This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. VII, No. 10, April 15-21, 2007
ELECTION WATCH The
party-list system was envisioned by its advocates as purportedly a
counter-current to the dominance of pro-foreign and elite interests in
Philippine traditional politics. How have the party-list groups done in terms of
their legislative work? Have they fulfilled the mandate of legislating
particularly for the marginalized and underrepresented sectors? A look at the
bills filed by party-list groups during the 13th Congress can give
one an idea. BY
ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO The party-list system makes
it possible for groups representing the country’s marginalized and
underrepresented sectors to have seats at the House of Representatives. It was
envisioned by its advocates as purportedly a counter-current to the dominance of
pro-foreign and elite interests in Philippine traditional politics. The 1987 Constitution has a
provision that representatives from party-list groups are to be allotted 20
percent of the total number of seats at the House of Representatives. For three
consecutive terms under the 1987 Constitution, representatives from the labor,
peasant, urban poor, indigenous cultural communities, women, youth, and other
sectors as may be provided by law – except the religious sector – were selected
or elected to fill half of the seats allocated to party-list representatives.
Republic Act No. 7941,
passed in 1995, served as the enabling law for the constitutional provision for
a party-list system. It also adds the elderly, the handicapped, veterans,
overseas workers, and professionals to the list of sectors that party-list
groups are supposed to represent. As representatives of
marginalized and underrepresented groups, party-list lawmakers are expected to
contribute legislation that would benefit their immediate constituency and the
nation in general. As the Supreme Court stated in its landmark decision on
Ang Bagong Bayani-OFW v. Comelec, et al, “while lacking a well-defined
political constituency, the (party-list) nominee must likewise be able to
contribute to the formulation and enactment of appropriate legislation that will
benefit the nation as a whole.” How have the party-list
groups done in terms of their legislative work? Have they fulfilled the mandate
of legislating particularly for the marginalized and underrepresented sectors? A
look at the bills they filed can give one an idea. The party-list groups that
won seats in the 13th Congress are: Bayan Muna (People First),
AnakPawis (Toiling Masses), Akbayan, Association of Philippine Electric
Cooperatives (APEC), Buhay Hayaan Yumabong (Buhay or Let Life Grow), Anakpawis
(Toiling Masses), Gabriela Women’s Party (GWP), Citizen’s Battle Against
Corruption (Cibac), Butil (Grain) Farmer Party, Veterans Freedom Party,
Cooperative-National Confederation of Cooperatives (Coop-Natcco), An Waray
(literally, Those Who Have Nothing), Anak Mindanao (AMIN or Children of
Mindanao), Ang Laban ng Indiginong Filipino (ALIF or The Struggle of Indigenous
Filipino), and Alagad (literally, Agent). Based on the Social Weather
Station (SWS) survey last March, six of these party-list groups could expect to
maintain, if not increase, their seats at the House of Representatives: Bayan
Muna, Akbayan, Anakpawis, GWP, AMIN and Cibac. Four of them, meanwhile, fell
short of the statistical requirement for congressional representation but are
close to the threshold: APEC, Partido ng Manggagawa, Buhay, and Coop-Natcco. Their performance during
the 13th Congress may be taken as a measure of how they may be
expected to do if they all manage to win seats in the 14th Congress. Bayan Muna was represented
by Satur Ocampo, Teddy Casiño, and Joel Virador. The three filed more than 200
bills and resolutions in all during the 13th Congress, based on data
from the House of Representatives. Ocampo’s bills dealt
primarily with human rights and foreign debt. Among his human rights bills are
those repealing Batas Pambansa Blg. 880 and strengthening the right to free
expression and peaceable assembly, defining and penalizing the crime of forced
disappearance and declaring torture as a crime and prescribing penalties for
acts of torture. He also has bills repealing the Automatic Appropriations Act,
cancelling “fraudulent” loans incurred during the Marcos regime as well as those
that resulted from onerous contracts. Casiño, a former student
leader, had a number of bills seeking to regulate tuition and other fee
increases in private colleges and universities and mandating them to allow a
certain number of students as scholarship grantees. Virador, meanwhile, is known
for his bill repealing the Mining Act of 1995. AnakPawis Rep. Crispin
Beltran – who has been confined under police custody at the Philippine Heart
Center since February 2006 following his warrantless arrest on rebellion charges
– is best known for his bills providing for wage increases for private-sector
workers and government employees. He also filed a bill seeking to repeal the
Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation Act of 1998. The other AnakPawis
representative, Rafael Mariano – a farmer from Nueva Ecija and a long-time
peasant leader before being elected to Congress – had bills focusing mainly on
land rights for farmers. GWP’s Liza Maza filed a
bill providing for equal rights for husbands and wives by amending Articles 333,
334, and 344 of the Revised Penal Code. Her bills have dealt mostly with the
promotion of women’s and children’s rights. Akbayan’s bills dealt
mainly with the promotion of human rights education and international
humanitarian law, and amendments to the country’s tax and labor laws.
APEC filed a few bills
dealing with extending tax exemptions to electric cooperatives. Meanwhile, Coop-Natcco’s
Guillermo Cua had bills seeking to strengthen cooperatives and give them
representation in certain government agencies. Buhay’s Hans Christian
Señeres and Rene Velarde filed a few bills dealing with child pornography and
abortion. Cibac’s Joel Villanueva filed bills against corruption, marital
infidelity, and pornography. AMIN’s Mujiv Hataman filed
bills which provide for the mandatory study of Moro and Lumad history, culture
and identity in all levels of education in the Philippines. Many of his other
bills, however, are particular to certain legislative districts in Mindanao. Partido ng Manggagawa
represents workers. It is represented in Congress by Renato Magtubo. The House
of Representatives website has no listing for bills under Magtubo’s name, but
the Partido ng Manggagawa website lists, among other measures, a bill
establishing a New Labor Code of the Philippines as well as bills providing for
salary increases for public school teachers. Magtubo co-sponsored Beltran’s
bills on wage increases for private-sector workers and government employees. Having identified the major
bills they filed, it remains another matter altogether as to why most of them
have not been approved by the House of Representatives. Bulatlat © 2007 Bulatlat
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