Comelec to appeal SC’s party-list ruling

MANILA, Philippines—The Commission on Elections (Comelec) may still consider filing an appeal against a Supreme Court decision remanding to the poll body the cases of party-list groups that the Comelec earlier disqualified.

Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes said this will be discussed next Tuesday by the commission en banc even though the poll body has already scheduled holding hearings on the disqualification cases, in accordance with the high court ruling.

Brillantes said he was disappointed with the high court decision on the disqualification cases as it practically ignored the Comelec’s efforts to cleanse the party-list system.

“I’m not just deploring the wasted effort, I’m really frustrated,” he said in Filipino.

The Supreme Court earlier revised the rules it issued 12 years ago when it allowed political parties and groups not representing marginalized and unrepresented sectors to participate in party-list elections.

Ascertain qualifications

The high court en banc granted the petitions for certiorari and prohibition that the disqualified party-list groups had filed.

The high tribunal ordered the cases remanded to the Comelec for the poll body to ascertain the qualifications of each party-list group based on the revised standards formulated by the high court.

Brillantes said the Comelec would abide by the high court ruling by conducting summary hearings on the disqualification cases.

He said he was confident that the commission en banc would be able to resolve the cases before the May 13 elections.

“We will conduct summary proceedings to determine if they would qualify based on the new guidelines set by the Supreme Court. There are groups that we can approve off-hand. We only have to discuss those listed under the ‘gray area,’” he said.

Brillantes earlier said that it was more than likely that previously registered party-list groups that were disqualified but managed to secure status quo ante orders from the Supreme Court would be included on the list of official candidates in the party-list race.

Secured status quo ante orders

Thirty-nine previously registered party-list groups and 13 new applicants managed to secure status quo ante orders from the high court against the Comelec decision delisting them.

This resulted in the inclusion in the ballot of the 39 groups with canceled registrations, along with the 84 already accredited by the Comelec.

The 13 groups, which are new applicants, were granted status quo ante orders but not a mandatory injunction, and would thus not be able to participate in the elections.