Bayan Muna still no. 1 party-list

The militant group Bayan Muna remained on top of party-list groups leading the race for 59 seats in the House of Representatives, according to the latest Pulse Asia survey.

The nationwide poll conducted from April 10 to 14 showed that four party-list groups led by Bayan Muna, with 7.94 percent of votes, would have been assured of the maximum three seats in the House had the elections been held last month.

Bayan Muna also got the most number of votes (8.5 percent) in a previous Pulse Asia survey conducted on March 23 to 27.

The other Top 3 party lists were Ako Bicol (6.65 percent), followed by new sectoral groups Magsasaka (5.32 percent) and ACT-CIS (4.67 percent.)

Of the 134 party-list groups accredited by the Commission on Elections, 13 had managed to each get at least a 2-percent support from voters, assuring them of one seat in the House during the first round of seat allocation.

2% of total votes

According to the Party-list System Act, a party-list group has to get at least 2 percent of total votes cast for the party-list elections to secure a House seat.

Those with more than 2 percent of the votes can have as many as three seats, depending on their total number of votes.

Under the same law, party-list representatives should constitute 20 percent of the total members of the lower chamber.

The survey also assured at least one seat to the following party-list groups: Apec, Agap, Cibac, Senior Citizens, Amin, Probinsyano Ako, Anac-IP, Ang Probinsyano, and Coop-Natcco.

76% awareness

Of the party-lists groups in the Top 13, eight currently have seats in the House, while the remaining five are new.

Election watchdog group Kontra Daya had said 62 of the 134 official party-list groups either have links to political dynasties, represent special business interests or have questionable advocacies.

The Pulse Asia survey also showed that 76 percent of the 1,800 respondents were aware of the party-list system.

Levels of awareness ranging from 57 percent to 88 percent were recorded across geographic areas, while a range of 72 percent to 93 percent awareness level was recorded across socioeconomic classes.—INQUIRER RESEARCH