Comelec orders screening of party-list groups for 2013 polls

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Wednesday ordered a review of old and new party-list groups registering and participating in the 2013 polls.

 

The order was contained in Comelec resolution no. 9513 which said “it is necessary and indispensable for [Comelec] to review and affirm the grant of registration and accreditation to party-list groups and organizations in view of its role in ensuring that only those parties, groups, or organizations with the requisite character consistent with the purpose of the party-list system is registered and accredited to participate in the party-list system of representation.”

 

The poll body said that all documents pertaining to a Comelec division's granting of registration to a party-list shall be forwarded to the Comelec en banc for automatic review within five days from the promulgation of the decision.

 

“It shall be understood that a party-list group or organization shall not be deemed accredited without affirmation from the Commission en banc of the division’s ruling,” it said. 

 

The Comelec will likewise set "summary evidentiary hearings" to determine the "continuing compliance" of party-list groups with the requirements of Republic Act 7941 (Party-List System Act) and the guidelines contained in the Ang Bagong Bayani case.  

 

In the Ang Bagong Bayani-OFW Party v. Commission on Elections case, the Supreme Court said that “in the end, the role of the Comelec is to see to it that only those Filipinos who are ‘marginalized and underrepresented’ become members of Congress under the party-list system, Filipino style.”

 

Last June, the Comelec also issued Resolution No. 9467 which mandates that the poll body will conduct a raffle of accredited party-list groups to determine the order in which they will be listed in the 2013 official ballot. — DVM, GMA News