Party-list used for personal gain: Baraquel

A PARTY-list legislator has accused politicians, including the Arroyos, of using the party-list system for their personal gain instead of representing the marginalized sectors.

Akbayan Party-List Rep. Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel lamented that the party-list system has changed over the years, with some politicians using it to advance their own interest in Congress.

“The party-list system is supposedly for the marginalized and the underrepresented but it has changed a lot. It becomes an entry point for the parties…sa pagdagdag ng bilang nila sa majority sa House at makadeny ng boto sa mga true party list groups (It becomes an entry point for the parties in adding members of the majority in the House, denying votes for the real party-list groups),” said Baraquiel.

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Akbayan’s second nominee, lawyer Arlene Bag-ao, alleged that the current administration is behind the creation of various party-list groups, which she said is more than double the number of groups that participated in the 2007 elections.

In the May election, a total of 187 party-list groups will participate to get a seat in the House of Representatives.

Bag-ao suspects that the new groups will be used as instruments to make President Arroyo remain in power and become House Speaker, in the event that she wins as Pampanga congresswoman.

With at least four members of the Arroyo family running for a seat in Congress in the May 10 election, Baraquiel said that “Arroyothritis” has been affecting the family.

“Parang naging sakit na,” she said.

Baraquiel said that a sister of the First Gentleman is running for a party-list seat representing the balut vendors.

Another member of the first family, Baraquiel said, is also running under a party-list group representing the security guards.

The President’s son, Mikey Arroyo, is running under a party-list group, while the President herself is running for Pampanga congresswoman.

In an interview after her meeting with Cebu City’s barangay captains earlier this month, Baraquiel said the Party-List Law should be strictly implemented by the Commission on Elections.

Republic Act 7941, also known as the Party-List System Act, states that the party, sector, organization or coalition must represent the marginalized and the underrepresented groups, which include peasants, laborers, the urban poor, indigenous persons, women and the youth.