Ako Bicol warns Comelec vs Left

Ako Bicol partylist Representative Rodel Batocabe. Photo from congress.gov.ph

MANILA, Philippines—A lawmaker sitting for the party-list group which garnered the highest margin of votes in the 2010 election asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to be wary of efforts by the Left to undermine the government’s democratic processes.

In a statement, Ako Bicol Rep. Rodel Batocabe said the extreme Left is “out to condition the minds of the people.”

“They are clearly not tolerant of other groups even if the elections and surveys show that the public in general has rejected them and their ideas,” Batocabe said in the statement.

Batocabe, whose party gained 1.5-million votes in the 2010 elections, warned the Comelec against adopting the standards and propaganda of the Left in determining qualified party-list groups that should be allowed to participate in the 2013 elections.

“The party-list groups belonging to the extreme Left are not interested in the democratic processes,” said Batocabe.

“They want to have their cake and eat it too. They should stop the sloganeering and metamorphose into a more effective organization willing to work within the system.” Batocabe said.

He said extreme Left party-list groups do not have achievements to speak of other than “sloganeering” and relentless criticism of the Aquino administration.

“The extreme Left cannot claim a monopoly of working for the interest of the Filipino people, particularly the marginalized sectors,” he said.

In his statement, Batocabe also disowned the newly organized left-leaning “Aking Bicolnon” party-list, which has been claiming to be an adjunct of Ako Bicol.

“This group is clearly riding on the popularity of Ako Bicol in a bid to mislead Bicolanos in supporting their bid in next year’s party-list elections,” he said.