Buhay. (Life.)

Gettin’ Ready for the Party

by Jobelle Lyka Magno

Selling Japanese cakes outside a university, 32-year-old voter Mang Ramiel Marquez recalls no party-list group that had ever helped him. He, who supposed to be one of the beneficiaries of party-list groups, does not also know the essential information about the system. And he is not alone.

This year, the Pulse Asia survey showed that nearly seven (7) out of ten (10) Filipino voters (69%) are unaware of the party-list system. It even grew higher from the five (5) out of ten (54%) unaware voters on the May 2004 elections survey.

With this scenario, how can Filipinos vote with informed decisions?

Significance

Party-list groups, based on the Party-List System Act (Republic Act No. 7941), must represent labor, peasant, fisherfolk, urban poor, indigenous cultural communities, elderly, handicapped, women, youth, veterans, overseas workers, and professionals, or in a collective sense, the marginal sectors of the society.

Each group has a different set of goals and objectives based on the sector they stand for. One of the groups is the Kabataan Party-list. According to its Regional Staff Rogene Gonzales, “Kabataan represents, inside the Congress, the interests and ideals of the youth which includes free and quality education for everyone, and equal job opportunities with humane salaries after graduation.” Its University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) Coordinator, Eduard Alub, added that the party-list encourages the youth to work collectively with other sectors to uphold, promote and defend the interest of the youth, and be able to harness its fullest potential as a sector.

Constitutional Basis

The Congress of the Philippines is composed of officials who can make, change or repeal laws, and were elected by the people. It is divided into two houses, called bicameral legislature, namely the House of Senate and the House of Representatives.

Unlike the House of Senate which is composed of only 24 senators, the House of Representatives is composed of not more than 250 members. Twenty percent of which is established by the party-list representatives, and the rest, by the district representatives (congressmen and congresswomen), as stated in the 1987 Philippine Constitution, Article 6, Section 5.

To join the party-list system, a group should register on the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) with a list of not less than five (5) names, already ranked, from which the representatives of that certain party-list shall be chosen. Maybe you were asking why do you vote for only one party-list, yet many of which were in Congress. The reason is that whenever a party-list group had two percent (2%) of the entire votes, it will be given one (1) seat in the house. But, the maximum number of seats that can be gained is only three (3). So when a party earned six percent (6%) of the total votes, the first three names appeared on its list of representatives shall be seated.

A registered voter is therefore permitted to vote two (2) members of the House of Representatives. First is for a congressman that will represent its district and second is for a party-list group that will seat its representative for the marginalized sectors of the country.

Merits

According to UPLB Political Science Prof. Arleen H. Saniano, the party-list system prevents the concentration of power in the Congress to the hands of popular and major parties only. “The system levels the playing field for non-mainstream parties and marginal groups so that power will be distributed more widely among the various sectors of society,” she said.

She also cited advantages seen by party-list system advocates. They say that it paves way for “the flourishing of genuine program-based political parties” because more importance is given to a party’s platform. In connection, it also provides new political culture because people have now the chance to base their votes on party platform and not on personalities.

Demerits

Some voters do not like the party-list system because they could not choose the representatives of a certain party-list group. Critics also say that party-list representatives are redundant because congressmen can already represent the interests and ideas of the marginalized groups within his or her district. Moreover, according to Dr. Saniano, party-list representatives are generally regarded as second class citizens in the Congress. “Besides being a minority on the house, often they are divided and worse, contradictory to each other. So, they struggle to make a difference,” she added.

Filipino Voters

The Institute of Politics and Governance studied the 1998 party-list elections and found out that Filipino voters were used to voting congressmen, so others became uninterested and later on became uninformed with the party-list system. They also pointed out that the COMELEC did not move fast to educate the voters about the new system even though the funds were already released in 1995, after the Party-List System Act was passed.

Fr. Joaquin Bernas, a Philippine Daily Inquirer columnist, once suggested that the party-list system nowadays should be reviewed. It seems that a definite standard to consider a certain group as “underrepresented” or “marginalized” to be able to run do not exist. Based on this year’s January 30 COMELEC resolution, 187 party-list groups were already accredited. Some of which may even be major political parties, and others are government-sponsored and religion-associated.

Some of the problems on May 2004 elections still exist today. Several party-list members are still harassed and assassinated. Various party-list groups are also accused as terrorists. One of which is the Gabriela Women’s Party. According to its UPLB Officer-in-Charge Rona Manalo, “Even though we are following legal processes, one of the greatest struggles we still face today is the red tagging, wherein we are labeled as terrorists.”

But nowadays, intellects maximize all available means to disseminate information essential to the public. Some write mind-opening columns on newspapers that reveal and study various sides of the country’s political issues. Party-list groups also extend their reach through conducting educational campaigns and attending the needs of the people they represent.

And these are what Mang Ramiel holds to still continue voting for a party-list group this incoming elections. He believes that though he was not, others were still directly benefited by these groups.

Despite everything, Filipinos are still the voters – the change-makers; be it for better or for worse. And to create change, one has to exert an effort to make himself always informed, not just to simply blame anybody for not being educated.

-END-

First published in UPIU.com

(http://www.upiu.com/politics/2010/03/25/Gettin-ready-for-the-party/UPIU-5081269516925/)

Leave a Comment so far
Leave a comment