Only 14 party-lists have so far been accredited to participate in the forthcoming 2025 national and local elections, according to the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
Comelec chairman George Garcia did not disclose the names of the organizations, but said they expect more to be accredited before the start this coming October of the filing of candidacy for the 2025 midterm polls.
“We only accredited about 14 party-list organizations, compared to 70 groups in 2022,” Garcia said.
“We are currently screening more than 100 of the party-list organizations and we’re hoping that at least 130 party-list organizations will be participating under the party list system in the coming 2025 elections,” Garcia added.
Meanwhile, the Comelec will ask Congress to amend Republic Act 7941 or the law governing the party-list system to ensure that marginalized sectors are represented in the House of Representatives.
In an interview, Garcia said amending the Party-list Law would prevent political families and power brokers from abusing the loopholes and easing out genuine representatives of the marginalized sector.
The poll chief said loopholes in the 1995 law, coupled with contradictory Supreme Court decisions, allowed those who already hold so much political power to take over the party-list system, such as enabling the sudden substitution of all five nominees after the party-list is proclaimed a winner.