SENATE President Francis “Chiz” Escudero yesterday said some nominees of party-list groups are taking advantage of a Supreme Court (SC) ruling stating who can run as sectoral representatives.
Escudero, during the Kapihan sa Senado forum, said it is not true that the party-list system is being used by political families who want to expand their clout.
“Sa isang desisyon ng Korte Suprema, sinabi nito na ang tatakbo sa party-list ay hindi kinakailangang bahagi ng sektor na iyon (There is a Supreme Court decision which says that those who will run as party- list representatives do not need to belong to the marginalized sector which he wants to represent,” Esscudero said.
‘Yun ay isang napakalaking butas na pinapasukan ngayon ng sinumang nais maging mambabatas sa Kamara (That is a loophole that is being used by those who wish to become members of the House of Representatives),” he added.
Escudero, who is a lawyer, also said there is no law that identifies which sectors should be represented in Congress.
“Wala tayong batas, sa totoo lang, na nagsasabi ano-ano ba ang mga sektor na meron tayo na dapat may kinatawan sa Kongreso. Ang pinakamalapit na diyan ay ang Local Government Code na nagsasabing women, farmers, fisherfolks, elderly pero hanggang ngayon, hindi pa -i-implement ‘yung provision na ‘yun ng Local Government Code (To be frank, we have no law which identifies what sectors need representations in Congress. The nearest law that I can think of is the Local Government Code which states that it should be the women, farmers, fisherfolks, and the elderly, but that provision has not been implemented),” he said.
“Napapanahon na siguro na i-identify ‘yan sa tulong ng Executive branch. Ano-ano ba ‘yung mga sektor na dapat kinakatawan o may kinatawan sa Kongreso? Elderly, sigurado. Women, sigurado. Ang kalalakihan ba kailangan? Nagtatanong ako ha. O ang LGBT community kailangan (It’s about time that we identify these sectors with the help of the Executive branch. What are the sectors that need to have a representative or be represented in Congress? The elderly, that’s for sure. Women, that’s also sure. Do men need to be represented? I am only asking. Or does the LGBT community also need to be represented)?” he asked.
But Escudero acknowledged that introducing amendments to the party-list system will have a slim chance of passing in Congress because of the number of party-list groups at the House of Representatives.
“Ang problema ay kung makakapasa ba ‘yan sa Kongreso sa dami ng bilang ng party-lists doon
(The question here is, will it be passed in Congress considering that there are several party list groups there),” he said.
Senate minority leader Aquilino Pimentel III has said that he will push for reforms in the party-list system, which he said supposedly being abused to expand the clout of political families.
Pimentel said the reforms should also include the party-list nomination process, stressing that representatives should really come from the marginalized sector.
