Minority parties vie for Comelec nod

MANILA, Philippines – The Liberal Party (LP), Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) and the Nacionalista Party-Nationalist People’s Coalition (NP-NPC) Coalition will slug it out for the Commission on Elections (Comelec)’s accreditation as the dominant minority party, which is entitled to the sixth copy of the election returns (ERs) in the May 10 polls.

The administration party Lakas-Kampi-CMD, for its part, has filed a petition with the Comelec for its accreditation as the dominant majority party, which is entitled to the fifth copy of the ERs.

In a separate petition, the LP said the party deserves to be declared the dominant minority party as it is fielding the most number of candidates in the coming local and national polls at 7,934.

“Despite efforts to muzzle the true opposition and to prevent the imminent people’s victory, the Liberal Party has fielded the most number of candidates in the national and local elections in May 10, 2010 among all opposition or supposedly opposition parties,” the LP said.

LP, whose standard-bearer is Sen. Benigno Aguino III, also said that aside from having the most number of incumbent members, the party was able to recruit new ones despite efforts of the Arroyo administration to split the group into factions.

“(LP is banking on its) outstanding track record, its present political and organizational strength and its being a proven genuine opposition party. Political parties come and go, but none has exuded the endurance and steadfastness that has characterized the Liberal Party from the time of its foundation on 19 January 1946 and until the present challenging period of our beloved nation,” the petition stated.

The PMP also sought accreditation as a dominant minority party and insisted that the “magic of PMP continues to catalyze the victories of the opposition.”

“President Estrada continues to enjoy the trust and confidence of the Filipino people, enjoying higher ratings (in surveys) than Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo,” the party said.

Founded in 1991, the PMP participated successfully in the 1992, 1998, 2001, 2004 and 2007 polls.

“Despite being led by an incarcerated party president and one who just stayed in the background, while catalyzing the opposition mainstream led by his bosom friend Fernando Poe Jr., petitioner PMP silently but effectively plodded its way to scoring an unprecedented success in 2004 and 2007,” the petition stated.

The NP and the NPC, on the other hand, also sought the registration of its tie-up as NP-NPC Coalition and “consequent accreditation as dominant minority party.”

“With the merger of NP and the NPC, two major political parties that are not aligned with the present administration or to any of its affiliates and/or coalitions, the NP-NPC coalition is currently the biggest opposition-coalition and should therefore be conferred the recognition and status as dominant minority party,” the coalition’s petition said.

It stated that the coalition was formed on Jan. 28 “to promote its unified and common political visions, goals and aspirations of NP-NPC and to enhance their collective chances of victory in the coming May 10 polls.”

NP-NPC, which is fielding Sen. Manny Villar as its standard-bearer, has 2,674 members among incumbent officials.

NP has boasted of its being “one of the oldest active political parties in the country and traces its roots to the inception of the independence of the Philippines in 1907.” NPC was formed in 1992.

Not much of value

The Lakas-Kampi-CMD, meanwhile, asked the Comelec to accredit the coalition as the dominant majority party.

“The track record and history of petitioner Lakas-Kampi-CMD will readily attest that no other political party has matched its achievement as far as the number of winning candidates for the past elections,” the petition read.

The party claimed that it has a total of 10,418 incumbent members, including President Arroyo.

The Bangon Pilipinas party of presidential bet and spiritual leader Bro. Eddie Villanueva and the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP) have also filed separate petitions.

Under Republic Act 9369 or the Poll Automation Law, 30 copies of the ERs will be printed by the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines and the dominant majority and minority parties are entitled to the fifth and sixth copies, respectively.

An election return is a document showing the results of the election at the polling precinct level.

But according to Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento, having copies of the ERs early is significant only in manual elections where results take a long time to come out.

Sarmiento said that since the results of the coming polls would be known in two days, securing ERs might be irrelevant.