Batas party-list group seeks 2 more House seats

Party-list group Bagong Alyansang Tagapagtaguyod ng Adhikaing Sambayanan (Batas) has petitioned the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to allow the group at least two more additional seats in Congress. Batas members said they are counting on the dissenting opinion of Supreme Court Associate Justice Vicente Mendoza to the April 13, 2007 ruling penned by Associate Justice Artemio Panganiban in seeking the additional seats. The ruling junked the petition of the Citizens Battle Against Corruption party-list asking to allow them to have another seat in Congress by upholding the earlier ruling on the petition filed by Veterans Federation Party (VFP). Petitioners asserted that party-list like Batas that already reached the required 2 percent should be permitted to have two additional seats in Congress, citing Mendoza’s dissenting opinion: “The scheme adopted by the majority will prevent all 2 percenters, which are not the first ranking party, from obtaining the maximum number of seats. This is so because, with their votes being proportioned against the votes of the first ranking party, there will never be an instance where the additional seats of these parties will be equivalent to 2. Again, this is contrary to R.A. No. 7941, [Section] 11, which contemplates the possibility of more than one (1) party obtaining the maximum number." The group pointed out that if the Comelec will implement the Panganiban formula, Batas and other party list groups that already reached the two percent requirement will only be entitled to one seat in Congress. “Clearly, this formula further made it next to impossible to comply with the mandate of Article VI, Section 5 (2) of the Constitution “that the party-list representatives shall constitute twenty per centum of the total number of representatives including those under the party-list," the party list group said. The Panganiban formula states that only the number one will be entitled to 3 seats while additional seats for the party list groups placing second or achieving more than 2 percent will resolved by dividing the number of votes of the concerned party with the number of votes of the party that posted the highest number of votes. The votes will then be multiplied by the number of additional seats allocated to the number one party. The results will yield the number of seats that will be allowed to the party-list. Looking into the latest tally of the Comelec, the Charismatic group Buhay has the highest votes with over 1 million followed by Bayan Muna. If the commission will use the Veteran's formula, Bayan Muna will get two seats and not three seats despite getting more than 6 percent of the total votes cast. "As per Canvass Report No. 24, the party with the highest number of votes is Buhay with 1,082,685 or a total of 8.09%. The second party is Bayan Muna with 871,682 votes or 6.52% of the total votes cast for party-list. Following the formula in the Veterans (supra) case, the result (after dividing the number of the votes of Bayan Muna over that of Buhay and multiplying it by 2) is 1.6102. Since rounding off is not allowed, then Bayan Muna is entitled to only one extra seat (or a total of only two seats when clearly it is entitled to three seats likewise)," the petition further asserted. In a five-page petition, Batas underscored the need to fill in the 52 seats or 20 percent of the representatives in order to balance the representation of the marginalized sectors. “Indeed, the goal should be to fill all seats allowed for party-list representatives, which at present are 52. Thus, Art. VI. [Section] 5 (2) of the Constitution that “the party-list representatives shall constitute twenty per centum of the total number of representatives including those under the party-list. This provision thus fixes a ratio of 80 percent district representatives to 20 percent party-list representatives. If in fact all seats reserved for party-list representatives are not filled, that is due to the fact that the law limits parties, organizations, and coalitions to three (3) seats each. “To maintain this ratio, the entire number of seats for the party-list system, after deducting the number of seats initially distributed to the 2 percenters, must be allocated to them," Mendoza’s opinion further added. Comelec chairman Benjamin Abalos earlier said that the formula they used during the 2001 and 2004 party-list polls was the 2-4-6 formula where party list groups that obtained 2 percent were entitled to one seat, 4 percent for 2 seats and 6 percent for 3 seats. However, Abalos said because of Supreme Court ruling they could no longer implement the old formula. - GMANews.TV