MANILA, Philippines — Manggagawa Partylist urged the Supreme Court on Monday to immediately decide on their petition to reverse the Commission on Elections (Comelec) ruling and allow them to participate in the midterm elections.
National president and first nominee of Manggagawa Partylist Elmer Labog maintained that they are a legitimate partylist organization, unlike Mocha Uson’s partylist, which is one of the “bogus” groups included in the upcoming polls.
Labog argued that his partylist handles four sectors of the government and their disqualification would be a clear manifestation that they are being marginalized.
“Kitang kita na dala namin ang malaking bulto ng sektor ng paggawa kung ikukumpara sa mga bogus na partylist sa ilalim ng Duterte regime tulad ng AA-Kasosyo at iba pa (It is very clear that we carry the bulk of the labor sector if you compare us to bogus partylists under the Duterte regime like AA-Kasosyo and many others),” Labog said in a press briefing.
According to Labog, the Comelec disqualified his group after it failed to properly explain that they are not a government-funded group.
“Sa tingin namin ay napakababaw, napakalabnaw kung ihahabing sa essential na pangangailangan na pagsali ang naging batayan ng Comelec upang idisqualipika ang Manggagawa partylist tulad ng pagsasabi na hindi daw namin malinaw na nailahad na kami ay hindi pinopondohan ng gobyerno o anu mang institution,” he said.
(We think that the reason for disqualifying the Mangagawa partilist is very shallow compared to the guidelines set by the Comelec. They said we did not state clearly if we are being funded by the government or other institutions.)
“Malinaw naman sa pagkabuo pa lamang ng organisasyon na ito ay walang natanggap o anumang pondo sa gobyerno o ano mang institution ng mga organisasyon na bumubuo sa Manggagawa partylist (It is very clear that this organization has not received any funding support from the government or other institutions),” he added.
Labog said that they filed their petition with the high court last January 18. However, the High Court has yet to act on the matter.
“Kaya nga ang mahalaga sa nalalabing mga araw ay makapaglabas na ang Korte Suprema ng kanilang desisyon na hinahayaang magpartisipa ang Manggagawa Partylist dito sa darating na halalan (It is important for the Supreme Court to decide whether the Mangagawa Partylist can participate in the coming election),” he said.
Last week, the Comelec released the partial list of partylist groups qualified to participate in the May polls. The Manggagawa Partylist was not included in the 134 groups allowed to participate in the electoral exercise.
READ: Comelec releases list of 134 partylist groups for May midterm polls
Arman Hernando, the sixth nominee of the partylist, lamented that partylist groups that are allied to President Rodrigo Duterte were included in the Comelec roster.
Hernando named three of these “Du-Dirty” partylists as AA-Kasosyo, 1AAAP, and Duterte Youth partylist.
AA-Kasosyo was among the groups linked to the P10-billion pork barrel scam allegedly masterminded by Janet Lim-Napoles. Uson, who was the former Assistant Presidential Communication Secretary, was the first nominee of AA-Kasosyo partylist.
READ: Uh-oh! Mocha’s partylist linked to P10B pork barrel scam
Hernando also revealed that the first nominee of 1AAAP partylist is the wife of former House Speaker Panteleon Alvarez.
The inclusion of Duterte Youth, meanwhile, is self-explanatory. “Just by looking at the name, you can already see who will be served by the partylist,” Hernando said, urging the Comelec to review the partylist as it does not represent the marginalized.
“Nagpapahayag po kami ng matinding kondemnasyon sa kanilang ginawa. Napakalaking pag-abuso ang kanilang ginawa (We condemning this. This is a grave abuse),” he said.
“Nananawagan kami sa Comelec at umaapela na sana ay ireview yung whimsical na Comelec decision na nagdidisqualify sa mga tunay na people’s partylist sa ating bansa (We are calling on the Comelec to review the whimsical decision to disqualify the true people’s partylist in our country),” he added.
He also noted that the group only wants to be part of the roster of those who will participate in the elections and not to prevent the start of the printing of ballots.
Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said earlier that the ballot printing may start on Wednesday, if not Thursday, this week.
A study by election watchdog group Kontra Daya earlier revealed that 62 of the 134 official partylist groups were not marginalized. /ee
READ: ‘Nearly half of party-list groups not marginalized’