PNoy's sisters among Akbayan's biggest campaign donors in 2010

(Updated 6:35 p.m.) Three sisters of President Benigno Aquino III were among the biggest donors of party-list group Akbayan in the 2010 elections, but Malacañang said there was nothing wrong with it.   “Should it be taken against the group, if somebody prominent supports them? Parang unfair naman yata ‘yun,” presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said Thursday. The generosity of the Aquino family to Akbayan would appear to buttress arguments that Akbayan is now a mainstream political party strongly allied with the administration and cannot claim to represent marginalized sectors. In more stringent criteria that it has imposed even on sitting party-list groups like Akbayan, Comelec is requiring that parties represent marginalized and underrepresented sectors in order to run as party-list groups in 2013. The poll body has already disqualified over a dozen groups.   Lacierda noted that Akbayan — currently a subject of a disqualification case at the Comelec — is a “group that supports the president’s advocacies.”   According to the published statement of election contributions and expenses filed by Akbayan, P14 million of its P112.183 million campaign fund in 2010 came from the Aquino sisters.   TV personality Kris Aquino gave the biggest chunk at P10 million, while Maria Elena "Ballsy" Aquino Cruz and Victoria “Viel” Aquino-Dee donated P2 million apiece. Akbayan's bitter opponent, the Leftist youth group Anakbayan, described the contribution of the Aquino sisters as a “scandalously huge amount for a party-list campaign fund.” “If they could collect an amount this huge when they were still out of power, how much more now that they are in government? There is clearly an unfair advantage over other groups who are truly marginalized and underrepresented, not to mention that their nominees are appointed officials,” Anakbayan spokesperson Vencer Crisostomo said in an e-mailed statement.   Akbayan’s legitimacy as a party-list is being questioned by several leftist organizations, notably Anakbayan, which has alleged that since Akbayan has several members in top government executive positions, it no longer represents a marginalized sector. Anakbayan last week disrupted an Akbayan press conference by holding up placards and heckling "fake party list," resulting in a scuffle in front of TV cameras. A handful of Anakbayan activists were forcibly removed from the room by Akbayan members. Private citizens   Lacierda said as private citizens, the Aquino sisters can contribute all they want to whomever they support.   “The sisters are, and continue up to this day as, private citizens. They have a right to contribute to a group they feel which would also support the president’s program of anti-corruption and poverty alleviation,” he said.   “So it should not come as a surprise being private citizens that they choose to support groups which are supportive of the advocacies of the President," Lacierda added.   Lacierda also said that critics should not begrudge organizations for being supported by prominent individuals. “It’s not a question of who your supporters are, it's what you stand for,” he said. — Patricia Denise Chiu and Marc Ryan Cayabyab/KBK/RSJ/HS, GMA News