MANILA – Former Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. on Tuesday said it is about time to revise the entire party-list law stressing that there were too many candidates who want to be party-list representatives but do not meet qualifications.
“It’s about time we revise the entire party-list law and come out with a new law where the jurisprudence will be incorporated. Para malinis. Ang dami-dami, kung sinu-sino pumupunta (So that it’s orderly. There’s too many, just about anyone is showing up),” Brillantes told reporters during the fourth day of the filing of Certificates of Nomination and Acceptance (CONA) at the Comelec office.
Brillantes said under the Constitution, only candidates from marginalized or underrepresented national, regional and sectoral parties are allowed to run as party-list representatives.
“Under the Constitution, there are only three — sectoral, underrepresented, marginalized,” he added.
He said he prohibited other party-lists from running but it was eventually allowed by the Supreme Court.
“I removed those but the Supreme Court returned them. They allowed it all as long as there is an advocacy without concern so everybody can participate, so it’s now all full,” Brillantes said.
Brillantes, meanwhile, criticized candidates who switched parties, citing former Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque as one example.
“There are too many switching parties. The best example is Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque. Where is the consistency of your advocacy?” Brillantes said.
Brillantes said he personally wanted to ask Roque what his advocacy was.
“Party-list is supposed to be an advocacy of a particular principle or something that you are going to exercise as a congressman,” Brillantes said.
“If you don’t have consistency, it makes a mockery of the party-list system if we allow all of these,” he added.
On Monday, Roque announced that instead of running for senator, he will run as party-list representative by filing a CONA for environmental party-list Luntian Pilipinas.
“I am taking the advice of the President. While it was always my intention to file a certificate of candidacy for the position of Senator, I will actually file tomorrow (Tuesday) a certification of nomination for party-list under Luntian Pilipinas Parylist, which is an environmental party-list group,” Roque said in a Palace briefing.
He said his choice of running for an environmental party-list was influenced by landslides that happened in Itogon, Benguet during the onslaught of Typhoon Ompong last month, and the President’s “unrelenting” campaign to protect the environment.
Roque, a human rights lawyer, said environmental rights are also human rights saying that “without the environment, without ecology we would not have life that would enable the realization of all other rights.” (Azer Parrocha/PNA)
