Comelec bars Black and White movement in 2013 polls

MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Thursday announced that it had handed out a ruling denying the civil-society group Black and White Movement accreditation to run in next year’s party-list polls.

In an interview, Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento said that the five commissioners voted for denial, while two others took no part in the decision. He declined to name the commissioners who voted for denial and those who took no part.

Sarmiento said that the Comelec en banc affirmed the poll body’s first division ruling.

Election watchdog Kontra Daya, which had compiled a database of dubious partylist groups that it submitted to the Comelec to help in cleansing the system, had recommended for the disqualification of  Black and White Movement, whose nominees include allies of President Benigno Aquino III.

Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda is a co-convenor for the Black and White Movement, an organization which claims to represent civil society groups calling for transparency and accountability in government. The group’s nominees for the 2013 polls include Leah Navarro, a member of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB).

In a 12-page resolution denying the group’s accreditation, the Comelec’s first division had earlier explained that the Black and White Movement ” fails to evidently show through its Articles of Incorporation, By-laws, history and track record that it represents and seeks to uplift the marginalized sectors of women, youth, and urban poor.”

“Its history and our study shows that Black and White is primarily an advocacy group for good governance,” Sarmiento said. He added that the party had no track record, based on the records presented, of representing the marginalized and underrepresented.

“The nominees do not belong to the multi-sectoral groups of underrepresented and marginalized that they claim to be,” he said.