The Commission on Elections will farm out 59 congressional seats to party-list groups based on the formula adopted by the Supreme Court in 2009.
Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista on Wednesday said that the 2009 SC ruling on the Banat versus Comelec would prevail under the incoming 17th Congress,
“It would still be the Banat formula,” Bautista told reporters.
Bautista’s statement came after the An Waray party-list filed a motion asking the Comelec to use a different formula from the one prescribed by the high court.
“We believe that if the commission will apply the Banat formula, it would cause gross misappropriation of allocation of seats. That’s why we recommend that another formula be made by the commission,” An Waray 2nd nominee Raoul Creencia said Tuesday before the Comelec, sitting as the National Board of Canvassers .
The Banat versus Comelec ruling provides for the allocation of the 59 seast for party-list representatives based on the number of votes party listers garnered during the May 9 polls before undergoing two rounds of allocation of seats.
In the first round, the party-lists receiving at least two percent of the total votes cast shall be entitled to one guaranteed seat each.
For example, if 20 party-list groups were able to meet the two percent threshold, they will be assured of 20 seats.
For the second round, party-lists, including those that were able to meet the two percent threshold (two-percenters), would be allocated seats based on the whole number of the product between the percentage of their respective votes and the remaining available party-list seats.
This means that the percentage of vote for party-list “X” shall be multiplied by 39, which is the remaining available party-list seats, with the product’s whole number becoming the additional seats for the party-list “X.”
Allocation of seats in the second round will be continuous until all of the remaining seats have been distributed, including those party-list candidates that did not garner the two-percent minimum.
The three-seat cap for the party-list representation remains in effect.
The Banat ruling is the third formula used by the Comelec in determining the allocation of party-list seats following the “2-4-6 rule” as provided by the Party-List System Act (Republic Act 7941) and the “Panganiban formula” as shown in the Veterans Federation Party vs Comelec case in 2000.
Meanwhile, more party-list groups joined the opposition to the An Waray proposal.
Manifesting their opposition to An Waray are SBP, Manila Teachers, Aangat Tayo, AAMBIS-OWA, Agri, 1-Care, PBA, and Tricap.
Magdalo, Abono, and 1 Edukasyon earlier opposed the An Waray proposal.
“We would like to oppose the motion filed by An Waray and we will be filing our opposition, especially to the suspension of proclamations within the day,” said lawyer Donna Camitan, who is representing several party-list organizations.