Article by:
Benjamin Pulta
MANILA – The Supreme Court (SC) has issued temporary restraining orders (TROs) in favor of two party-list organizations seeking to join next year's elections.
The TROs dated December 29 addressed to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) was issued in favor of Abante Sambayanan (Sambayanan) and the Ayuda sa May Kapansanan.
The order also required Comelec to comment on the petitioner within 10 days.
The SC also asked the poll body to temporarily refrain from implementing its October 5 orders which rejected their registration as party-list groups and its resolution dated December 1 denying their motions for reconsideration.
The high court earlier issued similar TROs against the Comelec decision to deny the registration of three other party-list groups namely the Ang Tinig ng Seniors sa Filipinas Inc. the Alliance for Resilience, Sustainability and Empowerment (ARISE), represented by its president, Arze Glipo, and Igorot Warriors International Inc. (IWI), represented by its chairperson, Jerson Bantag.
The party-list system is an innovation of the Constitution seeking to allow underrepresented and marginalized sectors of society to gain a presence in the House of Representatives after obtaining a minimum threshold of votes nationwide.
Commissioner Rowena Guanzon earlier said the Comelec rejected 126 groups bidding to register as party-lists for the 2022 elections.
From October 1 to 8, a total of 270 party-list groups filed their Certificates of Nomination and Acceptance.
Last October 25, the Comelec announced that the registration of 53 new groups was granted. (PNA)
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