angelic moo

Commission on Elections Chair Jose Melo recently gave comments that contradict a Supreme Court ruling in 2001 ( Ang Bagong Bayani-OFW Labor Party v. Ang Bagong Bayani-OFW Go! Go! Philippines, G.R. No. 147589, June 26, 2001 ). He opined that the President's son Juan Miguel Arroyo could be a valid nominee of Ang Galing Pinoy, a party-list group that allegedly represents security guards. He added that limiting nominees to members of the marginalized groups is not wise. Tricycles drivers cannot be represented by one who did not finish high school; "they should have somebody to speak for them," he said. This is not the tenor of the Supreme Court decision in Ang Bagong Bayani . In the 2001 Supreme Court decision, a majority of the Supreme Court, including then Justice Melo , provided guidelines for the COMELEC in screening party-list nominees. Among others, the Court said that: ...not only the the candidate party or organization must represent marginalized and underrepresented...

Should the names of party-list nominees be revealed by the Commission on Elections? Party-list groups, worried that some of these parties are administration fronts, have called on the COMELEC to reveal the names of the nominees. Chairman Benjamin Abalos has refused to reveal these names on the ground that there is no law that compels the Commission to do so. He can even cite section 7 of Republic Act No. 7941 to support his position. That section states that “The names of the party-list nominees shall not be shown on the certified list.” If Chairman Abalos revealed the names of the nominees will he not be charged with violating a clear directive from Congress? In his latest column , Fr. Joaquin Bernas argues that the COMELEC can be compelled to reveal the names of the nominees of part-list groups vying for seats in Congress. He suggests that there is no logic to Section 7 of the Party-List Act: “Of what use is knowing what groups may participate in the party-list elections if the voter...