Getting stricter on party-list

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) and its regional offices is currently in the thick of things receiving certificates of candidacy (COCs) for the May 2010 national and local elections. At its head office in Intramuros in Manila, the Comelec has more load because it has to receive the COCs of all candidates for national posts from presidential to vice presidential and senatorial bets.

Additionally, the filing of COCs of all party-list representatives is also done at the Comelec head office. The election for party-list representatives in Congress is hotly contested like any other national posts because they are elected nationwide also. However, a voter must choose only one party-list group out of the so many that qualified to be included in the list of candidates.

The Comelec First Division denied on Friday the petitions of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) and the union of government employees Courage, for accreditation of party-list groups for next year’s polls for their purported lack of constituents. In two separate resolutions, First Division presiding Commissioner Rene Sarmiento and Commissioners Armando Velasco and Gregorio Larrazabal noted that ACT and Courage have failed to prove that their organizations exist in most of the regions in the country.

Despite these organizations enjoying high media-profile, the Comelec ruled both ACT and Courage were not able to prove that their respective groups represent a “marginalized and under-represented sector.” ACT is composed of at least 30,000 private and public school teachers while Courage consists of government employees from various agencies. They join the ranks of previously disqualified Ang Ladlad and Migrante.

Migrante, representing overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), asked the intervention of the Supreme Court also on Friday to stop the Comelec from disqualifying them in the party-list elections. Despite these controversial disqualification rulings, 15 other party-list organizations were undeterred and filed at Comelec their respective manifestations of intent to run in the 2010 elections.

Rightly so, the Comelec ought to be stricter in party list accreditation. In a ruling last April this year, the SC reverted to the 2-4-6 formula used in the 2004 elections for the determination of winning party-list representatives.

With this 2-4-6 scheme, a party-list group is entitled to one seat for every two percent of the total votes cast. The SC cited that the 2-4-6 formula ensures that party-list organizations will occupy 20 percent of the total seats at the House of Representatives as provided for under our country’s Constitution.

At present, the House has 268 members with congressional districts plus around 50 party-list representatives. Like any other members of the House, each party-list representative is called congressman. They enjoy equal and the same amount of P70 million in pork barrel allocations that regular House members with congressional districts have in the annual budget of the government.

There are quite a number of left-leaning party-list representatives on their third and last term now and who are running for the Senate in next year’s elections. They include Risa Baraquel of Akbayan, Liza Maza of Gabriela, Satur Ocampo of Bayan Muna. Apparently, they are no longer “marginalized” to launch a nationwide campaign to get Senate seats.

My good friend, award-winning broadcaster Angelo Palmones, DzMM radio station manager, is leading a party-list group called the Alyansa ng mga Grupong Haligi ng Agham at Teknolohiya para sa Mamamayan (AGHAM). Organized in 2005, AGHAM is a non-stock, non-profit association of science professionals, science journalists, advocates and enthusiasts. He is the president of AGHAM.

“Unless our government focus attention and prioritize the development and advancement of science and technology in the Philippines, we will continue to lag behind our neighboring countries,” Palmones pointed out. Thus, Palmones vowed his AGHAM party would endeavor to work for legislation by Congress of bills to promote science education and a culture of science among Filipinos.

He promised that AGHAM would strongly advocate national policies and programs that will advance science and technology for sustainable development and well-being of the Filipino people. Likewise, it envisions to assist and support Filipino science workers engaged in research and development, in invention and to popularize technologies and products. And most especially, he said, AGHAM will devote its legislative agenda in the promotion of welfare and well-being of Filipino science and technology workers and the sustainability of science-based institutions, organizations and enterprises.

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Another good friend and my “kumpadre” Weber Shandwick’s Atty. Michael “Mike” Toledo was one of the featured speakers in the just-concluded Asian Forum on Corporate Social Responsibility held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on Nov. 19-20. Toledo was the lone local speaker from the country’s public relations industry at the forum where he shared how non-traditional channels like the Internet and mobile devices can be used to create advocates of CSR practices. Now running on its eighth year, the forum was hosted by the Asian Institute of Management (AIM)-Ramon V. del Rosario, Sr. Center for Corporate Social Responsibility.

The AFCSR is considered as Asia’s foremost conference and expo in CSR. The other speakers in the forum were Philippine business’ most prominent figures like Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala of Ayala Corp. who talked about “Sustaining CSR in Difficult Times” and Rafael Alunan III of the Lopez Group Foundation who shared his thoughts on how well CSR units in a company can spread the CSR ideology throughout the organization.

A strong concept of CSR among private firms make life easier for the government to meet the needs of the people, especially during extraordinary times of crisis when State resources are not enough. But CSR is not only about helping people in times of crisis. It must be part and parcel of a corporate culture to give back to people the blessings of good business all year-round.

Joke for today. Everytime Pacquiao goes abroad, for a title fight, the crime rate here goes down. Why?

Answer: Most of our congressmen are in Las Vegas watching his fight.