Friday, April 14, 2007 Disclosure of partylist nominees must depend on group: Kalahi
THE disclosure or non-disclosure of the names of nominees of the partylist organizations seeking mandate in this May 14 elections must lie on the partylist organizations themselves and not with the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
Lawyer Karlo Nograles, second nominee of the Kabuhayan at Kaunlaran Laban sa Kahirapan (Kalahi) partylist, said this on the recent issue regarding the demand of Akbayan partylist Representative Etta Rosales for the poll body to divulge the names in the spirit of fair elections.
Karlo, son of House Majority Leader Prospero Nograles, said that though the Comelec cannot be compelled to release the names of nominees of party-list organizations running for congressional seats in the May 14 elections, it must also not prohibit the partylist from announcing who their nominees are.
"Legally speaking, Comelec cannot be compelled to release the names of partylist nominees because under the party-list system, the voters vote for the partylist. So to avoid any confusion, the voters should only know the name of the party-list they want to support," the young Nograles said.
He said the voters must, however, also be knowledgeable about the partylist representatives in order for them to be assured that when their partylist wins they know whom to approach.
Karlo said the final decision whether to disclose or hide the names of the nominees must lie within the concerned partylist.
"Surely, those partylist groups who have nothing to hide will be open to naming who their nominees are. Those who have something to hide may not choose to disclose their nominees. In the end, it will be the people who will decide," Nograles said.
Kalahi represents the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and their families and aims to provide them better protection against abuses in foreign countries where they are working. (BOT)
