KASAMMAKO-Migrante Korea Statement
“The Commission on Election's en banc resolution no. 8679 issued on October 13, 2009 undermines and derogates people’s democratic rights to represent the marginalized sector of the Philippine society in the parliament. The resolution is preemptive of the influx of party list groups registering for the 2010 National Elections and by rule of thumb and without proper consultation with parties concerned de-listed several existing party list groups especially the Migrante Sectoral Party,” Pol Par, KASAMMAKO Chairperson said.
The Executive Committee of KASAMMAKO, an alliance of Filipino migrant workers organizations in South Korea headed by Pol Par believes that COMELEC’s decision to de-list or cancellation of registration of Migrante Sectoral Party and other party-list groups on the premise of failure of Party-list organizations to comply with section 6(8) of Republic Act No. 7941, that is, unable to obtain 2 percentum of the total party-list votes in 2004 and have failed to participate in the 2007 elections is a total disregard of constitutional processes.
“This provision was cited as the grounds for the removal of party-list groups that failed to participate in two preceding election or failed to obtain at least two percentum of the votes cast in the two preceding elections. The COMELEC made an obvious mistake when it removed 5 of the 26 party-list groups just because they failed to get 2 percent in one election and was not able to participate in another election. This clearly negates the qualifier in the provision wherein the instance of failure should be committed twice and in two preceding elections,” Pol Par assailed.
The Executive Committee of KASAMMAKO strongly opposes this unjust decision of the Comelec that denies a legitimate representative of a marginalized sector of our society to participate in the 2010 party-list election. The reasons for this opposition Pol Par elaborated are the following:
First, the said decision was done without due process. Section 6 of the Party-list System Act clearly states that removal or cancellation of registration of party-list groups can only be done after due notice and hearing was conducted. The COMELEC failed to notify the concerned parties nor did it conduct any hearing prior to the issuance of its resolution to delete 26 party-list groups.
Secondly, it has cited number 8 of section 6 of the Partylist System Act as the ground for delisting Migrante where it says "(8) it fails to participate in the last two elections or fails to obtain at least two percentum of the votes cast under the party-list system in the two preceding elections for the constituency in which it has registered." This provision does not apply to Migrante because it only participated in 2004 and did not participate in 2007 elections. The clause in the COMELEC provision “two preceding elections” exempts Migrante and other de-listed party-list groups of the same predicament from being automatically disqualified in 2010 elections. The said instances of failure to participate or to obtain 2 percentum should be committed twice and in two preceding elections before the concerned party-list can be de-listed.
The removal of Migrante from the bona-fide party-list group that can participate in the 2010 elections is discriminatory of the genuine marginalized groups. On the other hand, theCOMELEC has approved the more than ten Malacanang backed partylist prior to the 2007 elections. COMELEC Commissioner Abalos even tried to conceal this by refusing to reveal the nominees of the said groups. Among them were Maria Lourdes Arroyo, sister of First Gentleman Mike Arroyo, of Ang Kasangga Partylist, and General Jovito Palparan of Bantay Partylist who both were given a seat in congress after the Supreme Court decision last April. This act should be reversed. Migrante should be restored to the official list of party-list groups that will participate in 2010 elections.
MR. POL PAR, Chairperson
Katipunan ng mga Samahan ng Migranteng Manggagawa sa Korea (KASAMMAKO)
Seoul, South Korea
Contact numbers: 82-106-8727-526
October 18, 2009
“The Commission on Election's en banc resolution no. 8679 issued on October 13, 2009 undermines and derogates people’s democratic rights to represent the marginalized sector of the Philippine society in the parliament. The resolution is preemptive of the influx of party list groups registering for the 2010 National Elections and by rule of thumb and without proper consultation with parties concerned de-listed several existing party list groups especially the Migrante Sectoral Party,” Pol Par, KASAMMAKO Chairperson said.
The Executive Committee of KASAMMAKO, an alliance of Filipino migrant workers organizations in South Korea headed by Pol Par believes that COMELEC’s decision to de-list or cancellation of registration of Migrante Sectoral Party and other party-list groups on the premise of failure of Party-list organizations to comply with section 6(8) of Republic Act No. 7941, that is, unable to obtain 2 percentum of the total party-list votes in 2004 and have failed to participate in the 2007 elections is a total disregard of constitutional processes.
“This provision was cited as the grounds for the removal of party-list groups that failed to participate in two preceding election or failed to obtain at least two percentum of the votes cast in the two preceding elections. The COMELEC made an obvious mistake when it removed 5 of the 26 party-list groups just because they failed to get 2 percent in one election and was not able to participate in another election. This clearly negates the qualifier in the provision wherein the instance of failure should be committed twice and in two preceding elections,” Pol Par assailed.
The Executive Committee of KASAMMAKO strongly opposes this unjust decision of the Comelec that denies a legitimate representative of a marginalized sector of our society to participate in the 2010 party-list election. The reasons for this opposition Pol Par elaborated are the following:
First, the said decision was done without due process. Section 6 of the Party-list System Act clearly states that removal or cancellation of registration of party-list groups can only be done after due notice and hearing was conducted. The COMELEC failed to notify the concerned parties nor did it conduct any hearing prior to the issuance of its resolution to delete 26 party-list groups.
Secondly, it has cited number 8 of section 6 of the Partylist System Act as the ground for delisting Migrante where it says "(8) it fails to participate in the last two elections or fails to obtain at least two percentum of the votes cast under the party-list system in the two preceding elections for the constituency in which it has registered." This provision does not apply to Migrante because it only participated in 2004 and did not participate in 2007 elections. The clause in the COMELEC provision “two preceding elections” exempts Migrante and other de-listed party-list groups of the same predicament from being automatically disqualified in 2010 elections. The said instances of failure to participate or to obtain 2 percentum should be committed twice and in two preceding elections before the concerned party-list can be de-listed.
The removal of Migrante from the bona-fide party-list group that can participate in the 2010 elections is discriminatory of the genuine marginalized groups. On the other hand, theCOMELEC has approved the more than ten Malacanang backed partylist prior to the 2007 elections. COMELEC Commissioner Abalos even tried to conceal this by refusing to reveal the nominees of the said groups. Among them were Maria Lourdes Arroyo, sister of First Gentleman Mike Arroyo, of Ang Kasangga Partylist, and General Jovito Palparan of Bantay Partylist who both were given a seat in congress after the Supreme Court decision last April. This act should be reversed. Migrante should be restored to the official list of party-list groups that will participate in 2010 elections.
MR. POL PAR, Chairperson
Katipunan ng mga Samahan ng Migranteng Manggagawa sa Korea (KASAMMAKO)
Seoul, South Korea
Contact numbers: 82-106-8727-526
October 18, 2009
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