THE PARTY-LIST system was borne out of a very noble concept which is to give voice and representation to the marginalized sector of Philippine society in the House of Representatives (HOR).
It was then envisioned that the marginalized would organize themselves into party-lists and the parties that won at least 2% of the national vote given a seat, with additional seats determined by a formula dependent on the number of votes garnered by the party.
Noble, indeed, but somewhere along the way some things happened that politicized, weaponized and hijacked the party-list system. Now it is no longer what it was intended for but a shortcut for politicians to become congressmen, and likewise for enemies of the state using the democratic process to undermine the government using government funds and resources.
In 2013, a Supreme Court decision further marginalized the already marginalized by allowing party-list nominees to run even if they do not belong to the sector they supposedly champion.
In short, the party-list system has become a backdoor for the rich and powerful to further entrench themselves in Congress, but that is another story. For now, we’ll focus more on enemies of the state using the democratic process to undermine the government using government funds and resources.
The infiltration of CPP/NPA/NDF front organizations into Congress not only threatens our national security but makes a mockery of the intelligence of the Filipino people. These so-called party-lists all claim to champion the marginalized sectors; their presence in the HOR, however, raises serious doubts about the legitimacy of their intentions.
The biggest and most profitable achievement lately of the Makabayan block and friends is their political collaboration with the Ayuda block, particularly in these congressional hearings in aid of reelection, where they served as the “attack dogs” of “you know who” against “you know who”.
Which brings this question: How do these leftist party-lists win elections?
Last elections, ACT Teachers allegedly garnered 330,529 votes. The total number of public-school teachers nationwide is 858,318, meaning only 38.51% of teachers supposedly voted for the party.
Bearing in mind that over 90% of the 38.51% of teacher votes would never risk associating themselves with a group fronting for the CPP/NPA/NDF, this raises doubts whether those votes genuinely come from teachers or manufactured with a little help from some unscrupulous election officials for profit, of course.
These leftist party-lists are experts at exploiting loopholes in the democratic electoral system. Their sitting representatives in the HOR are card-bearing CPP/NPA/NDF urban operatives and their presence in Congress allows them to gain funding and exposure at the expense of the government. These funds are funneled into their central committee to resuscitate an insurgency already in its death throes
Manipulate the system, hijack taxpayer-funded proceedings like impeachment hearings and grandstanding for free media coverage to maintain visibility. As I have been saying – undermining the government using government funds and resources.
And speaking of the Makabayan bloc and friends i.e. ACT, Kabataan, Gabriela party-lists, these folks have repeatedly been calling to defund the NTF-ELCAC like a broken record.
Not only that, the Makabayan b loc is maliciously spreading lies that the taskforce is a state mechanism for harassing activists, which of course are just figments of their imagination conjured out of thin air like “red tagging.” This narrative conveniently ignores the fact that the NTF-ELCAC has fulfilled what the failed insurgency promised but never delivered.
The heart of the taskforce lies in the Barangay Development Program (BDP) which delivers long-overdue government services to communities exploited by the CPP/NPA/NDF as their so-called guerrilla bases.
NTF-ELCAC delivered where the CPP/NPA/NDF could not. And this is why the Makabayan bloc desperately calls for the defunding of the NTF-ELCAC that have won the hearts and minds of the very people the CPP/NPA/NDF exploited.
The Makabayan bloc’s call to defund the NTF-ELCAC is not about protecting civil liberties or human rights; it is about protecting the CPP/NPA/NDF and resuscitating the dying insurgency./PN
