The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
By Rose de la Cruz
The partylist system was created by the 1987 Constitution to ensure representation for underrepresented community sectors or groups like labor, peasant, urban poor, indigenous cultural, women, youth and other sectors.
But a 2013 Supreme Court decision clarified that partylist is a system of proportional representation open to various kinds of groups and parties and not exclusively the marginalized sectors.
And because of the SC ruling, influential clans and dynasties in the country form partylist groups that would apply as candidate in the elections and the party that wins will have its top three nominees sit in Congress.
Because of the immense wealth and influence of political clans and dynasties, they manage to win in the elections even if in the strict sense of the word, their group or party does not represent the marginalized, as stipulated by the 1987 Constitution.
In January 2021, then President Rodrigo Duterte wanted to remove the partylist representation in Congress via a Constituent Assembly because partylist groups have been infiltrated by communists (or those staunchly opposed to him and his governance).
On Tuesday, the Political Economic Elemental Researchers and Strategists (PEERS) asked the government to comprehensively reform the congressional partylist system by banning political dynasties from participating. PEERS is a consultancy group on political economy and business.
PEERS, in a position paper, said the government should strictly monitor campaign financing, and level the playing field for marginalized groups amid the hijacking of political elites.
“To prevent political parties, wealthy individuals, and oligarchs from using the party-list system as a backdoor to Congress, a stricter and more explicit legal definition of ‘marginalized and underrepresented sectors’ should be established,” the group said.
The position paper comes just as the Commission on Elections ended the filing period for certificates of candidacy, which saw 184 Senatorial aspirants and 190 party-list groups seeking congressional seats, Business World reported.
Apart from banning political dynasties, PEERS said the government should put a cap on financial contributions to party-list groups, with a stricter reporting requirement on campaign spending to prevent political elites from bankrolling them.
“Party-list groups should disclose their donors. A watchdog agency should audit these disclosures to ensure the funds are not from wealthy individuals or corporations that do not align with the marginalized sectors,” it said.
Moreover, changes to the party-list system should include the implementation of seat quotas for sectoral groups, ensuring balanced representation in Congress and revisiting the 2% national voting threshold for political parties, PEERS noted.
A party-list group must get at least 2% of the total national vote to secure a seat at the House of Representatives.
The current voting threshold could “favor more established or wealthier groups,” PEERS said, urging the government to lower the vote requirement or implement a proportional voting system, where received votes directly correspond to the number of seats a party-list can win.
“The number of groups participating in the party-list system has grown, but there has also been a shift toward more politically connected or mainstream parties securing these seats,” a part of PEERS’ position paper stated.
“While some genuinely marginalized groups continue to gain representation, others argue that the system has been diluted, with powerful families and political dynasties fielding candidates through this mechanism.”
Since the 2013 SC ruling, the group observed that “this broadened the system’s scope, prompting criticisms that traditional political elites and powerful interest groups were co-opting the party-list slots, weakening the system’s original intent.”
The government should consider reducing the maximum seats for groups to provide more “diverse representation” in the chamber. Party-lists are currently limited to three seats in the chamber.
At present, about 80 percent of the more than 300 congressmen are district representatives, while the rest of the seats are allotted to party-lists.
PEERS also said Comelec should be strengthened in screening partylist groups vying for a seat in Congress and require them to provide proof of grassroots organizing and a transparent platform that reflects the interests of marginalized sectors.
Party-lists must also submit yearly reports detailing the bills and services they rendered to the sectors they supposedly represent and that erring groups should potentially be barred from the system, PEERS said while pushing for a multi-stakeholder team composed of the academe, sectoral groups, and election watchdogs for regular reviews to ensure the party-list system still adheres with its “constitutional goals.”