Entry through the back door

The ballot for the 2019 midterm elections will be quite long, thanks to the high number of party-list groups seeking seats in the House of Representatives. The Commission on Elections received certificates of nomination and acceptance from a total of 185 party-list groups, each with at least five nominees.

To promote transparency and an informed vote, the Comelec must post on its website relevant information on each group as well as the nominees. The partylist system, meant to promote the welfare of marginalized sectors, has become a farce, thanks to the Supreme Court, which has stymied every effort of the Comelec to make the system adhere to what the Constitution intended.

Today some of the wealthiest Filipinos are party-list congressmen. Major political parties and religious groups have House representation, all of them receiving the same compensation and enjoying the same perks as regular lawmakers. The National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections has lamented that the party-list system has been “bastardized” by those who want to enter Congress through the back door.

The Comelec is pushing for amendments to Republic Act 7941 or the Party-List System Act. With so many party-list members now sitting in Congress, however, this may have as much chance of House approval as the proposals to regulate campaign finance and political dynasties.

With party-list congressmen unlikely to support legislation for their own political demise, the Comelec can do the next best thing, which is to promote full transparency in the party-list system in the 2019 elections. Senators may also begin the spadework for the possible amendment of RA 7941. Even if the House refuses to go along with any amendment, Senate scrutiny of the law can highlight its flaws and the ways by which the party-list system has been brazenly abused.