MANILA, Philippines – A militant group consisting of government workers and employees denounced Saturday the Commission on Elections' rejection of its petition for registration as a partylist group for next year's elections.

Courage Party List national president Ferdinand Gaite said the Comelec's resolution junking their application deprived both active and retired state employees of their right to be represented in Congress.

"We were given the run-around, there was no opposition and questions raised during the hearing. We were patiently following up our petition only to be told of the decision when the deadline of filing of certificates of candidacy is just a day away. We were practically robbed of our right to seek representation," Gaite alleged in a statement.

The 11 page resolution of the Comelec's 1st Division was received by the group on November 19.

In its resolution, the Comelec said it denied the petition because the group lacked a national constituency and also failed to submit a copy of its Articles of Incorporation, which the Comelec said was a failure to prove that the group truly represents a marginalized sector.

Gaite argued, however, that the junking of the petition would mean disenfranchising state workers and underpaid employees and deprive them of a chance to be represented in Congress.

"We believe the grounds on which the resolution is based are flawed," he said.

Courage PartyList will be filing a motion for reconsideration on November 24, Tuesday, to appeal the Comelec resolution.

"They should give government workers a chance to be heard and represented," Gaite said.

He claimed that the Comelec's verification of their regional chapters was flawed as some areas which have local chapters were not included, while claiming that the partylist did exist in other areas.

Gaite also pointed out that in the resolution, the Comelec ordered its regional offices to verify the existence of "Kalinga" and not Courage PartyList in different regions.

"It is quite unacceptable to us that three commissioners have affixed their signatures without noticing such an error," Gaite added.