Comelec sees drastic changes in final partylist lineup if…

Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – Even though partylist proclamations were nearly complete, the final list could still be shaken up when the Supreme Court (SC) decides on the cases of 11 disqualified partylists, Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. said Tuesday.

“There might be some readjustments [with the final partylist lineup],” Brillantes told reporters in an interview regarding the pending appeals of the disqualified partylists before the SC.

“Baka may matanggal pa (Some groups might be taken out),” he said.

The Comelec, sitting as the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC), officially proclaimed 38 winning partylist groups on Tuesday that will get 53 seats in the House of Representatives. Five partylist groups can still get one seat each.

Comelec had previously disqualified 11 partylists, among them the Coalition of Associations of Senior Citizens in the Philippines, Inc. or Senior Citizens which garnered 677,642 votes in the recent elections.

Their disqualification however caused their votes to be considered as stray votes and were not counted. The lead counsel for Senior Citizens manifested during the en banc hearing Tuesday that they have already appealed before the SC to have them included in the proclamation.

If the SC grants a temporary restraining order (TRO) or status quo ante (SQA) order for the partylists, their votes would become valid and would be included in the total count of votes.

“Buhay [partylist] will be affected; they can lose one seat,” Brillantes said.

Buhay was proclaimed as the top winning partylist with 1,265,992 votes or 4.74 percent of the total votes cast entitling them to three congressional seats.

Brillantes said that it was now entirely up to the SC to decide on the cases of the disqualified partylists.

“Whatever the SC orders, we will have to follow,” he said.