GMA Brandtalk
Tracking
Archives
Filtered By: Topstories
News
Comelec disqualifies Ako Bicol party-list, 12 other registered groups
By GIAN C. GERONIMO, GMA News
(Updated 11:53 a.m.) - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Wednesday disqualified the Ako Bicol party-list and 12 other registered organizations from participating in the 2013 elections.
Lawmakers from the Ako Bicol party-list on Wednesday vowed to elevate their disqualification case before the Supreme Court after the Commission on Elections (Comelec) declared them ineligible to run in next year’s polls. Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Alfredo Garbin said his group plans to question the legality and constitutionality of the Comelec’s decision on the party-list’s disqualification next week. “Masaklap talaga itong nangyari. Wala namang basis itong kanilang desisyon. We will definitely raise a question of law before the Supreme Court, but we are still finalizing our legal remedies,” Garbin said at a press briefing. Garbin added that his party-list may seek a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the Comelec’s decision, which he described as “disheartening” and “misleading.” [Read more]
Disqualified were:
- 1-AANI;
- 1-BRO PGBI;
- 1GANAP/GUARDIANS;
- 1st PRISA;
- A Blessed;
- Alliance for National Urban Poor Organizations Assembly, Inc. (ANUPA);
- Alliance for Rural Concerns (ARC);
- Association for Righteousness Advocacy on Leadership (ARAL);
- Atong Paglaum;
- Organization of Regional Advocates for Good Governance Onward Nation-Building (Oragon);
- United Movement Against Drug Foundation, Inc. (UNIMAD), and
- Yes We Can.
Comelec chair Sixto Brillantes announced the names of the disqualified groups at the poll agency’s headquarters in Intramuros, Manila. Ako Bicol not representing a particular sector
Brillantes said the vote against Ako Bicol was a unanimous 6-0 vote.
The party’s representatives are Rodel M. Batocabe, Christopher S. Co, and Alfredo A. Garbin Jr. Brillantes said they can finish their terms, but they cannot run in the 2013 polls. Brillantes said Ako Bicol topped the party-list ranking in the 2010 elections in terms of number of votes received.
He said there were a lot of factors involving the disqualification, but said the strongest was that Ako Bicol does not claim to represent a specific sector.
“They are a duly-accredited political party but they are planning to run under the party-list system without representing any particular sector,” he said.
“They did not file any special petition to run under 2013 elections. It does not mean if you are a political party, you can just run in the party-list system without filing a separate petition, which they did not do,” Brillantes continued.
In May 2010, a disqualification case was also filed against Ako Bicol allegedly because it failed to represent a marginalized sector.
Instead, the group was merely a "front of wealthy tycoons preying on the regionalistic sentiments" of the Bicolanos the group claims to represent. Other groups
As for the other party-list groups, the poll agency chair said the unifying factor for their cancellation is the vagueness of who these groups claim to represent.
“(The) common denominator is the lack of sector (representation) or multi-sector (representation),” Brillantes said
“Kasi ang the position of the Commission is that when you represent a multi-sector, you’re representing actually everybody, in which case then you fall under the regular congressional district,” he continued. – KG/RSJ, GMA News
More Videos
Most Popular
