Bayan Muna denies sole representation of marginalized

Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Teodoro Casiño. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Bayan Muna Partylist Representative Teddy Casino on Wednesday denied claiming that they were the sole partylist group which truly represented marginalized sectors in the country.

Reacting to several partylist groups’ closing of their offices to show anger over Bayan Muna’s alleged moves to disqualify them in the 2013 midterm elections, Casino insisted that they “never claimed to be the only legitimate PL.”

“We have stated though that there are many fake and unqualified PLs and they should not feel alluded to if they’re not,” he said.

Casino argued that it was the partylist groups’ “duty…to ensure the integrity and credibility of the partylist system and help the Comelec in weeding out the bogus ones.”

He urged partylists whose credibility was being questioned to “just defend themselves in the Comelec just as we’ve been doing.”

Casino said it was unfair that they “resort to such actions that will make their constituents suffer unnecessarily.”

“We will always be ready to work with other PLs and hope their actions wont get in the way of our duties to our constituents,” he said.