Comelec rids 13 party-list groups from raffle

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) excluded 13 party-list groups from the Monday raffle for ballot slots, saying they were only "inadvertently" included.

Through en banc Resolution 9604, the poll body left out Kalikasan Party-list, Akbay Kalusugan, Ako An Bisaya Party and 10 others until the groups get the Supreme Court's status quo ante order, a judicial remedy restoring them in the roster.

Comelec chair Sixto Brillantes, Jr. explained in his Twitter account that the slots left vacant by the excluded party-list groups will be reserved for those which can obtain the high tribunal's assent or mandatory injunction before the printing of ballots.

"We have finished the raffle of party-list groups, it appears, however, that 13 groups have been inadvertently included despite Resolution 9591," Brillantes said, referring to the document that sets a raffle on the order of party-list names in the ballot.

The 10 other party-list groups omitted from the raffle were Alagad ng Sining, Alab ng Mamayaha, Association of Guard, Utility Helper, Aider, Rider, Driver, / Domestic Helper, Janitor, Agent, and Nanny of the Philippines Inc., Abyan Ilonggo , Alliance of Organizations, Networks and Associations of the Philippines Inc., Partido ng Bayan and Bida, Pilipinas Para sa Pinoy,  Alliance Advocating Autonomy Party,  Manila Teachers Savings and Loan Association Inc. and  Association of Local Athletics, Entrepreneurs and Hobbyists, Inc.

Disqualification questioned

Following Comelec's exclusion of names, party-list group Alliance of Concerned Transport Organizations Inc (ACTO) filed a petition on the ruling before the Supreme Court on Monday.

ACTO's 26-page document says that the poll body "acted without or in excess of its jurisdiction" in rejecting their accreditation by one of its minor offices.

The party-list's argument, similar with the petitions of other disqualified groups in the past few months, also claims that Comelec denied a marginalized sector some representation in national government.

The petition also asks the high court to issue a temporary restraining order or a mandatory injunction to restore the group's name in the ballots for the May elections.

"The setting aside of the resolution allowing registration was arbitrary and despotic," the group said in the document.

ACTO also added that Brillantes "himself admitted, in various media reports, that the law does not define 'marginalized' and 'underrepresented' as applied to the party-list system."