P500-M subsidy sought for political parties

MANILA, Philippines - A bill seeking an initial P500-million state subsidy for national political parties has been approved at the House of Representatives.

Bill 6551, “An Act Strengthening the Political Party System,” aims to reduce the dependence of political groups on private persons and businesses for funding. 

Among the authors of the bill are Representatives Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro City and Juan Edgardo Angara of Aurora.

Angara’s father, Sen. Edgardo Angara, and former Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. have long advocated state subsidies for political parties as part of political reforms.

Under the bill, the proposed subsidies would be used exclusively for party development, education and training programs, institution-building, outreach projects, information dissemination, advancement of advocacies, and campaign expenditures.

“We have to institutionalize and strengthen our political parties by introducing reforms in campaign financing through effective and transparent mechanisms to level the playing field and eliminate opportunities for corruption,” the bill’s authors said.

Potential recipients would be political parties with national constituencies that are registered with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) based on platform of government, organizational strength and track record in elections.

Entitled to the subsidy would be political parties represented in the Senate and the House of Representatives.

The amount would be distributed proportionately based on the number of seats these parties obtained in the most recent general elections.