Left blasts Comelec for disqualifying 3 groups

CEBU CITY — Members of different militant groups in Cebu staged a protest rally on Friday to denounce the decision of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to exclude three party-list groups from the certified list of candidates in the May 2019 elections.

Carrying posters that demanded reconsideration from the Comelec, the groups gathered in front of the Comelec Central Visayas office on Osmeña Boulevard and protested the disqualification of groups like Manggagawa, Aksyon Health Workers and People Surge in the May elections.

The groups disqualified by the Comelec, according to Dyan Gumanao of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), represented marginal sectors of communities.

“On the other hand there are other groups which are bogus and yet they were allowed to run,” Gumanao said.

The Comelec on Jan. 31 trimmed the number of party-list groups qualified to run in May from 185 to 134.

In a study by election watchdog group Kontra Daya, 62 of the 134 party-list groups allowed by the Comelec to run have either links to political dynasties, represented special business interests or had questionable advocacies.