Rich and powerful dominate party lists, undermining law for representation of 'marginalized'

By: Lira Dalangin-Fernandez, InterAksyon.com
July 3, 2012 12:57 PM

InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5

MANILA, Philippines - Political families and big business persons dominate the partylist groups in the House of Representatives, undermining the law that created it to give representation to the "marginalized and underrepresented sectors," the poll watchdog Kontra Daya said on Tuesday.

Kontra Daya criticized the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for its "questionable" accreditation process that paved the way for the elite to secure seats in the House through the partylist route.

“In 2007 and 2010, Comelec accredited these questionable partylist groups and their nominees despite the fact that these persons have close ties with political clans, government officials, and big business interests thus making them unqualified to participate in the partylist elections,” the group said.

“Comelec cannot wash its hands of the problem. The Comelec accreditation process is highly questionable. It is no surprise that partylists for sale are happening because interest groups see that there is a big chance for moneyed candidates to gain a seat in congress via the partylist system,” it added.

Kontra Daya said that the poll body still has time to “clean up its mess” by strictly reviewing the accreditation of partylist groups who will participate in the 2013 elecitons.

In a separate statement, ACT Teachers partylist Representative Antonio Tinio should give the public access to records of partylist groups applying for accreditation.

“The people can help Comelec weed out bogus partylist groups, but they have to be armed with information which, right now, is mostly in the hands of Comelec. If these information are hidden from the public then bogus partylist groups can slip into Congress,” Tinio said.

Kontra Daya said partylist slots should go to deserving and qualified groups as defined in the Partylist System Act.

The law states that “the State shall promote proportional representation in the election of representatives to the House of Representatives through a party-list system of registered national, regional, and sectoral parties or organizations or coalitions thereof, which will enable Filipino citizens belonging to the marginalized and underrepresented sectors, organizations, and parties, and who lack well-defined political constituencies but who could contribute to the formulation and enactment of appropriate legislation that will benefit the nation as a whole, to become members of the House of Representatives.”

The group cited the cases of presidential son and former Pampanga representative Mikey Arroyo of Ang Galing Pinoy, businessman Teodorico Haresco of Ang Kasangga, and Catalina Bagasina, former Pampanga board members and known Arroyo ally, as “glaring cases of violations of the spirit of the partylist system.” 

The three do not come from the sectors they claim to present (security guards, workers, small entrepreneurs) and are financially capable to compete in the regular congressional district elections. They are also the top three richest partylist representatives as of 2011, with a combined net worth of P326.7 million, according to Kontra Daya.

Kontra Daya prepared this table of partylist representatives with their respective net worth based on their 2011 Statement of Assets Liabilities and Net worth.

PARTYLIST	REPRESENTATIVE	NETWORTH (as of CY 2011)
1.       ALE	Catalina Bagasina	133,938,000
2.       AGP	Juan Miguel Macapagal-Arroyo	99,954,309.00
3.       ANG KASANGGA	Teodorico Haresco Jr.T.	92,814,808.25
4.       AKO BICOL	Co, Christopher	91,063,195.68
5.       1-UTAK	Mercado, Homer A.	65,014,804.52
6.       Senior Citizens	Kho, David L.	59,521,695.31
7.       AGBIAG	Antoinio, Patricio T.	55,641,886.76
8.       BUHAY	Velarde, Mariano Michael Jr M.	53,326,935.26
9.       ALIF	Tomawis, Acmad M.	48,530,000.00
10.   AGAP	Briones, Nicanor M.	46,618,319.00
11.   ABS	Leonen-Pizarro, Catalina G.	40,375,377.50
12.   AKO BICOL	Batocabe, Rodel M.	30,237,702.50
13.   YACAP	Lopez, Carol Jayne B.	29,444,000.00
14.   AMBIS/OA	Garin, Sharon S.	25,868,194.24
15.   AVE	Magsaysay, Eulogio "Amang" R.	24,240,000.00
16.   AANGAT TAYO	Abangon, Daryl Grace J.	23,443,905.76
17.   BUHAY	Tieng, Irwin C.	20,054,633.38
18.   Senior Citizens	Arquiza, Godofredo V.	19,985,000.00
19.   AN WARAY	Montejo, Neil Benedict A.	19,690,000.00
20.   Coop-NATCO	Ping-ay, Jose K.	19,400,000.00
21.   AGHAM	Palmones, Angelo B.	17,966,567.60
22.   ABONO	Ortega, Francisco Emmanuel III R.	17,200,743.36
23.   BUTIL	Guanlao, Agapito H.	15,691,000.00
24.   A-TEACHER	Furtona, Juliet R.	15,244,000.00
25.   LPGMA	Ty, Arnel U.	15,184,112.50
26.   A KASOSYO	Pangandaman, Nasser C.	14,655,000.00
27.   ATING COOP	Lico, Isidro Q.	14,114,222.68
28.   AN WARAY	Florencio, Gabriel "Bem" G.	13,105,000.00
29.   ABONO	Estrella, Robert Raymund M.	12,597,927.00
30.   ALAGAD	Marcoleta, Rodante D.	12,200,000.00
31.   PBA	Sambar, Mark Aeron	11,640,820.00
32.   CIBAC	Cruz-Gonzales, Cinchona	11,022,340
33.   AKO BICOL	Garbin, Alfredo Jr A.	9,680,000.00
34.   Abante Mindanao	Rodriguez, Maximo Jr B.	9,120,000.00
35.   DIWA	Aglipay, Emmeline Yan	8,900,942.81
36.   Bagong Henerasyon	Herrera-Dy, Bernadette I.	8,721,997.66
37.   1CARE	Rivera, Michael Angelo C.	8,361,506.51
38.   1CARE	Cabaluna, Salvador III P.	7,490,000.00
39.   APEC	Payuyo, Ponciano D.	7,105,095.00
40.   Coop-NATCO	Paez, Cresente C.	6,553,000.00
41.   Unang Pamilya	Obillo, Reena Concepcion G.	6,087,424.00
42.   ANAD	Alcover, Pastor Jr M.	5,450,000.00
43.   A-TEACHER	Piamonte, Mariano Jr U.	5,113,000.00
44.   GABRIELA	Ilagan, Luzviminda C.	4,890,184.00
45.   AKBAYAN	Bello, Walden F.	3,974,400.00
46.   CIBAC	Tugna, Sherwin N.	3,852,000.00
47.   KAKUSA	Canonigo, Ranulfo P.	2,647,208.00
48.   TUCP	Mendoza, Raymond Democrito C.	2,079,515.00
49.   GABRIELA	De Jesus, Emerenciana A.	1,240,000.00
50.   ACT	Tinio, Dante Antonio L.	1,161,568
51.   AKBAYAN	Bag-ao, Kaka J.	1,098,320.30
52.   BAYAN MUNA	Colmenares, Neri J.	697,701.00
53.   KALINGA	Feriol, Abigail Faye C.	483,006.30
54.   KABATAAN	Palatino, Raymond V.	195,000.00
55.   BAYAN MUNA	Casiño, Teodoro A.	91,000.00
56.   ANAKPAWIS	Mariano, Rafael V.	46,946.73