Namfrel pushes for strictest version of party list reform bill

MANILA, Philippines — The National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) has called for the passage of a party list reform law that adopts the strongest provisions of House Bill No. 9906 and Senate Bill No. 2090.

In a statement on Monday, the poll watchdog welcomed the filing of the two bills which act as “complementary instruments” that address the problems with the current party list system through “different angles.”

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“For more than 40 years, Namfrel has observed Philippine elections and documented a persistent injustice: the party list system—designed by the 1987 Constitution to amplify the voices of the marginalized—has been systematically captured by the very interests it was meant to challenge,” the group said.

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READ: Dy files party-list reform bill to ensure genuine representation

Triple categories

“Political dynasties, government contractors, and wealthy elites have colonized seats that belong to farmers, fisherfolk, laborers, indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities and the urban poor,” it added. “This must end.”

Namfrel noted that HB 9906 seeks to reorganize the party list system into three categories: Sectoral, Advocacy, and Regional. It also aims to disqualify nominees connected to political dynasties, government contractors, incumbent officials, or defeated candidates.

READ: Party-list: System meant for the poor, used by the powerful

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On the other hand, SB 2090 aims to reserve 50 percent of party list seats for representatives of marginalized sectors such as labor, farmers, fisherfolk, urban poor, indigenous cultural communities, elderly and persons with disabilities, among others.

Party lists must also prove through an evidentiary public hearing that their nominees truly belong to the sector they seek to represent.

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The poll watchdog urged the bicameral conference committee to further strengthen the bills’ provisions and to reconcile these into a “single, stronger law that adopts the best and strictest provisions of each.”

Namfrel said the ban on nominees related to political dynasties should cover relatives of all incumbent elective officials at every level of government, not just up to the second degree of affinity. /cb

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