MANILA, Philippines?Now you can really call it a political ?derby.?

A group claiming to represent cockfighting aficionados was among the organizations that have asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for a slot in next year?s party-list race.

When told that a group called ?Alyansa ng mga Sabungero? had beaten Monday?s deadline for registration, Comelec Chair Jose Melo was dumbfounded.

?A group of cockfighters? Why are they [considered] marginalized when they have the money?? Melo said.

According to a four-page petition that the group filed with the poll body, Alyansa is seeking a congressional seat on behalf of workers in the cockfighting industry, such as the kristo (bet taker), kasador (bet manager), asistante (assistant), takilyero (ticket dispenser) and backyard breeders.

The group said its members could be considered marginalized because ?they live a hand-to-mouth existence, earning only if the tahor (cockfighting expert) they work for wins.?

Alyansa identified its president as Nid Amad and said the group is based in Sucat, Parañaque City.

A Comelec employee tasked with receiving the petitions said the group submitted incomplete documents yet insisted that the Comelec accept Alyansa?s papers.

The employee, who asked not to be named for lack of authority to speak on the matter, said the group even boasted of having boxing champion Manny Pacquiao, who is also a high-stakes sabungero, among its members.

Melo could not hide his exasperation over the large number of groups seeking seats in the House of Representatives despite having dubious or scant credentials.

Some organizations, he said, were apparently just out to ?abuse? the party-list law, which was enshrined in the 1987 Constitution to give important yet voiceless sectors a say in policy-making.

?They just form groups just for the sake of forming one,? Melo said, noting that some petitioners had neither a clear advocacy nor a proven constituency.

Melo surmised that these aspirants only wanted a share of pork barrel funds. ?If they win, then they will have pork. Congressmen [recently] are even asking for more,? he said.

As of 5 p.m. Monday, 264 groups have sought Comelec accreditation for the 2010 elections. In the 2007 party-list race, the poll body approved 97 groups.

Ladlad is back

Among the last-day petitioners were the gay advocacy group Ang Ladlad, indigenous people?s advocate Katribu, and children?s rights defender Akap Bata.

Ang Ladlad, a group led by Ateneo de Manila University professor Danton Remoto, was disqualified by the Comelec in 2007.

?We are really grappling [with the huge number of petitioners],? said Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento. ?And to think that this is not the only work of Comelec right now.?

The agency is expected to decide on all petitions by the end of October, Sarmiento said.

Melo said the poll body would be strict in screening the party-list applicants.

He said approving a long list would make the ballot more complicated and expensive, especially with the country holding its first automated elections in 2010.

?How do we print it [if the list would be very long]? The letters would be microscopic and the oval [that voters need to shade] would be too small. It might be hard for the machine to read,? he said.

Reasonable number

In his view, Melo said, the ?reasonable number? of eligible groups should be between 50 and 70.

Unlike in past elections where voters wrote down the name of their chosen group on the ballot, the 2010 polls would have voters marking a space corresponding to the group and the ballot scanned by a machine.

Sarmiento explained that aspiring party-list groups ?must have a presence in more than half of the regions? in order to qualify.

They should have implemented projects and activities, with enough resources to wage a campaign, he said.

The Comelec will also reject previously accredited groups who were not able to get 2 percent of the votes in the last two national elections.

Also Monday, an incumbent party-list representative boldly proposed something that could dampen the enthusiasm of wannabe lawmakers, including the groups that had swamped the Comelec.

P1 pork?

Bayan Muna Rep. Teodoro Casiño said pork barrel funds?a known source of corruption, patronage, and kickbacks?should be reduced to P1 next year lest these graft-prone funds be used not for development projects but for election campaigns.

Casiño pushed for the cut in apparent response to an earlier clamor by Sorsogon Rep. Jose Solis, who claimed that the P70-million pork that House members get each year was no longer enough to meet the rising cost of supplies needed for their projects.

?I think during election season, it?s dangerous to increase the pork barrel of senators and congressmen,? Casino said in a press conference.

And since lawmakers often ?threaten? to reduce the annual budget of government agencies to a peso whenever bureaucrats get on their nerves during public hearings, ?perhaps it?s time congressmen got a taste of their own medicine,? Casino added. With a report from Leila B. Salaverria