SENATE minority leader Aquilino Pimentel III yesterday said there is a need to review the party-list system as its legisla-tive intent to represent sectoral groups is no longer being followed.
In a press conference, Pimentel said the review may be done once a new set of lawmakers are seated after the midterm elections next year.
Pimentel said he has observed that some of the nominees of participating party-list groups do not represent the mar-ginalized sectors, thus defeating the true purpose of the law.
“Nakita ko sa mga interviews ng mga nag-file ng party list… ang sagot nila eh gusto nilang dagdagan ang puwersa ng dis-trict representative na kamag-anak nila. So, nasira na ang essence ng party list system na sana for the poor and marginal-ized. Sana maayos natin na limitado lang doon sa talagang 12 (marginalized sectors listed in the Constitution) (I have watched the interviews of those who filed their candidacies for party list. They said that they want to add power to their district representative who is their relative. So, the essence of the party list system is lost. I hope we can fix this by lim-iting them to the 12 marginalized sectors listed in the Constitution),” Pimentel said.
He said that relatives of district representatives seeking election through the party-list system have grown in numbers, which means that they only want to expand their political influence.
“So, we really have to reform the party-list system,” he stressed.
He said this can be done by introducing amendments to the 1987 Constitution, but did not elaborate.
