Militant groups want Akbayan disqualified from party-list election
Militant groups from the workers and youth sectors have asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to disqualify Akbayan Citizen’s Action Party from the party-list race in the 2013 elections. In a letter to Comelec chair Sixto Brillantes Jr., the groups said Akbayan no longer represents the marginalized and underrepresented because some of its former and current members are serving in government posts and appointive positions. “This shows that Akbayan is well-entrenched in government and its nominees cannot claim to be marginalized and underrepresented,” said the groups in their letter dated Oct. 2, 2012. The letter was signed by Anakbayan, League of Filipino Students, National Union of Students of the Philippines, Student Christian Movement of the Philippines, Kilusang Mayo Uno and Kabataang Artista Para sa Tunay na Kalayaan. According to Republic Act 7941 or the Party-list System Act, representatives running under the party-list system must belong to the “marginalized and underrepresented sectors.” Testament to success Akbayan, meanwhile, shrugged off the letter and said their presence in key government positions is a “testament to Akbayan’s success as a political organization representing the marginalized.” “We are proud of Akbayan leaders who have been appointed to important government posts… These are also the results of the people’s relentless struggle for reforms, a struggle where Akbayan’s place is secure,” Akbayan Youth national spokesperson JC Tejano said in an e-mailed statement Wednesday. He added that “being in government does not take away Akbayan’s nature of being a representative of the poor and marginalized.” “Our nominees trace their roots to the marginalized. They also have long standing track records of serving the marginalized and underrepresented,” Tejano said. Akbayan members in govt The militant groups identified the Akbayan officers and members who they claimed hold government posts as:
- Ronald Llamas, former Akbayan president, current presidential political affairs adviser
- Etta Rosales, former Akbayan president, current Commission on Human Rights chief
- Joel Rocamora, former Akbayan president, current National Anti-Poverty Commission head
- Percival Cendaña, former Akbayan chairperson, current National Youth Commission commissioner-at-large
- Barry Gutierrez, Akbayan’s second nominee, Malacañang’s undersecretary for political affairs
- Angelina Ludovice-Katoh, third nominee, commissioner-in-charge for Mindanao and women concerns from the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor