Election officials and lawmakers are advocating for major reforms to the party-list system to close loopholes that allow traditional politicians to take over seats intended for marginalized sectors through nominee substitutions.

During a Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms hearing on Monday, Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Garcia urged Congress to pass stricter laws regulating the substitution of party-list nominees, citing how some groups exploit the current rules.

Garcia explained that certain organizations gain accreditation by submitting a roster of legitimate sectoral representatives—such as urban poor nominees—only to have all winning nominees resign immediately after the election.

"Magsusubmit sa amin ng listahan kahit period of accreditation... talaga namang 'yung listahan, urban poor po 'yung proposed nominees nila," Garcia said.

“Lahat po ng lima nagre-resign. Lahat ng maralitang taga-lungsod nagre-resign at magsusubmit ng panibagong listahan. This time, hindi na po maralitang taga-lungsod,” he added.

While current jurisprudence obliges Comelec to accept new lists if a winning party exhausts its nominees, Garcia noted that the commission recently took a “bold step” by capping nominee lists at 10 and administratively barring substitutions in cases of withdrawal.

"Lakas-loob naming ginawa, ni-require na sampu lang na nominees and we will not allow substitution in case of withdrawal. Alam namin na issue of legality 'yun," Garcia said, appealing to Congress to establish permanent legal safeguards on substitutions.

BANNING POLITICAL PARTIES IN PARTY-LIST SYSTEM

Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III, who is pushing a strict party-list reform bill, questioned why major political parties are permitted to join a system intended for underrepresented groups.

The Senate President further argued that Comelec should rigorously enforce the 2 percent vote threshold for earning a seat, rather than filling remaining slots with parties that did not meet the quota just to satisfy the constitutionally mandated 20 percent allocation of party-list representatives in the House.

"Kung 10 party-list lang nakapasok sa 2%, 10 lang. Kung 100, 100. Pero pupunuin natin para mapuno? Labing-lima lang nakakuha ng 2% pero ipapasok 'yun... Dapat ipagbawal natin 'yun," Sotto stressed.

Under existing law, party-list representatives must comprise 20 percent of the House of Representatives and must secure at least 2 percent of the total valid votes cast for the party-list system nationwide to be guaranteed a seat.

-Paraluman News