Comelec junks 6 party-list petitions

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) recently dismissed at least six petitions for registration of party-list groups for the 2022 general elections.

“First Division dismissed six petitions for registration of party-list Comelec just now,” Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon said on her official twitter account, @rowena_guanzon.

Asked for further details, Guanzon said the petitions were dismissed for “no manifestation of intent to participate in a proper forum.”

Guanzon neither provided other details nor name the party-list groups that filed the petition.

Meanwhile, members of the Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives want the placement of party-list candidates in the ballots restored to the previous alphabetical listing.

In Resolution No. 1931 filed last July 1, the militant party-list lawmakers alleged that the current system of raffling the names of groups for their placement in the ballots is “disadvantageous.”

“The so-called ‘raffle’ system for partylists has shifted the campaign from simply relying on the party’s name to campaigning for a specific number assigned to a particular party, which changes every election,” argued the group led by Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate.