Comelec to proclaim 10 winning party-list groups Friday

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will proclaim at least 10 of the winning party-list organizations on Friday, a poll body official said on Monday. In an interview, Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said the poll body en banc - sitting as the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC) - aims to proclaim at least 10 of the party-list winners by the end of the week. "We will have enough numbers by Friday. At the very least (we can proclaim) the top 10," Jimenez told reporters. The Comelec en banc was supposed to proclaim the winners for the party-list race last week but the recent inquiries being conducted by the House of Representatives on alleged poll irregularities have prevented them from doing so. According to the last tally of party-list votes released by the Comelec, the ten leading party-list organizations are: Ako Bicol Political Party — 1,522,986 votes Coalition of Associations of Senior Citizens in the Philippines — 1,292,182 votes Buhay Hayaan Yumabong Party-list — 1,249,555 votes Akbayan Citizen's Action Party — 1,058,691 votes Gabriela Women's Party — 1,001,421 votes Cooperative Natcco Network Party — 943,529 votes 1st Consumers Alliance for Rural Energy (1-CARE) — 768,829 votes ABONO — 766,615 votes Bayan Muna — 746,019 votes An Waray — 711,631 votes Only Ako Bicol and 1-CARE are not incumbent party-list groups. The Party-list System Act (Republic Act 7941) defines the party-list system as "a mechanism of proportional representation" in the election of representatives to the House of Representatives. It says that party-list organizations shall be ranked from highest to lowest based on the number of votes they garnered during the elections. It says that those who received at least two percent of the total votes cast for the party-list system shall be entitled to one congressional seat each while those who received more than two percent of the votes shall be entitled to additional seats in proportion to their total number of votes. However, each party-list organization shall not be awarded more than three seats in Congress. The 1987 Philippine Constitution provides that 20 percent of the seats in Congress be allotted for the sectoral representatives. — Kimberly Jane Tan/RSJ/KBK, GMANews.TV