Palace, Comelec hit on Akbayan

Akbayan Partylist Representative Arlene “Kaka” Bag-ao. FACEBOOK PHOTO

Kontra Daya, the election watchdog group that petitioned for the disqualification of the Akbayan party-list group, said it was “unconvinced” by the reasons given by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for allowing the group to participate in the 2013 elections.

Kontra Daya convenor Fr. Joe Dizon said the group would go the Supreme Court to appeal the Comelec en banc ruling which, he said, failed to appreciate that Akbayan was a political party already “overrepresented” in the Aquino administration.

On Tuesday, the Comelec en banc, citing their long track record and “history of struggle,” voted 4-2 to allow Akbayan and its rival, Bayan Muna, to join the party-list elections and vie for congressional seats next year.

In a statement, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), a petitioner of one of the two disqualification complaints against Akbayan, said the decision indicated that Akbayan was truly Malacañang’s favorite.