MANILA, Philippines — The party-list system is steadily being coopted by groups serving elite interests, an election watchdog said Monday as it urged the public to reject questionable party-list groups trying to exploit a system meant to give the marginalized a voice at the House of Representatives.
In a statement, Partylist Watch said voters should not vote for party-list groups that fall under the following criteria:
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- Run by political dynasties
- Run by multimillionaires/billionaires and business interests
- Has no track record of championing sectors
- Implicated in corruption and human rights violations
"What we observed is an invasion of the party-list system by elite interests representing political dynasties, big business and corrupt forces," Vec Alporha, an assistant professor of History at the University of the Philippines in Los Baños, said.
"If this continues unabated, from invasion, the party-list system will eventually be fully occupied by fake party-lists," she also said.
Citing an initial study, PL Watch said that, of the 177 party-list groups in the May elections, "almost half of partylists are led by political dynasties, at least 36 are linked with ex-politicians and government officials, and at least 26 are associated with big business."
"There are also eight new party-lists that are led by former appointees of President Rodrigo Duterte who do not have any previous party-list engagement," the group also said.
Arjan Aguirre, a member of the Political Science faculty at Ateneo de Manila University, said that the party-lists system was meant to give ordinary Filipinos more space in policy making and deliberation.
"Let us be reminded that this is one of the legacies of EDSA 1986 that was enshrined in our constitution. The law that was passed is oriented toward this vision and goal — that our government will become a tool to help the marginalized and downtrodden," he said in the PL Watch release.
What happened instead, he said, has been an effort by "elitist and powerful forces" to expand control into the party-list system.
He said the party-list system has been coopted, which has led to questionable party-list groups"strategizing their electoral success by using their excessive wealth, popularity among the people and inclination to violence...[and] modifying the role of party-lists by making them an ally and even a champion of elitist interests in the government."
In a related release earlier this month, electoral watchdog Kontra Daya said that political clans, big businesses and state interests have infiltrated the party-list system as a "backdoor to further entrench their political and economic interests."
A 2013 ruling of the Supreme Court opened up the party-list elections to regional parties and to sectoral arms of political parties. Previously, party-list representatives had to be from among the marginalized and underrepresented sectors. — Jonathan de Santos