57 party-list reps to assume House seats

MANILA, Philippines — Fifty-seven representatives from 47 party-list organizations will be able to assume their seats at the House of Representatives in the next Congress.  

During the May 13 midterm polls, 51 of 134 participating party-list groups won seats at the House, which is mandated by law to allocate a total of 61 seats for these organizations.

But based on the Commission on Elections (Comelec)’s records, only 47 groups have so far acquired their certificates of proclamation (COPs), a requirement before they can install their representative in Congress.

The four groups whose COPs were withheld include Senior Citizens, Duterte Youth, Anakalusugan and AAMBIS-OWA, all of which were awarded with one seat each.

These groups have issues concerning their nominees. 

For instance, Senior Citizens party-list group has two sets of nominees submitted to Comelec, while there are pending petitions against the application of former National Youth Commission chairman Ronald Cardema to become substitute nominee of Duterte Youth. 

On the other hand, it was reported that AAMBIS-OWA still has Deputy Speaker Sharon Garin as its representative in the 18th Congress. If ever, this allegedly will be her fourth stint, violating the three-term limit.