MANILA – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) may only disqualify a party-list organization from election if it espouses violence as a policy or means of pursuing its goals, among other factors.
Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez made the statement following reports of a plan to have the members of the progressive House Makabayan Bloc disqualified in the upcoming 2022 elections.
“Kailangan patunayan ‘yun at kailangan malinaw na ‘yung responsibilidad ay nandun sa organisasyon,” Jimenez said in an interview with DZBB. “An incident of violence on a party-list group is not enough to possibly disqualify it from participating in the elections.”
National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict vice chairperson and National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon recently said there is enough evidence to seek disqualification for the Makabayan Bloc.
Such statement came after President Rodrigo Duterte accused the group of being “legal fronts” of the Communist Party of the Philippines.
Jimenez, however, said the party seeking the disqualification must be able to prove that the party-list organization is guilty of claims.
“Kailangan nilang patunayan ‘yun at ireklamo nila sa Comelec, and then after due hearing, kung mapatunayan kung tama nga sila na talagang may paglabag nga ng mga panuntunan na ‘yan, then posibleng matanggalan ng accreditation ‘yung party-list organization,” Jimenez said.
“Karapatan din naman ng iba na siguraduhin na ang lumalahok sa party-list ay ‘yung karapat-dapat lang lumahok sa party-list. So hindi natin masasabi na bawal ireklamo ang isang party-list organization. Kaya nga dapat nating idaan sa hearing kasi ayaw natin na just because may nag-akusa eh tanggal agad,” he added.
“But at the same time, hindi naman natin maaalis ‘yung karapatan ng mga tao na magsabi na hindi ‘yan dapat kasali. So it’s a balancing of rights,” he further said./PN
