Winning party-list groups with pending disqualification cases before the Commission on Elections cannot be proclaimed yet, citing precedent in previous elections, a poll official said.
Commissioner George Garcia said the Comelec, sitting as National Board of Canvassers (NBOC) for senators and party-list groups, was prevented from proclaiming groups facing petitions for cancellation of their registration.
“We know that previously, as long as the disqualification petition is against the party-list itself, we do not issue a certificate of proclamation. But if the disqualification only involves the nominee, we issue a certificate of proclamation in favor of the party, but not the nominee,” Garcia explained.
Party-list groups are set to occupy 63 seats in the House of Representatives.
“For those who are asking when we could proclaim the partylist winners with pending cases, we will have to resolve it.
There are so many petitions filed, we will have to resolve several issues,” he said.
The proclamation of party-list groups is set today (Thursday) at 4 p.m. At the Philippine International Convention Center.
The proclamation of winning party-list groups was put on hold since the Comelec needed to wait for the results of the special elections in the 12 barangays of Tubaran town in Lanao del Sur – a town with around 7,000 registered voters, whose turnout may reach up to 70 percent.
The Comelec said many party-lists had filed petitions to change their nominees. The petitions involved withdrawal, substitution, and death of nominees.
Figures from the latest National Tally Sheet for party-lists show that six groups have so far met the 2 percent threshold—ACT-CIS (2,109,022 votes), 1-Rider Party-list (1,000,343 votes), Tingog (886,431 votes), 4Ps (836,294 votes), Ako Bicol (816,255 votes), and Sagip (779,542 votes).