Report: Comelec to name 32 new party-list reps in House

MANILA, Philippines – Coming on the heels of the Supreme Court’s ruling that increases by 32 the number of party-list seats in the House of Representatives, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Wednesday said it could announce the additional lawmakers within the day. Radio dzBB’s Carlo Mateo quoted Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez as saying that the commissioners of the poll body are studying the ruling so they can name the new lawmakers as soon as possible. In a landmark decision on Tuesday, the high tribunal voided a formula used for allotting party-list seats and declared as unconstitutional the two-percent threshold used to determine whether a party-list group should get a second or third seat in the House. The SC said the ruling was “immediately executory." Because of the ruling, party list groups Bayan Muna and Buhay will get the maximum three seats each and two seats each for the Citizens Battle Against Corruption (Cibac), Gabriela, Association of Philippine Electric Cooperatives (APEC), A-Teacher, Akbayan, Alagad, Coop-Natco, Butil, Batas, ARC, Anakpawis, Abono, Amin, Agap, and An Waray. Nineteen other party-list groups, including the Bantay party-list where retired Major General Jovito Palparan Jr. is a nominee, will be entitled to one seat each. The military general has gained notoriety among militant groups - who call him “butcher" - for his alleged role in extrajudicial killings, abduction, and torture of government critics. He, however, has been denying all the allegations. While the Comelec has yet to confirm and announce whether he would sit as a member of the House, the former general said he is looking forward to working for his constituents as Rep. Palparan. “It [the ruling] is a reward for the effort of my constituents to represent them. I am happy to do something for them. We already lost two years so maybe we would just catch up," Palparan told GMANews.TV Tuesday night. - GMANews.TV