Comelec: LP is dominant majority party, UNA dominant minority party  

The Liberal Party (LP) and the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) are the dominant majority party and dominant minority party, respectively, in this year's e national elections.

The announcement was made Wednesday morning by Commission on Elections (Comelec) chief Andres Bautista.

The two parties held these places in the 2013 midterm elections.

The poll body began accepting petitions for dominant parties in August last year. 

The dominant majority party and dominant minority party shall be entitled to the following:

• copies of election returns (ERs) from the voting machines;
• to receive electronically-transmitted precinct results;
• to get the copies of the Certificates of Canvass (COCs); and
• to assign official watchers in every polling places and canvassing centers.

Earlier, the poll body said the dominant parties would be determined by:  

• the established record of the said parties, coalition or groups, that now compose them, taking into account, among other things, their showing in past elections;
• the number of incumbent elective officials belonging to them on the last day of the filing of certificates of candidacy;
• their identifiable political organizations and strengths as evidenced by their organized chapters;
• the ability to field a complete slate of candidates from the municipal level to the position of the President; and
• other analogous circumstances that may determine their relative organizations and strengths.

Meanwhile, ten major national parties and the two major local parties shall be entitled to get copies of ERs and COCs and official watchers; while copies of ERs and COCs shall also be allocated to the two major local parties. — RSJ, GMA News