Purged from the list

This is where your taxes go… to party- list congressmen supposedly representing a marginalized sector, whose declared net worth last year was no lower than P9 million each. The marginalized sector the congressmen are representing is Bicol – therefore the name of the party-list organization, Ako Bicol.

But doesn’t the region have regular congressmen representing all the districts in every Bicol province? That’s ample representation in the legislature, and there is an ongoing effort to carve out yet another congressional district in Camarines Sur. What should stop others from forming their own organizations and seeking party-list accreditation to represent other regions such as Southern Tagalog, for example, or Northern Mindanao?

And yet this didn’t stop the Commission on Elections from accrediting Ako Bicol for the party-list race in 2010. The group garnered the highest number of votes for the party-list – 1,524,006 – qualifying the group for three seats in the House of Representatives. The seats are occupied by lawyers Alfredo Garbin and Rodel Batocabe and businessman Zaldy Co. Last year the three declared their net worth at P9.7 million, P30.2 million and P90.1 million, respectively.

For the elections next year, the Comelec has disqualified Ako Bicol from the party-list race, but has allowed its three representatives to finish their term. The Comelec deserves commendation for its effort to put an end to the mockery of the party-list system, but why spend public funds for nearly nine more months of upkeep for disqualified representatives? And why did the Comelec add two more party-list representatives yesterday, one of them a member of a prominent political clan whose group claims to represent small businessmen?

Ako Bicol is reportedly planning to take its case to the Supreme Court. The tribunal should not be a party to the perpetuation of this farce.

The Comelec must not stop here; there are several other party-list organizations that in reality are just adjuncts of major political parties and even religious groups. Several of these party-list organizations are allied with the administration. These organizations cannot legitimately claim to represent marginalized sectors and should have been disqualified by the Comelec from the start. They have turned the party-list system into a disgraceful experiment that should be ended. There are better uses for public funds.