They may have differing definitions of what constitutes a political dynasty. But the eight senatorial candidates who joined the Cebu leg of the Inquirer Senate Forum on Saturday agreed on one thing at least: the need to level the playing field by bringing down the exorbitant cost of political ads.
It’s not a case of extortion but a reflection of an ongoing civil war. Renato Reyes, secretary general of the leftist group Bayan Muna, on Tuesday dismissed military claims that the New People’s Army (NPA) attack on the convoy of Mayor Ruth Guingona was a “case of plain extortion.”
Party-list groups from opposite sides of the political fence continue to trade barbs over the Supreme Court decision redefining sectoral representation in Congress.
Militant group Bayan Muna topped the list of 13 partylist organizations that could fill 25 of the 58 seats allocated for marginalized sectors in the House of Representatives, a recent survey by the Social Weather Stations found.
There was President Aquino’s “matuwid na daan” (straight path), then United Nationalist Alliance’s “daang maganda” (beautiful path), but now there’s “tamang landas” (right path).
It looked like a lottery draw complete with numbered ping-pong balls jumping inside a tambiolo or raffle drum—except that the prize was not millions of pesos but slots on the ballot for the party-list elections on May 13.
After a protracted word war on who should be disqualified from the 2013 elections, party-list groups Akbayan and Bayan Muna both ended up getting the nod of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to vie for congressional seats next year.
Bayan Muna has received reinforcement from its left-leaning allies in the face of attacks launched by at least 15 other party-list organizations, some of which were accused of not representing any marginalized sector.
Is it now Bayan Muna against the world? The militant party-list group has found itself on the defensive following a rather unusual protest staged by at least 15 other organizations with representatives now sitting in the House of Representatives.
Bayan Muna partylist Representative Teddy Casiño said Tuesday that the complaint filed against their group before the Commission on Elections in a bid to have them disqualified in the upcoming elections, will, once again, be dismissed.
The party-list group Akbayan on Saturday distanced itself from groups that had asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to disqualify leftist party-list rivals such as Bayan Muna, Gabriela, Kabataan and Anakpawis.
Lawmakers said on Wednesday Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda should not take sides in the brewing war between rival leftist party-list groups.
Bayan Muna party list on Monday filed with the Supreme Court petition to declare as unconstitutional several provisions of Republic Act 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012,
