Ako Bicol party-list asks SC to stop disqualification

Disqualified party-list Ako Bicol on Tuesday asked the Supreme Court to stop the implementation of a Commission on Elections (Comelec) resolution disallowing it from seeking re-election in next year’s elections.   The group, through its lawyers Vicente Mendoza, a retired Supreme Court justice, and Alfredo Molo III, said the Comelec erred when it ruled that only party-lists representing the "labor, peasant, fisher folk, urban poor, indigenous cultural communities, elderly, handicapped, women, youth, veterans, overseas workers, and professionals, and LGBTs (lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders)" sectors should be allowed to run next year.   "Indeed, by its questioned Resolution, COMELEC would in effect reserve seats in the House for the sectors it thus thinks are necessarily marginalized and under-represented, in violation of the constitutional provision that the party-list system must be free and open,” Ako Bicol said in its 86-page petition.   "Indeed, the COMELEC did not only assume powers it does not have by passing on the qualifications of petitioner AKB, it also exercised the powers arbitrarily," it added. 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.”   Ako Bicol said it should be allowed to vie for a post in Congress in May, noting the 1.5 million votes it obtained in the 2010 party-list race, which it said was the highest, "representing 5% of the total votes cast – nearly a full percentage point ahead of the second placer."   The group, through its petition, is asking the high court to issue a temporary restraining order and nullify the Comelec’s October 10 resolution disqualifying the group.   Last October 10, Comelec chairperson Sixto Brillantes, Jr. announced the disqualification of Ako Bicol and 12 other party-list groups due to their supposed failure to prove that they represent marginalized sectors.   Ako Bicol currently has three representatives at the House of Representatives — Rodel M. Batocabe, Christopher S. Co, and Alfredo A. Garbin Jr. Brillantes.   Ako Bicol said it is a regional political party first accredited and registered by the Comelec in 2009. It also noted that the poll body even junked a petition questioning the group’s eligibility in 2010.   The group boasted a record of being able to file 270 bills and 73 resolutions at the House of Representatives.   The group admitted it had been informed of a hearing on August 24, 2012 where Ako Bicol and other party-list groups' accreditation would be reviewed and at the same time ask the groups to prove they belonged to the "marginalized" sector.   Ako Bicol, however, said the Comelec did not state the grounds for the review, in violation of its right to due process.   "Petitioner AKB was not informed of the charges, if any, which it must meet or on which the COMELEC wanted petitioner AKB to produce evidence to show that it represented a marginalized and under-represented constituency," it said in the petition.   "Petitioner AKB was not given notice stating the grounds for investigation or review for its accreditation as a party-list... Petitioner was not given opportunity to be heard," it added.   The group said defining what "marginalized" and "underrepresented" mean was an "impossible task." — Mark D. Merueñas/KBK, GMA News