elections this week.

Comelec Commissioner Christian Lim said yesterday the poll body hopes to resolve pending petitions within the week and come out with the official list of party-list groups.

“We set an internal deadline in the en banc that by Dec. 1, all cases should be resolved already,” Lim said.

A total of 243 party-list groups filed their Manifestations of Intent to Participate in the 2016 elections, but a number of them were disqualified.

But party-list organizations rejected due to technical or substantive grounds were given the chance to elevate their case to the Comelec full bench.

If the Comelec fails to resolve the case by Dec. 5, Lim said the poll body may just include the party-list groups in the raffle determining the slots in the official ballot.

“The worst-case scenario is if we are unable to resolve pending case by Dec. 1, all that filed their manifestation of intent will be included in the raffle,” he said.

Those that will be disqualified will eventually not be included in the official ballot and their assigned slot will remain vacant.

“Example if party-list A that got the number one slot is denied by the en banc, we will go directly to number two in the ballot,” Lim explained.

Both the Comelec First and Second Divisions have resolved all petitions for accreditation submitted by party-list organizations.

Although the Comelec approved the manifestation of 100 groups, the official list is still being finalized due to pending petitions.