Comelec spokesman James Jimenez (INQUIRER FILE PHOTO)
Partylist organizations who want to take part in the May 2019 partylist elections have until April 30 this year to file their manifestations of intent to participate before the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez reminded partylist groups, registered or not, to file their manifestations by then.
In a post on his blog, www.jamesjimenez.com, the poll spokesperson said the deadline for the filing of the manifestation of intent to participate in the 2019 elections for partylist system is April 30, 2018.
This covers unregistered partylist groups, coalitions and organizations, and existing partylist groups, coalitions and organizations.
Unregistered partylist groups also have until April 30, 2018 to submit their petitions for registration.
“Unregistered partylist groups, coalitions and organizations need to submit their application for registration together with their manifestation of intent to participate in the 2019 polls,” Jimenez said.
He added in his post titled “Calling All Party-Lists”: “This post is simply to remind everyone that a deadline is coming, and it is coming fast.”
The April 30 deadline was provided for in Comelec resolution no. 10245.
In the 2016 partylist elections, the Comelec accredited 115 partylist groups, which participated in the said polls, 46 of which won seats.
Under the 1987 Constitution, partylist representatives should comprise 20 percent of the total number of representatives.
The House of Representatives has 297 members, of which 59 are partylist representatives.
“Love it or hate it, the partylist system is an indispensable part of our system of government because it broadens the base of our legislative process and ensures that underrepresented sectors are given access that would otherwise be unavailable to them,” Jimenez added.