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Home arrow Newsletter arrow Articles arrow “New” Party list Politics
“New” Party list Politics PDF Print E-mail
by Mon Casiple
This piece is drawn from the author’s blog, www.moncasiple.wordpress.com

The Supreme Court struck down the 2-percent threshold requirement for party-list representation into the House of Representatives as unconstitutional. The decision is immediate and executory. With this single act, the highest court has thrown into turmoil the politics of the lower House.

The progressive implications are the following: 1) A substantial block can be formed among genuine party-list groups critical for reform measures; 2) More than ever, sectoral groups from marginalized and underrepresented sectors will have the incentive and higher chances of entering Congress; and 3) Premium will be placed on the quality and cohesiveness of the organized constituency of aspiring party-list groups.


The SC decision adds 32 party-list representatives to the current 22 to fill up the entire 54 seats available for the party-list system. These comes from 18 party-list groups as additional or new representatives. Based on the current list, this is a mixed blessing insofar as genuine and questionable party-list groups alike qualified for these new seats. In fact, the majority of the new party-list representatives have questionable qualification to represent marginalized and underrepresented sectors.
However, their entry into Congress further complicates the already difficult task of pro-GMA cha-cha advocates of garnering ¾ of the votes for an outright “passage” of constitutional amendments under the controversial interpretation of a “joint vote” by Congress. The ruling raises to 220 the required votes for such a scenario (out of 270 congressmen + 23 senators).

The Supreme Court ruling adds urgency to the amendments of the party-list law, particularly on the tightening of the definition of “marginalized and underrepresented sectors” and on viable restrictions of groups that are only an extension of traditional political powers. Unfortunately, this will be an uphill battle considering the overwhelming number of traditional politicians in the lower House. It does not help that the major parties are banned by the SC decision from participating in the party-list system.

The Supreme Court decision is a mixed blessing.
The proclamation of 29 new party-list representatives, probably with three more later, basically reinforces the same set-up in the House of Representatives. Most of the new ones will be part of or are part of the traditional political leadership in the country, albeit with some sectoral facades.

It is not expected to produce reform legislation, much less the radical reforms contemplated to address the grave crises of the nation. If at all, the increase will make it harder to undertake reform legislation because of the greater number of conservative legislators who need to be convinced of it.

What is new in Congress is the presence of new political forces to include those from the far Right and from the far Left. It is interesting to note the dynamics that will ensue. As early as the first day of the Supreme Court announcement of its decision on the inclusion of 32 new party-list representatives, retired general Jovito Palparan became the target of both human rights advocates and Left condemnation.

Many pending legislations will be affected: charter change, land reform extension, human rights, party-list amendments, and others that are politically controversial. Of course, most of these will be overrun by the looming 2010 elections.

The latter–in itself–will be affected greatly, particularly the party-list elections. It is expected that the number of voters in the party-list system will increase significantly, fueled by the possibilities opened by the Supreme Court decision. With no threshold to speak of, a huge number of applicants, in addition to the current long list of registered party-list groups, will try to enter these elections. It is particularly tempting to those who have considerable organized political base. However, this should be tempered by the stricter Comelec registration process.

What the whole thing amounts to is that, failing the passage of necessary reform amendments to the 15-year old party-list law, the 2010 party-list elections will be a circus of traditional politics, interspersed with weaker ideological politics and some religious ones.
 
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