Comelec to party-list groups: Just make your acronyms better

Instead of trying to come up with names starting with the letter "A" or the number "1," party-list groups should instead come up with better and wittier acronyms for their organizations.

 

This was the advice of Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. to party-list groups who wish to snag a seat in the House of Representatives in the 16th Congress.

 

"Pagandahin na lang nila yung acronym nila," Brillantes said in an interview aired over radio dzBB on Wednesday.

 

Last week, the Comelec issued a resolution ordering the raffling off of the slots for party-list group candidates in the ballots for the 2013 polls.  

 

Some party-list lawmakers, however, opposed the proposal, saying this will just confuse the voters.

 

But Brillantes said the party-list groups should just improve their acronyms. He said they should also attend the raffle so they would immediately know what slot number they got.

 

"Para kapag kumapanya na lang nila [ang gagamitin na lang nila] would be their number and their acronym, di na ho yung mahabang pangalan nila," he said.

 

The Comelec chief said they have so far received 172 applications for registration from party-list groups but that they have yet to approve any.

 

The Comelec chief said 187 party-list groups ran in the 2010 polls, more than 60 of which were delisted.

 

In 2010, the Comelec proclaimed 28 winning party-list organizations. Of this number, 15 groups had names starting with the letter A while one group's name started with 1.

 

In four elections preceding the 2010 polls, almost half or 36 of the 74 winning groups had names that started with the letter A. They were followed by 12 groups with names that started with the letter B. — Kimberly Jane Tan/RSJ, GMA News