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« on: July 21, 2010, 12:33:00 AM »
MANILA, Philippines—The Commission on Elections (Comelec) disqualified a big businessman who wished to speak for small entrepreneurs, but ruled that a wealthy political scion can represent marginalized security guards and tricycle drivers in the House of Representatives.
The Comelec has voted 4-2-1 to allow Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo to represent the party-list group Ang Galing Pinoy, but Election Chair Jose Melo said the poll body’s latest ruling and that on another party-list group, Ang Kasangga, were “contradictory.”
Election Commissioners Nicodemo Ferrer, Lucenito Tagle, Elias Yusoph and Armando Velasco—all members of the second division except for Yusoph—approved Arroyo’s assumption of office as the first nominee of a group that claims to speak for the guards and drivers.
Commissioners Gregorio Larrazabal and Rene Sarmiento of the first division dissented, saying a “yes” vote would be a betrayal of the party-list law.
Melo did not take part in the voting.
Asked on Tuesday if it would be dangerous for the Comelec to issue two conflicting decisions on party-list groups, he replied in the affirmative. He also said those opposed to the en banc ruling could seek a restraining order from the Supreme Court.
An insult to Filipinos
Militant groups are determined to block Arroyo, the eldest child of the former First Couple and a former representative of Pampanga, from again taking a seat in the House.
Through its secretary general Renato Reyes, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) said the Comelec ruling “is utterly despicable and truly destroys the essence of the party-list system.”
Reyes also said Arroyo’s presence at the opening of Congress on July 26 would “insult the entire Filipino people.”
Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Teodoro Casiño, whose colleagues had earlier sought Arroyo’s disqualification as Ang Galing Pinoy nominee, said the Comelec ruling allowed those in power and in positions of influence to coopt the party-list system.
He said Bayan Muna would appeal the ruling before the high court.
Haresco’s case
Casiño wondered how Arroyo’s case differed from Ang Kasangga Rep. Teodorico Haresco, who was earlier disqualified by the Comelec on grounds that he does not belong to the underrepresented sector of microentrepreneurs that the group speaks for.
In Haresco’s case, Casiño noted, the Comelec said it was unfathomable that a big businessman like him would truly understand the plight of microentrepreneurs.
“The Comelec en banc decision allowing Mikey Arroyo to assume his seat as representative of Ang Galing Pinoy contradicts the poll body’s earlier ruling on the Kasangga case,” Casiño said.
“The implication of the ruling is that now, multimillionaires and incumbent elected officials can run under the party-list system. This is an abomination that totally contradicts the letter and spirit of the party-list system and delivers it on a silver platter to the already rich and powerful sectors of society,” he said.
Melo declined to discuss the impact of the two rulings. The case of Ang Kasangga has yet to reach the commission en banc.
‘No new issues’
According to the poll body’s consolidated resolution, Arroyo should be allowed to represent a marginalized group in Congress.
Ferrer, Tagle, Yusoph and Velasco voted to junk the petition filed by Satur Ocampo and Liza Maza, then representatives of Bayan Muna and Gabriela, respectively, and guest senatorial candidates of the Nacionalista Party, which sought reconsideration of the second division’s ruling allowing Arroyo to stand as Ang Galing Pinoy nominee.
The four commissioners chided Maza and Ocampo for submitting an appeal that raised “no new issues.”
“The nominee himself need not be marginalized so long as he is a bona fide member of the party organization whose members are marginalized and underrepresented,” the resolution read.
It also cited the second division’s past decision, which stated that Arroyo supported Ang Galing Pinoy, “adhered to its advocacies,” and joined its various projects.
Arroyo, whose post as Pampanga representative has been taken over by his mother, former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, praised Ferrer et al. for not bowing to pressure.
He lashed out at his critics, saying: “I find their line of reasoning too preposterous. It is hypocrisy at its crescendo. They seek my disqualification mainly on the ground that I am not underprivileged, but their 2009 [statements of assets, liabilities and net worth show that they] are millionaires themselves. Of all the 52 party-list representatives, only seven are not millionaires, and even some have declared a much higher net worth than I have declared.”
Arroyo also said that like him, his critics lived “charmed childhood lives.”
Spirit of the law
Sarmiento and Larrazabal, the dissenters, argued that allowing Arroyo to become a party-list representative would be untrue to the spirit of the party-list law.
They noted that a Supreme Court ruling on a party-list case in 2009 mandated that a nominee should also belong to the marginalized sector he/she represented.
Arroyo fails this qualification, being a member of the former First Family and a veteran politician, Sarmiento said, adding:
“It is common knowledge that … Arroyo does not belong to the marginalized and underrepresented sectors that Ang Galing Pinoy seeks to represent.”
Larrazabal said allowing the likes of Arroyo to join the party-list system would be a setback for the institution aimed at expanding the participation of marginalized sectors in Congress.
“If the party-list system is to succeed in encouraging the growth of a true multiparty system, only those nominees belonging to the marginalized and underrepresented sectors must be allowed to represent their party-list group,” Larrazabal said.
Speaking with reporters on Tuesday, Melo admitted that the disqualification cases against several party-list groups represented a dilemma brought by unclear constitutional provisions on the party-list system.
He said the Arroyo case was not a precedent but that it and other disqualification cases shared similarities.
He added that the murky provisions in the Constitution and in the party-list law, as well as the definitions of nominees and marginalized sectors, should be clarified by legislation.
Reyes, Velarde
Former Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes and El Shaddai leader Bro. Mike Velarde, first nominee of the transport group 1-UTAK and fourth nominee of the “prolife” group Buhay, respectively, are facing disqualification cases at the Comelec.
Last week, the Comelec’s first division ruled that Haresco and Eugenio Lacson were not qualified to represent Ang Kasangga because of their significant political and business connections.
Ang Kasangga won a seat in the last elections. One of its past nominees was Ma. Lourdes Arroyo, sister-in-law of the former President.
Bayan’s Reyes said the latest Comelec ruling showed that the poll body itself had no clear agreement on the party-list issue.
“If the Comelec first division was able to disqualify the nominees of Ang Kasangga on the basis that they are not microentrepreneurs, shouldn’t the same principle apply to Mikey Arroyo, who is not a security guard?” Reyes said. With reports from Gil C. Cabacungan Jr. and Leila B. Salaverria
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