Comelec approves miners’ party list

Photo shows members of Ang Minero party list. The Commission on Elections has given the green light to the group of small-scale miners to run in the 2013 party-list elections, a ranking Comelec official said Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012. PHOTO FROM FACEBOOK.COM

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has given the green light to a group of small-scale miners to run in the 2013 party-list elections, a ranking Comelec official said Thursday.

Comelec commissioner Rene Sarmiento said the Comelec en banc granted the appeal of Ang Minero, bringing to 84 the total number of party-list groups that can run in next year’s elections.

Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes wrote the decision, Sarmiento said.

The Comelec First Division earlier denied Ang Minero’s petition to be allowed to run for the party-list elections.

“It was disqualified because it is not marginalized. But it turned out that their nominees are small-scale miners. The Comelec may consider this but nothing is final yet. We are closely looking into this,” said Commissioner Lucenito Tagle.

The Comelec has disqualified 269 party-list groups but 52 of them were able to secure a “status quo ante” order from the Supreme Court.