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GWP Decries ‘Attempt to Confuse Voters’BY ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO The Gabriela Women’s Party (GWP) decried what it described as an attempt by the administration to “confuse the public” about the status of a number of party-list groups running for seats in this election. This arose following the release last week by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) of copies of the official sample ballot, voter information sheet and list of candidates in which seven party-list groups were marked as subject to pending disqualification cases. Bulatlat was able to get a copy of the said document. Marked in the document are the party-list groups Bayan Muna (People First), Anakpawis (Toiling Masses), GWP, Filipinos for Peace, Justice and Progress Movement (FPJPM), Union of the Masses for Democracy and Justice (UMDJ), Advocates for Special Children and the Handicapped Movement (ASAHAN MO), and Ahonbayan. Bayan Muna, Anakpawis, and GWP are the subjects of a disqualification case filed March 16 by Madelyn Felipe and Isabelita Bayudang, widows of two members of rival party-list group Akbayan who were allegedly killed by the New People’s Army (NPA) in 2001 and 2004. The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has branded Bayan Muna, Anakpawis, and GWP as “front organizations” of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). FPJPM and UMDJ, meanwhile, are subjects of a separate disqualification case on the ground that the two groups do not represent marginalized and underrepresented sectors. Both party-list groups are identified with the Genuine Opposition. In an interview with Bulatlat, GWP secretary-general Cristina Palabay noted that the four party-list groups against which her group filed a disqualification case are not marked in the document. GWP filed May 3 a disqualification case against Agbiag! Timpuyog Ilocano (Agbiag), Babae para sa Kaunlaran (Babae Ka or Women for Development), League of Youth for Peace and Development (LYPAD), and Kalahi Overseas Advocates (Kalahi). The four are mentioned in a memorandum by Malacañang’s Office of External Affairs (OEA) as party-list groups to be supported by the administration. “Since we filed a case against them, they should also have been marked in the document,” Palabay said. They are not, however, marked in the copy of the official Comelec document. “This could be an attempt by the administration to confuse the public and discourage them from voting for these groups since they may be disqualified anyway,” Palabay said. “It is also a form of harassment of progressive and opposition party-lists.” Bulatlat ( categories: )
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