Both Art. VI, Sec. 5 of the Constitution and Republic Act No. 7941 expressly reserve the party-list system for marginalized and underrepresented groups. The Supreme Court, in one of its landmark decisions, brought the matter further by explicitly barring groups linked to or supported by the government from participating in the party-list system.
BY ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO
Bulatlat
Vol. VII, No. 12 April 29-May 5, 2007
Should it be proven that Malacañang disbursed funds in support of pro-administration party-list groups, it could constitute an impeachable offense on the part of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Both Art. VI, Sec. 5 of the Constitution and Republic Act No. 7941 expressly reserve the party-list system for marginalized and underrepresented groups. The Supreme Court, in one of its landmark decisions, brought the matter further by explicitly barring groups linked to or supported by the government from participating in the party-list system.
In its decision on the 2001 case Ang Bagong Bayani-OFW Labor Party v. Commission on Elections, et al, the Supreme Court issued eight guidelines for screening party-list participants. The fifth guideline states thus:
x x x (The) party or organization must not be an adjunct of, or a project organized or an entity funded or assisted by, the government. By the very nature of the party-list system, the party or organization must be a group of citizens, organized by citizens and operated by citizens. It must be independent of the government. The participation of the government or its officials in the affairs of a party-list candidate is not only illegal and unfair to other parties, but also deleterious to the objective of the law: to enable citizens belonging to marginalized and underrepresented sectors and organizations to be elected to the House of Representatives.
The issue of government-backed party-list groups participating in the elections was recently brought to the fore when militant organizations and party-list groups including Gabriela Women’s Party (GWP) and Anakpawis (Toiling Masses) exposed a memorandum to the Office of the President from the Special Concerns Group of the Office of External Affairs (OEA-SCG), which is headed by Assistant Secretary Marcelo Fariñas II.
The memorandum is reported to have been leaked by a disgruntled OEA employee. Fariñas has denied issuing the memorandum.
The memorandum, dated Oct. 16, 2006 and bearing Fariñas’ signature, refers to an administration party-list campaign with the following objectives:
“1. Provide full support to several COMELEC accredited (party-list) groups that are ascertained to be pro-administration and ensure the winning of nine (9) to twelve (12) seats in the House of Representatives;
“2. Form a party-list bloc that will support the plans and moves of the administration and help in countering destabilization moves by the opposition as well as left-leaning party-list groups; and
“3. Contribute in the overall campaign to substantially lower the number of votes of leftist and left-leaning party-list organizations, and in the process reduce the number of seats of these anti-administration parties in the House of Representatives.”
The memorandum – of which Bulatlat received a copy courtesy of Migrante International – specifically requests for “funding assistance” from the Office of the President’s intelligence funds for the pro-administration party-list groups as well as the SCG.
Attached to the two-page memorandum is a “confidential” party-list campaign proposal including a proposed budget of P5.5 million from October to December 2006 ($107,192 based on the year’s average exchange rate of $1:P51.31). The campaign proposal identifies the following as the four main party-list organizations to be supported: Agbiag! Timpuyog Ilocano (Agbiag!), Babae para sa Kaunlaran (Babae Ka or Women for Development), League of Youth for Peace and Development (LYPAD), and Kalahi Advocates for Overseas Filipinos (Kalahi).
Three of these groups – Agbiag!, Babae Ka, and Kalahi – are among 22 party-list organizations recently exposed as “Malacañang and AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) fronts” by the broad anti-fraud coalition Kontra Daya, which is led by former Vice President Teofisto Guingona, Jr. and Fr. Joe Dizon. Agbiag!, Babae Ka, and Kalahi had all also figured in an earlier exposé by the party-list group Akbayan.
Fariñas himself is reported to be secretary-general and one of the nominees of Agbiag! Babae Ka is reportedly a member of Sigaw ng Bayan (People’s Clamor), a pro-administration group that last year spearheaded a campaign to amend the Constitution through “people’s initiative” and has Sally Dagami and Ruth Vasquez as its first and second nominees, respectively. Kalahi has as its first nominee Poe Gratela, who claimed to be an activist before he went over to the administration camp in 2004, led in forming the pro-administration migrants’ group Kaisang Bayan, and went on to work for the OEA until recently.
“If it is proven that Malacañang disbursed funds in support of those party-list groups, that violates the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act,” said Judge Cleto Villacorta, a member of the Board of Directors of the policy study institution Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG), in an interview with Bulatlat. “That is also an impeachable offense.”
Sec. 3 of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (Republic Act No. 3019) classifies as a corrupt practice of public officers the act of:
Knowingly approving or granting any license, permit, privilege or benefit in favor of any person not qualified for or not legally entitled to such license, permit, privilege or advantage, or of a mere representative or dummy of one who is not so qualified or entitled.
Graft and corrupt practices is one of four impeachable offenses under the Constitution; the others are bribery, betrayal of public trust, and culpable violation of the Constitution.
The formation of these and other party-list groups with dubious connections and funding has been assailed as a move by Mrs. Arroyo to ensure additional votes that will be mobilized to thwart a possible third impeachment against her at the House of Representatives. It has also been denounced as part of government attempts to mangle the constitutional provision that calls for the representation of poor classes and sectors in the legislature and to evict the Left and other progressive groups from Congress. Bulatlat
