ON the heels of the filing of a Senate bill looking to amend the Party-List System Act, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday laid down three foremost aspects of the system that needs to be improved.
In a televised public briefing, Comelec spokesman John Rex Laudiangco said they have long identified the necessary changes needed to change the party-list system.
First, Laudiangco said, there is a need to have pre-identified sectors considered as underrepresented and marginalized, as well as their corresponding seat allocations.
“This is so that accredited party-list groups will be counted only for their specific sector. This will ensure that these sectors will be well represented,” he said.
He also said lawmakers should fix the qualifications of party-list nominees, particularly concerning those who are part of the said sectors and those who are advocates.
“The people are critical every time they see representatives that are not part of the sector,” he noted.
He also said the rule on withdrawal and substitution of party-list nominees should be amended.
Senate minority leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III has filed Senate Bill 192, which seeks to amend the Party-List System Act of 1995.
Sotto noted that the current party-list system has already deviated from the intent of the framers of the 1987 Constitution, which is to represent the marginalized and the underrepresented sectors.
Laudiangco said such reforms can be seen when the Comelec holds the October 13 Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections (BPE).
“These are things we saw in the Bangsamoro Electoral Code, which we will implement on October 13,” he said.
“In the (Bangsamoro) parliament it will be clear. Those who will be competing for the seats will be the real groups that registered according to those sectors,” he also said.
