ATONG PAGLAUM, INC. v. COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS 2013

Petitioners: Atong Paglaum, Inc. et al. (51 other party-list groups and organizations)

Respondents: Commission on Elections

Power, Composition, Qualification and Term of Office (House of Representatives); RA 7941

SUMMARY: COMELEC erred in applying the decisions of Ang Bagong Bayani and BANAT, because those prohibited major political parties from participating in party-list elections. The new parameters set by this Decision allows national and regional parties to participate in the party-list elections without representing a marginalized and underrepresented sector, and allows major political parties to participate as well via a sectoral wing linked to it through a coalition.

FACTS:

54 petitions from 52 party-list groups and organizations consolidated into one: assailing the Resolutions from COMELEC disqualifying them from the May 2013 party-list elections either by denial of registration under the party-list system or cancellation of registration and accreditation as party-list organizations

280 groups and organizations registered under RA 7941 (Party-List System Act) and COMELEC Resolution Nos. 9366 and 9531

o 13 of them were denied registration by COMELEC and were unable to secure mandatory injunction from the Court, so were excluded from the ballot

o 39 of the petitioners had cancelled registrations but were able to obtain a mandatory injunction, so were included in the ballot

ISSUE/S:

1. WoN COMELEC committed grave abuse of discretiono No, but this Decision sets new parameters for the qualification of national,

regional, and sectoral parties under the party-list system, so all of the petitions are remanded to COMELEC for reevalution.

o Party-list system: indended to democratize political power by giving a chance to parties that would not win in regular legislative district elections

Voter elects 1 representative for his/her legislative district and 1 for his/her party-list group or organization of choice

o Sec. 5, Art. 6 of 1987 Constitution : House of Representatives shall have not more than 250 members, with 20% coming from the party-list system of registered national, regional, and sectoral parties or organizations; 3 consecutive terms after ratification of Constitution, one-half of allocated seats to party-lists shall be filled with representatives from labor, peasant, urban poor, indigenous cultural communities, women, youth, and other sectors (but not religious)

o Secs. 7 & 8, Art. 9-C : voters cannot vote for party-lists not registered under the party-list system; political parties or organizations will only be entitled to appoint poll watchers

o Intent of the framers: party-list system not synonymous with sectoral representation because the latter creates the problem of choosing which sectors are to be represented, and other people will have two votes (if they belong to a sector) while others only have one (just for legislative district); purpose of it is to open the system, so that smaller parties can compete with major political parties; political parties are meant to be able to join the party-list system so long as they are also organized along sectoral lines

Proposal to give permanent seats for sectoral representation outvoted by majority of Constitutional Commission; reserved seats for sectoral representatives for only the first 3 terms after ratification, so they therefore clearly intended to have both sectoral and non-sectoral parties after that

o Constitution clearly separated and differentiated national and regional (non-sectoral) parties from sectoral parties in Sec. 5(1), Art. 6, meaning the framers intended for both to qualify under the party-list system

Party-list system composed of 3 different groups: national parties or organizations, regional parties or organizations, and sectoral parties or organizations

o The three-term limit post-ratification for sectoral representatives in Sec. 5(2), Art. 6 also shows that party-list system was not meant exclusively for sectoral parties after that time period

Can be seen by how only one-half of party-list seats were allocated for sectoral representatives, while other half was already open for non-sectoral party-lists even during the first three terms after ratification

The three-term limit implies that after this set period, the party-list system is meant to be open to non-sectoral parties

o RA 7941: allows political parties, sectoral parties, or coalitions of parties Sec. 3(a) : parties can be qualified as a political party or a sectoral party Sec. 3(c) : political party (national and regional) – group of citizens

advocating an ideology or platform, principles, and policies for the general conduct of government

Sec. 3(d) : sectoral party – organized group of citizens belonging to any sector whose principal advocacy pertains to the special interest and concerns of their sector

Provisions differentiate political parties from sectoral parties, meaning political parties are not required to represent the “marginalized and underrepresented sectors,” because only sectoral parties are required to do so

Mandating political parties to represent the marginalized and underrepresented only would exclude ideology-based and cause-oriented parties from the system, because they would not

necessarily only represent the marginalized and underrepresented sectors of society, as set out in the Constitution; causes and ideologies can cut across economic status

Sec. 5 : sectors include labor, peasant, fisherfolk, urban poor, indigenous cultural communities, elderly, handicapped, women, youth, veterans, overseas workers and professionals

Not all sectors listed are marginalized or underrepresented, meaning these groups should still be able to organize themselves into sectoral parties in advocacy so long as they are “lacking well-defined political constituencies”

“Marginalized and underrepresented”: labor, peasant, fisherfolk, urban poor, indigenous cultural communities, handicapped, veterans, and overseas workers

“Lacking well-defined political constituencies”: professionals, elderly, women, youth

Sec. 6 : none of the 8 grounds for cancellation refers to non-representation of marginalized and underrepresented

“marginalized and underrepresented” only mentioned once in RA 7941, in Sec. 2 on Declaration of Policy, while the specific implementing provisions do not define or require that the sectors, organizations or parties must be “marginalized and underrepresented”

The qualifier should therefore only apply to the sectors in Section 5 that are, by their nature, “marginalized and underrepresented,” in which case a majority of the members of the sectoral party must belong to that sector, and their nominess should either also belong to the sector or have a track record of advocacy for that sector

o Such interpretation will give rise to a multi-party system, where ideology-based and cause-oriented parties are represented alongside sectoral parties representing the marginalized and underrepresented

2. WoN the Ang Bagong Bayani and BANAT criteria for participating in the party-list system should be applied by the COMELEC

o No, because these decisions are not in accord with the 1987 Constitution, and therefore new parameters for qualification must now be set.

o National or regional parties under party-list system are those that do not belong to major political parties that field candidates in the legislative district elections

o Ang Bagong Bayani: major political parties must also represent marginalized and underrepresented; enabled COMELEC to disqualify major political parties with sectoral wings, thus prohibiting them from participating in the party-list system completely

o BANAT: major political parties officially excluded from participating in party-list elections

o Sec. 11, RA 7941 : first 5 major political parties prohibited from entering party-list system in May 1988 elections, but were allowed to participate via their sectoral wings

Participation of major political parties in party-list elections therefore contingent on their organization of a sectoral wing that has its own constitution, by-laws, platform or program of government, as well as officers and members (majority of which belong to the sector), and is linked to the major political party through a coalition, as permitted by Sec. 3, RA 7941

o Sec. 9, RA 7941 : nominees of sectoral parties must either belong to the sector or have a track record of advocacy for the sector

o COMELEC used the Ang Bagong Bayani and BANAT guidelines, which require all political and sectoral parties, organizations or coalitions to represent the marginalized and underrepresented

These decisions were examples of socio-political engineering and judicial legislation

Political parties, major or not, should be able to participate in party-list elections through its sectoral wings, so long as they do not field candidates in the legislative district elections

Would not be in accord with the 1987 Constitution for COMELEC to use these decisions in determining who are qualified to participate in the May 2013 party-list elections

o All petitions now remanded because COMELEC mandated for all national, regional, and sectoral groups or organizations to represent the marginalized and underrepresented, and for all nominees to belong to the sector they represent

NOTES:

On differentiating the types of parties: Major political parties are the dominant political parties that have the capacity to field candidates in the legislative district elections, and have a chance of winning them. These are different from non-major political parties, identified in the case as national or regional parties. National or regional parties can participate in the party-list elections without having to represent a sector, so long as they are ideology-based or cause-oriented. However, major political parties are required to represent a marginalized and underrepresented sector if they want to participate in the party-list elections, via a sectoral wing that is linked to them via a coaltion. They must also not field any candidates in the legislative district elections.

DISSENTS:

C.J. Sereno (Concurring and Dissenting)

Party-list system as a tool for social justice: not about mere plurality, but plurality that prioritizes the inclusion of the poor and disadvantaged

Sec. 1, Art. 13 of 1987 Constitution: highest priority of Congress must be the reduction of social, economic, and political inequalities, and the removal of cultural inequities

1987 Constitution replete with social justice provisions: in construing RA 7941 in accordance with the Constitution, the party-list system must therefore be seen as primarily a social justice tool

Problematic parameters of ponencia:o 2nd parameter that does not require national and regional parties to represent the

marginalized and underrepresented: standard of marginalized and underrepresented must be deemed to qualify even national and regional parties; must be seen in line with social justice to favor underprivileged

o 4th parameter that allows sectoral organizations to either be “marginalized and underrepresented” or “lacking well-defined political constituences”: must have both to qualify for party-list elections

o 6th parameter that states disqualification of a nominee does not disqualify the party-list group so long as they have one nominee still qualified: disqualification of a nominee should not disqualify party-list group so long as they meet Guidelines 1-5 of Ang Bagong Bayani and one of its top 3 nominees remains qualified

Only 9 petitions should be remanded (cancelled registration on the basis of applying the standard of “marginalized and underrepresented”)

COMELEC did not violate Sec. 3, Art 9-C

J. Leonen (Concurring and Dissenting)

In agreement with ponencia that national and regional parties should not be organized along sectoral lines

Current application of “marginalized and underrepresented” criteria has caused chaos and absurdity in the party-list system because the term is too ambigious

Current system: major political parties can support candidates for legislative district elections, but electorate decides using personalities and popularity, not ideology or platform

o Party-list system was created to change that, to develop genuine political parties that are disciplined, organized, and loyal to their principle and platform

Constitution’s language clearly shows the intent to include non-sectoral party-list groups, and Congress cannot change that

COMELEC committed a grave abuse of discretion by applying the standard of “marginalized and underrepresented” to all groups and organizations, despite the term being ambigious and unqualified

o Because there is no working definition of the term, groups do not know what standards they are trying to fulfill in order to qualify as a party-list group

In crafting new benchmarks, possible that non-sectoral groups or organizations should instead show how their plans will impact the marginalized and underrepresented